Discusses the minimum competency movement and suggests standards for constructing and implementing exit competency requirements. (MKM)

This article traces the development of the concept and roles of literacy in Western civilization. Current concern about declining literacy in American students is discussed historically in terms of (1) rising literacy standards; (2) applying the standards and tastes of traditional elites to the larger population; and (3) the perennial…

Examines various approaches that have been taken to promote literacy and makes a plea for more research to clarify issues that will permit more useful definitions of literacy and more productive approaches to developing and enhancing literacy among youth and adults. (HOD)

Workplace literacy has been a recent addition to the field of literacy education and research, achieving a level of "commonsense" acceptability so that its meaning(s) or constructions have largely gone unchallenged. A study, therefore, explored the concepts of "work,""workers," and "literacy," not so much to…

Describes a game used to teach adults to recognize and comprehend words and phrases basic to their lives. (TO)

Voices concern for growing number of illiterate adults in world and quality and limitation of reading materials available to those who do acquire reading skills. (DS)

Very few Asian children enroll in school. Those who do enroll are faced with many problems, such as ill-trained teachers and under-equipped classrooms. Moreover, those who manage to obtain a college degree have difficulty in finding jobs. (CK)

A statewide concentrated literacy campaign using Operation Alphabet telecasts was launched in Florida in 1963. This article relates the history of the campaign, describes Operation Alphabet, and evaluates some of the instructional procedures used. (PT)

Describes the development of an oral test for Florida drivers' license applicants whose literary impairments prevent them from passing a written examination. Field test results show that the test accurately measures applicants' knowledge of driving practices rather than their reading skills. (SK)

Describes efforts and difficulties encountered by health care professionals who attempted to develop a Spanish-language word recognition test as a quick screening for patients' literacy levels, an effort which was ultimately unsuccessful. Notes that the close phoneme-grapheme correspondence of the spelling system means oral reading may not reflect…

Describes the benefits of and processes necessary for teaching Chinese as a functional language, focusing on the three teaching and learning objectives of goal orientation in curriculum planning; cultural/contextual clarity in instruction; and clear guidelines for evaluation. (CB)

Summarizes the findings of Book Flood studies in Niue, Fiji, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Solomon Islands, and several other developing countries. It is possible to double the rate of reading acquisition of Third World primary school pupils with a Book Flood of about 100 high-interest books per class and short teacher training sessions.…

Describes a schoolwide secondary program in New York which includes the teaching of higher level reading skills for all. (RB)

Intended for administrators, curriculum directors, teachers, school board members, and representatives of local industry in Michigan, this module was designed to create awareness of the disparity between the demands of the workplace and literacy instruction in the schools, and to encourage school districts to develop new indices for assessing the…

The message about general literacy standards in Canada (as reported in the Southam Literacy Survey) is that approximately five million Canadians are illiterate. The validity of this message must be challenged because a group of middle-class Canadians with middle-class values established the criteria for being "literate" and felt that all…