Australia's overall performance in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) ranges from average to very good. However, three million adults, representing one-fifth of the working age population, have low literacy and/or numeracy skills. Building Skills for All in Australia describes the characteristics of the low-skilled and discusses the consequences…

Describes how the military fights against illiteracy, suggesting military methods are useful in teaching young adult civilians. Highlights: the origins of functional context education in the military; work toward literacy in the Vietnam war era; applications to teaching civilians; and the K-12 education system. Functional context education can…

Dedicated computers are designed to perform a specific function (such as check-out computers in supermarkets). Because software for these computers is either built in or housed in separate plug-in program modules, programming knowledge is not necessary. The use of these computers to help individuals master basic academic subjects is discussed.…

Stressing to remedial educators the danger of complacency once a learner has acquired the basic skills of reading and numeracy, the authors advocate cooperation and coordination between secondary remedial education and adult literacy programs and call for a real commitment by teachers toward fostering basic skills in the disadvantaged. (SJL)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has acted to provide a new perspective with its 1985 survey of the literacy skills of young Americans aged 21-25. In the Spring of 1985, NAEP began screening 40,000 households to identify a nationally representative sample of between 3,600 and 5,000 young adults aged 21-25 and several hundred…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has acted to provide a new perspective with its 1985 survey of the literacy skills of young Americans aged 21-25. In the spring of 1985, NAEP began screening 40,000 households to identify a nationally representative sample of between 3,600 and 5,000 young adults aged 21-25 and several hundred…

A study reviewed recent research on issues central to adult learning, learning disabilities, and study skills in seven important areas--reading and listening, writing, arithmetic, memory, metacognition, representational competence, and perceived competence. The review focused on recent findings that had direct implications for the assessment and…

As part of the National Adult Literacy Survey in 12 states, approximately 1,250 adults in Iowa were surveyed as representatives of the 2.1 million adults in the state. The aim of the survey was to characterize literacy skills based on performance on diverse tasks that reflect the materials and demands that adults encounter every day. Fourteen to…

A study of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) showed that the RRB was only a microcosm of the problem of unprepared workers being experienced by employers nationwide. Implementing basic skills programs was found to be crucial because corporations and government agencies, like the RRB, found the labor pool to be poorly educated. Research on…

Unlike those of several of it major economic competitors, the U.S. system of preparation for work stresses educational attainment rather than qualitative standards or occupationally specific assessments of knowledge or skills. The resultant emphasis on longer education produces a more qualified work force, but the quest for longer schooling has…

This report is an overview of the changes occurring in society and the workplace today, with a prediction of how those changes will affect employment in the future in the United States and especially in Indiana. The report is organized in five sections. The first section summarizes the demographic, economic, and social changes that are presently…

A study was conducted to improve the link between basic skill instruction and entry into various vocational training programs. Data were collected from the following sources: current professional literature; developers and publishers of adult basic education (ABE) instructional materials; consultations with experts in the fields of adult literacy,…

Despite the fact that, of all the 50 states, Utah has the highest percentage of state and local government expenditures for education and the highest proportion of adults who have graduated from high school, one out of every five adults in Utah lacks basic literacy skills. At present, the following adult literacy programs offer instruction in…

This report describes a low-cost, adaptable methodology for assessment of basic learning competencies (BLCs) in diverse cultural contexts. Following the introduction, section 2 provides a policy framework and covers priority populations; policy and assessment needs; challenges for policy-driven assessments; and questions policymakers might have.…

The adult general education programs administered by the Division of Workforce Development in Florida's Department of Education were subjected to a justification review. To assess the programs' performance, the number of literacy completion points (LCPs) earned by each program and system and the number of LCPs earned per enrollee were analyzed.…