Literacy facilitators across the archipelago are currently faced with the challenge to integrate local values in functional literacy education programs, because its integration is a new aspect. This makes localized literacy content a hard thing to implement. Yet, if properly conducted, it can lead to improved learner's basic competencies. In an…

The first section of this paper reports the results of numerous literacy studies in which adults were tested on a variety of tasks, including filling out forms, answering questions about newspaper classified advertisements, and dealing with certain facets of consumer economics. The percentage of adults in the United States reported to be literate…

Proposes redefining the problem of illiteracy in terms of a "social-interaction perspective" that would emphasize the need "to acculturate students to the practices of reading in their communities" and the broad range of reading competencies required by today's society. (JBM)

This study investigated various reading and writing abilities among 25- and 35-year-old residents of Linkoping, Sweden, and assessed the extent to which these individuals' abilities could be regarded as satisfactory for their needs. In all, 377 subjects were tested on the following skills: alphabet recognition, copying ability, reading rate,…

Literacy education is modeled along a continuum moving from a technical conception of literacy to a conception of literacy as praxis, or critical literacy. These competing models are contrasted, and special emphasis is given to one adult basic literacy organization that is managing to humanize the process. (Author/BJV)

This document examines the activities and resource needs of local basic skills programs; examines the major national organizations that lead, coordinate, and provide technical assistance to local providers; suggests how new organizations can assist and support the delivery of adult literacy services; and recommends public and private sector action…

This document takes a comprehensive look at the resources, problems, and needs of the literacy field and focuses on the long-term requirements for expanding literacy services and ensuring high quality instruction in the United States. (A major conclusion is that the present system, with proper funding and other resources, has the capacity to…

This paper describes the Adult Performance Level (APL) project, an alternative to external high school diplomas such as the General Educational Development (GED) test. Based on the need for "functional literacy" or "functional competency," the program teaches basic skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening, communication,…

Researchers reanalyzed the original Adult Performance Level Test survey data for the test's validity and reliability, and they concluded that (1) the test is not content valid because it assumes that functional competence can be logically defined and adult success accurately measured; and (2) the test is a valid measure of verbal, writing, and…

Details a study indicating that the minimal level of literacy necessary for adults in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is very high. Provides a master list of vocabulary words, symbols, numbers, abbreviations, computational skills, and writing skills needed for functional literacy. (MKM)

This report on what can and should be done to raise the literacy rate in Louisiana recommends that: (1) a state literacy office be established under the office of the governor to coordinate and facilitate the state's literacy programs; (2) a standard operational definition of literacy be established; (3) a Louisiana Literacy Foundation be…

The National Child Development Study is a longitudinal survey of all people who were born in the week of March 3-9, 1958 in England, Scotland, and Wales--approximately 17,000 people. A project used information collected from 12,500 of these people through interviews in 1981 when they were 23 years old. The project sought to determine (1) what…

Although adult basic education has been profoundly influenced by the concept of functional literacy, definition of this concept is clouded by false assumptions. From this critique of the economic approach to literacy emerges a new approach: locating literacy in its social context and relating it to information needs and access. (SK)

A study examined the use of the Penn State Adult Literacy Courseware, which teaches sight vocabulary to beginning adult readers, in a volunteer tutoring situation with three male and two female unemployed adults whose average grade level in reading was 1.1. All students were white, their average age was 37, and the highest grade any of them had…

The development and implementation of the Dallas Independent School District's Basic Objectives Assessment Test (BOAT) are described. Beginning in 1979, this minimum competency test was administered system-wide to all students in grades 8-12 (except for those enrolled as special education students), and beginning in 1983 it will be used in…