Using the data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), this Data Point summarizes the number of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy and describes how they differ by nativity status and race/ethnicity. PIAAC is a large-scale international study of working-age adults (ages 16-65) that assesses…

The United States lacks uniform popular definitions of "literacy," remediations, or consensus for national standards. Factors beyond the control of educational and political structures continually modify and dominate discussions of illiteracy and strategies of remediation. In most advanced cultures, alienation and functional illiteracy…

This bibliography presents and analyzes selected books, articles, and sample learning materials on functional illiteracy in industrialized countries that are available in the library of the Unesco Institute for Education. Entries covering emerging areas of research, descriptions and analyses of country experiences and steps toward international…

A response to United States Senator George McGovern's call for congressional legislation to establish an independent national commission on literacy is necessary. Two considerations that must be taken into account by any individual, group, or commission addressing issues of criteria for competency in literacy are: (1) literacy competence is a…

This paper identifies issues in defining and reporting performance standards for the 2002 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). The paper describes a continuum of conceptualizations of performance standards for adult literacy extending from "technical" conceptions of performance standards, as used in the psychometric literature,…

This resource guide contains learning activities designed to complement existing ABE curricula or become the cornerstone of an ABE curriculum integrating reading, writing, and math skills with practical life knowledge. The guide begins with an introduction, acknowledgments, and an overview of Colorado's Certificate of Accomplishment program, which…

This document contains information from and about Project AchievE (sic), a program that was developed in Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley School District to enable adults with or without a General Educational Development certificate to earn a regular high school diploma by mastering competencies in the following categories: government and law;…

According to the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey, nearly half of Illinois adults lack sufficient reading proficiency to ensure job success and advancement in 21st century workplaces. The Test of Adult Basic Education is currently used as a pretest/posttest in Illinois' existing adult basic education, adult secondary education, and…

This book examines literacy for sustainable development in the age of information. It begins by discussing the relationship between literacy and hegemony, social policy, national language policy, colonial relations, and postcolonial realities. Also discussed in the introduction are views and definitions of literacy and considerations in mapping a…