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…

This document, written in the first person, describes the history and feelings of a woman who was functionally illiterate as an adult but who, having learned to read, is now a student at Rancho Santiago Community College District in Orange, California. This "open letter" urges teachers to support and encourage students with similar problems,…

Defining literacy is a compelling challenge to educators. They generally use three models: instrumental, functional, and empowerment. The latter two approaches, which were increasingly evident in the 1980s, identify literacy by the social functions required in a given context or by the qualities needed for illiterate people to take control of…

These statements, letters, and supplemental materials were provided by: (1) Janet Jones Ballard, Assault on Literacy Program; (2) Representative Jim Cooper, Tennessee; (3) Mitch Snyder, Center for Creative Non-Violence; (4) Garrett Murphy, Division of Adult and Continuing Education Programs, New York; (5) W. Wilson Goode, mayor of Philadelphia;…

Examines contemporary "technocratic" and "progressive" approaches to literacy. Discusses "functional literacy" in relation to the classical model of "high literacy." Suggests research be guided by considerations of contextual factors influencing acquisition and use of literate abilities and organized in…

Participants in the workshop on literacy reported in this document included 15 educators and specialists from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, and Western Samoa. Chapter 1 reports an assessment of the present literacy situation in the South Pacific with particular attention to the problem of hidden illiteracy. Chapter 2…

This document from the task force charged with assessing Wisconsin's adult illiteracy problem and recommending what to do about it reports that the state has 492,720 residents who are at or below the level of functional illiteracy and another 412,720 considered to be "at-risk" due to the increased demand for higher-level basic skills in…

Relates Victorian attitudes toward education by a forgotten 19th century liberal educator concerned with proper moral education. Concludes that uses and development of basic literacy are severely bound by individual and social contexts and that basic literacy does not, in itself, wield a magical transforming power for learning and life. (TRS)

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 study estimates the incidence, characteristics, and patterns of change over time of illiteracy in Morocco. The study compares the results from direct literacy assessment to the conventional methods of self-reported literacy. This effort has provided more detailed, objective information with which patterns of literacy skills in the country may…

Materials from the Literacy Symposium that begin this document are a letter of support from Barbara Bush, a symposium agenda, and lists of panel participants, speakers, symposium staff, and members of the Academic Advisory Council to the U.S. Government Printing Office. These are followed by 21 pages of quotes from particpants. Those quoted…

In fiscal year 1987, approximately 12,000 inmates, or 29 percent of the 44,000 incarcerated adults at least 18 years old, enrolled in adult basic education (ABE) programs. Six thousand five hundred completed their programs. Another 3,500 enrolled in the General Educational Development (GED) program and 2,800 received diplomas. All inmates who…

This document, one of a series of British occasional papers on basic education, investigates adult literacy practices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The texts and their authors are "Building a National Movement: The Caribbean Experience" (Didacus Jules); "Literacy and Empowerment: A Definition for Literacy"…

Since colonial times, definitions and estimates of illiteracy in the United States have been debated. The Census Bureau's major indicator is number of years of schooling completed. However, average grade-level attainment is high, whereas estimates of levels of reading ability remain low. In addition, these measures are inadequate for adults. A…

Literacy and work force preparedness are two of the most important issues facing education today. Findings of nationwide studies show that reading and writing performance of students is inadequate. One of every eight current workers reads at the fourth-grade level or lower. The nation's economic future will be determined by the quality and…