Examines various approaches that have been taken to promote literacy and makes a plea for more research to clarify issues that will permit more useful definitions of literacy and more productive approaches to developing and enhancing literacy among youth and adults. (HOD)

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…

In 1974, the National Right to Read Effort asked that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conduct a Mini-Assessment of Functional Literacy (MAFL) in conjunction with its regular assessment of ten learning areas usually taught in school. The first MAFL was administered to 5,200 17-year-olds statistically selected to represent the…

The purposes of this study were to determine the proportion of Atlanta public high school 11th and 12th grade students classified as functionally literate, marginally literate, or illiterate and to determine the significant predictors of students' performance level. A total of 430 students in randomly selected classes were administered the…

The question of whether or not the level of reading competency has declined over the years, is addressed in this report. The study attempts to determine whether there is sufficient data to answer the question and to decide if the available factual information allows an answer to the question posed. Chapter one, describing the first phase of the…

Reports on a study in which a four-page weekly newspaper was published and delivered to 20 rural schools in Ghana; results indicated that recipients of the newspaper made literacy gains greater than those of control group students. (GW)

Examines two trends in research on literacy--formal and functional literacy--by analyzing some assumptions held by researchers representative of each. Indicates that formalists view literacy as mastery of linguistic and textual forms, while functionalists see it as the ability to use appropriate discourse forms to accomplish desired ends. (SKC)

Reviews research on the average reading level in the United States, on how well the average American needs to read, and on what the average American can and does read. (MKM)

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)

To obtain evidence on the status of and changes in functional literacy, the National Right-to-Read Effort funded mini-assessments of the functional literacy of 17-year-olds in 1974 and 1975. The exercises were selected by a panel of reading specialists, based on the criteria that the exercises represent the types of reading materials encountered…

Intended as a source of information on matters related to the evaluation of literacy projects, this guide is designed to help evaluators keep a proper perspective on their work by proposing a wide range of options and suggesting directions for evaluations. The first two chapters of the guide deal with the general principles of evaluation and the…

This report describes the development of an experimental program of job reading training designed to provide a level of functional literacy appropriate to minimal job task reading requirements in six major career clusters. Program effectiveness for both general and job reading training is described in data based on the reading performance of some…

The nine papers in this document represent the final report of a workshop on research on literacy in developing countries. It is noted in the introduction by Kenneth King that research in literacy tends to be performed by persons who are also literacy activists and that the problem of motivation seems to be central to most literacy research. It is…

This handbook is designed to give background information on the Mini-Assessment of Functional Literacy, a criterion-referenced test designed to determine the extent of functional literacy among seventeen year olds in America. The five format categories identified for the test were passages; drawings, pictures, signs, etc.; charts, maps, graphs;…

Through the administration of standardized tests, questionnaires, and an inventory of educational progress designed to assess the application of skills, an effort is made to analyze the literacy, functional literacy, and factors related to achievement in a population of 181 eighth-grade students selected from an inner-city population and a…