I argue that local adult literacy programming involves consciousness and praxis that obscures and renders invisible the social relations of race and ethnicity, and a key mechanism that enacts these processes in Canada are the Essential Skills Framework. Race and ethnicity, as social relations, have both a muted and active presence in the…

In Pakistan, adult literacy programs are offered to enable learners to function effectively to attain individual, family, and social sustainability, but these programs are continuously reporting low participation. This study aimed to explore the reasons behind low participation, employing a descriptive phenomenological design to examine the…

The importance of professional development to the success of adult education cannot be emphasized enough. In a field with many part-time educators, and where recruitment and retention of adult educators is an ongoing challenge, professional development plays a critical role in attracting, retaining, and developing teachers, administrators, and…

The Foundation Skills Framework (FSF) is a work-based model developed in 1999 in response to a need for common language and understanding of the skills needed by Pennsylvania's workforce. Through funding provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE), the original project was designed to…

Despite increasing demand in distance education, relatively little is known about the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as basic skill levels of adult distance education participants at the national level in the US. This study analyzed the US data from the 2012/2014 and 2017 Program for International Assessment of Adult…

One of the primary goals of adult basic education programs is to help individuals develop the reading, writing, and math skills necessary to access stable employment opportunities. In the US, this need has been largely overlooked by the burgeoning educational technology sector. To understand how learning technologies might support these learners…

This survey paper examines selected issues related to the intersection of three broad scholarly areas: "numeracy," "adult education," and "vulnerability." Numeracy encompasses the ways in which people cope with the mathematical, quantitative, and statistical demands of adult life, and is viewed as an important outcome…

This reflection essay reports on a book reading inquiry circle (BRIC) on Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by English as a second language (ESL) faculty from a college located in the Greater Seattle area. Since professional development is usually not provided for ESL faculty in basic skills programs due to lack of funding at the…

The focus of the Technology Solutions for Adult Basic Skills Challenges column begins with common challenges facing adult basic skills practitioners, expressed, for example, in the LINCS Integrating Technology group for which I am the moderator, in other LINCS groups, in my national and state conference or webinar presentations, or privately in…

The purpose of this research was to analyze oral communication patterns between patients with varying degrees of individual health literacy (how patients access, understand, and use health information) and their health providers. We analyzed a secondary data set of 68 patient--nurse provider audiotaped clinic encounters using REALM (Rapid Estimate…

The field of Adult Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) has an evidence problem. This paper analyses that problem through the lens of three overarching types of evidence available to researchers and policymakers: Type 1 evidence, which provides descriptions of the scope of social problems; Type 2 evidence measuring the impacts of programmes addressing…

As the largest funder of adult basic education (ABE) in the nation, providing over $600 million through its Basic Grants to States (U.S. Department of Education, 2019), the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) drives ABE policies and practices. In a review of the announcement on Title II, the phrase "transition to" is repeated…

Background: Educational qualifications and literacy skills are highly related. This is not surprising as it is one aim of educational systems to equip individuals with competencies necessary to take part in society. Because of this relationship educational qualifications are often used as a proxy for "human capital". However, from a…

US public adult basic skills education, as adult education researcher Thomas Sticht has often pointed out, is on the margins of public education. By many measures, in the past decade it has experienced significant further decline. In the last decade and a half, according to Sticht's (2015) analysis, "enrollments in the Adult Education and…

Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) programs in many Ontario colleges offer adult learners who have low literacy and basic skills with opportunities to improve their employment skills as well as results on prerequisite courses for entrance into post-secondary education. LBS students encounter many challenges and require extra interpersonal…