Federal accountability policies requiring rapid, measurable outcomes have increasingly shaped the nature and type of public literacy services available to adults. However, little empirical research has explored the impact of accountability policies on program practice in adult basic education, and almost no research has focused on the effect on…

The extant literature offers little to describe the processes for screening students in adult basic education (ABE) programs for potential learning disabilities, referring adult students for diagnostic assessment, or barriers to obtaining diagnostic assessment for a learning disability. Without current documentation of a learning disability, ABE…

Primary differences between U.S. and Canadian use of General Educational Development Tests are as follows: Canada developed French version and uses metrics in math tests; some provinces use grade-level certification, not used in the U.S.; Canadian-content social studies test was developed; most provinces/territories set uniform pass levels; and…

Newly revised to include new data and information on the Internet, this guide for GED instructors offers lesson plans and helps teachers develop as professionals. It also gives adult learners an opportunity to practice writing, use graphs, read charts, and analyze research findings on the economic impact of the GED. The original version of this…

Most of us realize that increasing the education of adults who did not complete high school is good. Fewer of us realize just how good. This report on one of the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB) Challenge to Lead Goals for Education focuses on the considerable impact of closing the education gap for these adults in SREB states. The…

Adult secondary education learners approach the goal of college-level postsecondary education through three assessment gateways: (a) measures of adult education program learning gains, (b) a high-school equivalency exam, and (c) college placement tests. On the surface, the assessments in this sequence might appear to work in concert and point…

In Chapter Three, Marilyn Gillespie provides a summary of the research on writing instruction that has taken place over the last three decades. In her survey of writing research, she describes models of the writing process such as that developed by Flower and Hayes, who viewed writing as three cognitive writing processes: planning, text generation…

"The Review of Adult Learning and Literacy: Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice, Volume 5" is a volume in a series of annual publications of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) that address major issues, the latest research, and the best practices in the field of adult literacy and learning.…

In their chapter on numeracy, the authors begin by exploring the many terms used to describe the learning of mathematics by adults. They discuss the relationship between the terms "mathematics" and "numeracy" and explain why numeracy--making meaning with numbers and mathematical processes--is the term they chose for their…

This document expands upon the discussion of standardized tests in federal legislation and Department of Education rules and regulations, in order to guide practitioners in using these tests and alternative assessment methods more wisely. Amendments of 1988 that address the uses of standardized tests, the federal regulations that implement the…

The impact of the General Educational Development certificate (GED) on the earnings of high school dropouts who seek the credential were estimated. The estimates were derived by using several different types of estimation methods to analyze data linking Florida GED test information with quarterly earnings records collected by Florida's…

This paper reviews significant events and resources that have emerged since the 1992 publication of "Adult Literacy Education: Current and Future Directions. An Update" by Hanna Fingeret. It analyzes major milestones in research and practice in literacy education that have occurred in the last decade. The paper begins by looking at the…

The economic benefits of the General Educational Development certificate (GED) were examined through a review of four published papers and four unpublished working papers on the GED's benefits. Key findings were as follows: (1) a GED provides economic benefits only to low-skilled dropouts; (2) economic benefits of a GED appear over time--often…