Examines the current status of adult literacy programs in rural areas. Discusses the goals of rural adult literacy programs and the types of programs reported to be effective. Discusses the needs of adult illiterates in rural areas and the conditions that support--or limit--the widespread influence of effective programs. (MG)

The Library Rural Literacy Outreach Program targeted to ten rural communities in the Fresno County, California, Free Library district is reported. The sites were chosen based on inquiries from volunteers in those communities and support for the program by the branch library staff. Goals of the program were to provide literacy services to adult…

A curriculum designed by the Maury, Tennessee, Literacy Council to address deficiencies in English-language skills is presented. Maury County, Tennessee, is a rural area south of Nashville whose automotive industries and ethnic restaurants have immigrant populations in need of English instruction. A state 353 teacher training grant was obtained to…

If literacy is to increase the autonomy and social standing of previously illiterate persons rather than to domesticate and further subordinate them, reading and writing must be imbued with genuine empowering potential. A case study from rural Nicaragua, set against an account of adult literacy for revolutionary change, is presented. (37…

This curriculum guide contains workplace-specific instructional materials developed for use in a rural workplace literacy demonstration project. Contents include instructional objectives, pre- and posttests, learning activities (some locally developed and some selected from commercially prepared materials), and job simulations. Learning activities…

This book consists of a compilation of 28 stories, mostly first-person accounts of life in the Sequatchie Valley of southeastern Tennessee (some from earlier times) written in simplified language to provide high-interest reading material for adult readers in rural areas. The book is printed in large type. Many of the stories provide pertinent…

This is the second in a series of books that provide high-interest reading material for rural adults who read below the seventh-grade level. The book provides information on science, technology, and the environment for the people of Appalachia and other rural areas, helping to bring the concepts and meaning of science within their grasp. Many of…

The Horry County, South Carolina, Reading Crusade, a joint effort of the Literacy Council and the school district, was begun in 1979-80 with the intent of raising the literacy level of adults. The school district's Adult and Community Education Department provided office space, telephones, lab space, salaries, and mileage for the coordinators. The…

The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) technique was used with 1,550 women and 420 men in more than 100 villages in Uganda, El Salvador, and Bangladesh over a 2-year period to develop and pilot test an approach to literacy education called REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques). The REFLECT approach, which…

This curriculum guide contains workplace-specific instructional materials developed for use in a rural workplace literacy demonstration project, specifically with welders. Contents include a student assessment form, instructional objectives, pre- and posttests, learning activities (some locally developed and some selected from commercially…