Analyzes the extent of adult illiteracy in the United States and identifies the major problems and needs found in the literature and in interviews with adult learners. Recommends ways to improve educational efforts and discusses what is known about effective adult literacy programs. (CJH)

In response to the National Goals 2000 Literacy initiative, literacy programs in New Jersey increased their efforts to meet literacy goals. In the summer of 1993, a needs assessment survey was conducted to determine the training and program development needs of adult education classroom teachers, teacher aides, substitute teachers, program…

During the past 20 years, international and bilateral assistance and funding agencies have become increasingly involved in evaluation activities in adult and nonformal education, especially in developing countries. The adult education field pioneered many approaches now advocated by specialists in program and project evaluation. Beginning in the…

A statewide needs assessment surveyed felt training needs of administrators, instructors, and advisors of adult literacy programs in Florida. Data were collected in the following ways: questionnaires sent to recipients of Adult Supplemental Grants and advisory-council chairpersons; indepth interviews; a literature review and document analysis; and…

A model program was developed to find ways to bring illiterate and undereducated adults into Massachusetts adult education programs. Prospective program clients (young adults) who will be identified by such organizations and agencies as schools, courts, welfare offices, and veterans and civic groups will be contacted by outreach workers to…

This manual is planned for use by both community organizations interested in starting literacy programs to serve their neighborhoods and for agencies providing other services to clients who would also benefit from literacy services. It is organized in four parts, which represent various stages in thinking about and starting a new literacy program.…

A literacy needs assessment on an aboriginal island reserve in Canada was conducted to address courses to improve the literacy of adult aboriginal students. Fifty-one adults responded to the questionnaire relative to the need to initiate an adult education program. Questionnaire results indicated that secondary school upgrading courses in…

The result of a study on adult literacy undertaken by World Education, this book places the educational problem of adult literacy into the larger context of a changing society and offers a fresh perspective and a new way of thinking about the phenomenon. After defining functional literacy as the possession of skills perceived by particular persons…

A study was conducted to determine the need for a provincewide literacy hotline in Alberta, Canada, and if needed, the configuration of services for establishing the hotline. Data were gathered through two surveys. In order to find out what an Alberta literacy hotline service might look like, a cross-Canada telephone and mail survey was conducted.…

A national advisory group of the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW) developed a proposal for an exploratory research project examining how gender and the power balance of male-female relationships affect women's access to/experience of literacy programs. A researcher was selected to conduct the following project…

The New Jersey Adult Reading Project was a state project involving more than 500 New Jersey adult educators from 98 adult education programs around the state. The primary objective of the project was to develop a competency-based adult reading management system that would allow program completers to achieve the following goals: continue their…

This study examined current initiatives related to adult literacy in Canada. A literature search, interviews with government personnel, telephone surveys, faxed questionnaires, and interviews with key individuals were used to assess four kinds of initiatives (teaching/learning opportunities, support to programs, policy development, and…

A project was undertaken to develop, field test, and revise strategies for adult beginning readers (ABRs). During the first phase of the study, the researchers identified roadblocks to use of word recognition clues by ABRs. Based on data and feedback from local and state piloting and general principles of learning, the project staff developed the…

A study examined existing collaborative activities between private or public employers and adult basic education (ABE), general educational development (GED), and English as a second language (ESL) programs in Maryland's 24 local education agencies. Information was gathered directly from 16 ABE administrators (including 4 community college…

Nonformal education in the SEAMEO (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization) Region was studied to gather information on significant ongoing programs/projects in nonformal education and to identify problems as well as potentials of the broad spectrum of nonformal education activites in the region (SEAMEO countries are Indonesia, Khmer…