Since 2000, the only serious attempt to mobilise new resources for education has been the World Bank's co-ordinated "Fast Track Initiative (FTI)." However, the FTI only raises funds for achieving universal completion of primary school and it does not address early childhood education or adult literacy. To date the Global Campaign for Education has done very little work on adult literacy or early childhood education. In some aspects it has become complicit in reducing the EFA vision. At last this is beginning to change, with ActionAid and the GCE planning to undertake some tightly focused research on adult literacy. This article explains why adult literacy has been excluded from FTI. This article also states that to make a strong case for adult literacy, advocacy groups need to present the case in a clear framework. Three key areas where research should focus if the outputs are to help frame clear advocacy work on adult literacy are also presented in this article. These areas include: (1) The costs of achieving the adult literacy goal; (2) The benchmarks that can be used to guide policy makers and donors; and (3) The forms of evaluation/assessment that could improve present practice.