Apparent reading deficiencies among entering workers, combined with increasing demands for highly skilled workers, have led business and industry to increase their training and education efforts. One aspect of this effort requires understanding the reading demands people in various occupations are likely to encounter. This study examines the…

The author suggests that the specification of common literacy demands that are valid on the societal level, that is, which are applicable and meaningful to diverse adults living in diverse environments, is an impossible task. He further suggests that the development of a valid and uniform national curriculum for functional literacy is equally…

One hundred sixty adult basic education students functioning at or below the sixth-grade level rated the extent to which they needed to learn 20 functional tasks. Factor analysis suggested three broad categories: everyday reading and writing, math and measurement, and special literacy tasks. Cluster analysis identified distinct subgroups based on…

Reports on a study that examined the literacy behavior of 132 elderly Blacks in a large city environment with a high concentration of undereducated adults. Found that the group developed the necessary literacy skills to meet the demands of their social environment. (JOW)

Problems and issues in measuring functional literacy are explored through an overview of definitional dilemmas, synopsis of widely known assessments, examination of the concept of ecological validity, and discussion of the impact of concepts of validity on the interpretation of functional literacy test performance. (SK)

The process of educational therapy is described in a sequence of phases identified as exploration, experimentation, reflection, and working through. The workings of this process are explained through the use of a case study. (CT)