Organizations and groups responsible for the bulk of the nation's adult basic skills provision are currently reaching an estimated 9-10 percent of the needy population. This represents an increase from the 7-8 percent reached in 1984. Adult Basic Education (ABE), the largest single program in the nation, has shown an overall growth in enrollment…

This document describes the British Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) because information on the ALBSU experience might be useful to planners working to establish a similar national literacy center in the United States. (The ALBSU was formed in London in the mid-1970s to support the BBC's television-based national adult literacy…

The field of cognitive science (as represented, for instance, by intergenerational literacy programs) offers new ways to think about increasing cognitive abilities, which is particularly important in view of the disappointing outcomes of many intervention programs that do not seem to make their participants more knowledgeable or better thinkers.…

This booklet provides guidelines for setting up workplace programs to strengthen employee basic skills. It is intended to help employers who are contemplating the establishment of basic skills training programs and those with programs already in place who seek to improve their current designs. Part I addresses the basic skills problem in the…

Twenty percent of adult Americans function only with difficulty with necessary every day literacy skills, almost two-thirds of the 800 million illiterate adults in the world are females, and the number of women who cannot read or write has risen steadily in the past 10 years. The inservice program described in this document involved a team of…

The Baltimore Learning Center is designed to provide functionally illiterate adults with the basic skills they need to compete for jobs. The Center's success is largely due to PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations), a computer-aided instruction system that lets the student work at his own pace. (MF)

Traces changes in literacy expectations from the early settlement of Australia through the introduction of compulsory schooling to today, when most segments of Australian society require a high level of literacy. (EL)

The author examines the potentialities of bypassing literacy in efforts to bring education and development to Third World countries, concluding that literacy is essential for human and economic development. He cites various perspectives on literacy and development (232 references), and analyses alternative strategies for literacy campaigns,…

Describes the use of a polyfunctional system, partially based on modular learning, in developing educational methods aimed to improve the living conditions of people in depressed areas of the world. Notes that the system should consist of series of preconstituted constant learning elements, echoing typical situations and open to adaptations…

Analyzes the obstacles to universal literacy in Africa including the colonial creation of a two-tier society, rapid population growth, and multiplicity of languages. Suggests that the power structure is such that it has a vested interest in the providing a limited amount of literacy without raising the populace's consciousness. (Contains 30…

Identifies dominant meanings of literacy within contemporary proposals for educational reform in North America, Britain, and Australasia, examining the meanings and noting the serious imbalance within current reform visions for literacy education. The paper examines four types of literacy constructions (lingering basics, new basics, elite…

Continuing education (CE) in Bangladesh is a mass education programme. The primary aim is to develop the skills of participants, providing them with opportunities to increase their income. Its targets are neo-literate people--both male and female--between the ages of 11 and 45. Neo-literate is a technical term used in mass education in Bangladesh…

Mastery of literacy skills may be a preventive and proactive way to address the problem of the high cost of imprisonment and the huge increase in the prison population. However, correctional educators contend with multiple problems in delivering literacy programs to inmates. Findings of the National Adult Literacy Survey indicate that, of the 5…

This document provides a snapshot of literacy programs and activities in Canada for 1995-96. The first section describes the National Literacy Secretariat (NLS), defines literacy, and discusses NLS's mandate, structure, and principles. It describes the following: (1) activity areas supported by NLS (developing learning materials, increasing public…

A study determined how workplace basic education could be factored into state-level planning by collecting information from 41 individuals representing adult educators, state policy developers, union representatives, and employers in 26 states; 4 focus groups; and a document review. Findings indicated that, despite significant previous experience…