This publication reviews and summarizes the findings of the major benchmark studies and reports in adult literacy--beginning with the University of Texas' Adult Performance Level Study of 1977 and continuing through the 2006 NAAL survey results, A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st Century.

Around the world, women suffer oppression to various degrees. In the United States, they have a difficult time rising in corporations or having their ideas taken seriously. In some other countries, they are abused and overworked. Some women in Norway are concerned that their country's entrance into the European Community will mean an end to the…