This guide takes an eclectic approach to literacy training, that is, it allows the instructor to select those materials and methods that best fit the needs of individual learners. It includes a definition of the target population which will include adults who are nonliterate, preliterate, semiliterate, and those who are literate in a non-Roman…

Conditions of illiteracy and functional illiteracy frustrate the intent of laws like the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) that provide job training and employment opportunities for the economically disadvantaged, unemployed, or underemployed. The Adult Education Act of 1978 should provide the basic educational skills needed by CETA…

An executive report summarizes the Alberta Vocational Centre's development of a portable individualized, competency-based learning system for use in an adult basic education program in a non-institutional community location. The report deals with the project's rationale, development (including management, curricular development, budget, and site…

By the early nineteenth century, religion and social necessity had driven literacy in western Europe and in the United States from an overall level below 20% to about 50% of all men in a little more than two centuries; women had benefited as well. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the state entered the business of education on a large…

This study reviews the literature on past, present, and projected literacy requirements for United States Navy enlisted personnel, literacy skills of those entering the Navy, and activities developed to bridge the gap between the two. Through an examination of research reports, historical accounts, and instructional methods and materials, the…

The primary purpose of this bibliography is to stimulate active communication of research needs and findings among researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers concerned with adult functional literacy. By topically arranging and briefly annotating significant research articles on functional literacy, this Guide introduces some of the major issues…

Using practical problems faced by farmers developing new agricultural methods, a problem-oriented approach to adult functional literacy was developed and tested in the Jaipur district. The booklet explains the first two of the project's five phases: exploration, syllabus and curriculum construction, materials preparation, action, and evaluation.…

Adult literacy programs must provide individuals with the essential knowledge and skills which enable them to function effectively within their environments. The goal of adult literacy programs must be to enable students to become less dependent on others, which is also the goal of most adult students. Administrators of adult literacy programs…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of participation in adult basic education on changes in selected non-cognitive attributes: anomia, self-concept, and internal-external control of environment. Two subsidiary problems were to examine the differences in levels of anomia, self-concept, and internal-external control of…

Current definitions of illiteracy and functional illiteracy are reviewed, and their relationship both to estimates of the scope of the problem and to efforts toward its solution are discussed. Applying functional standards according to the requisites of particular societies, it can be seen that even countries with high literacy rates, such as the…

This booklet, issued as a contribution to the International Education Year, presents various aspects of the problem of advancement of women through access to education, and describes what Unesco is doing in this field. Emphasis is given to the education of women as a factor in the advancement of humanity. The education of women is discussed from…

Efforts to substantially reduce adult illiteracy in the United States have been largely unsuccessful. The purpose of this study was to obtain a basic word list, based on oral vocabulary of adult black illiterates in two urban centers, which could subsequently be used to develop basic education reading materials, reading tests, and a readability…

This study by Louis Harris and Associates was designed to determine the percentage of Americans lacking the functional or practical reading skills necessary to survive in this country. A test on reading and filling out application forms indicated that from 4.3 million to 18.5 million Americans are functionally illiterate. The average range of…

The objectives of this three day seminar were to increase the knowledge about the functionally illiterate adult and his characteristics, research about non-reading adults, materials available for them, public library services and programs for illiterate adults as well as basic adult education activities offered by schools and other community…

According to a National Assessment of Educational Progress report, most American school children have mastered reading and writing fundamentals without learning how to analyze, evaluate, and extend ideas they read and write about. To address this "surface understanding" problem, the report recommends literacy programs aimed at high risk…