This report looks at whether employers think schools are equipping young people with the literacy skills required for the workplace. It is primarily based on secondary literature sources and introductory conversations with a small sample of key employers and agencies. A complementary report presents evidence on young people's views on literacy and…

Growing scientific literature provides a perspective of literacy that is at variance with traditional points of view, which see literacy as a unitary, dichotomous, psychological capability that is learned with the appropriate educational opportunity. However, an individual is not easily categorized as literate or illiterate. While the goal is to…

Discusses the current state of literacy and suggests that there is a renaissance of interest in the teaching of rhetoric and composition. (AEA)

A more flexible definition of literacy combines oral literacy, which focuses on the concrete, with written literacy, which is abstract. For W. Ong, F. DeAngelo, A. R. Luria, and others who have done research on oral and written cultures, their central concern is one of defining and describing the kind and form of consciousness that is represented…

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)

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)

According to a National Assessment of Educational Progress report, most American school children have mastered reading and writing fundamentals without learning how to analyze, evaluate, and extend ideas they read and write about. To address this "surface understanding" problem, the report recommends literacy programs aimed at high risk…

A review of the literature on assessing communications skills is presented. Communication skills are dividied into five areas: reading literacy, writing literacy, functional literacy, oral communication, and listening. Within each area, a definition is given, current assessment views are listed, and descriptions of relevant research are provided.…

There is a prevalent public outcry against the putative decline in the quality of world, and especially American, linguistic expression. This paper examines the accuracy of this claim, and weighs the significant supporting and opposing evidence, which includes informed opinion, expert witness, and results of standardized reading and writing…

This pamphlet is the result of working papers prepared for the 1969 UNESCO meeting held to analyze problems associated with implementing an experimental world literacy program. Functional literacy is distinguished from traditional literacy as being an integral part of the economic and social development of the area in question, not isolated or an…

This report recommends that an annual report be made to the citizens of Florida about the state of literacy in Florida. The concept of literacy is defined in terms of levels of literacy and basic skills required to achieve the different levels. A review of the literature on literacy is the basis for three suggested levels of literacy: (1)…

This yearbook volume is devoted to the theme of literacy. By analyzing the present situation and the quantitative evolution of literacy and illiteracy in the world and by examining efforts to expand schooling and the provision of adult education, this volume studies the origins of illiteracy and the factors that encourage its reduction or its…

The 1980-81 Jefferson County (Kentucky) Adult Reading Program served 601 students functioning below 6.0 grade level during the 1980-81 year. The project's instructional methods and materials were developed based on the experiences of the program for the previous two years. The program was considered a success not only from the viewpoint of the…

This document is a report of a symposium whose participants are involved with the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development, a project engaged in a longitudinal study of 80 low-income families with preschool-aged children in Boston (Massachusetts). The project was designed to identify possible success factors for children from…