This booklet of information and accompanying reading selections are intended to help a tutor get started with a new adult learner. The booklet does not provide suggestions for teaching strategies, but rather discusses conducting the initial assessment of learners, observing the student reading, categorizing the students into one of three stages,…

Intended to help adult education teachers and administrators select the type of adult literacy program that works best for their students, this digest surveys nine different programs and discusses the assessment methods used for each program. The programs examined are: (1) Time to Read; (2) Center for Literacy program; (3) Federal Prison System…

This manual (and an accompanying video) is a literacy audit tool to help adult education practitioners find out how their clients and staff rate their organization's success in meeting the literacy needs of clients. The manual also contains background information about literacy and suggestions on how to use the literacy audit to help an…

In March 1988, the Institute for Literacy Studies at Lehman College, New York, initiated a short-term, participatory research project in alternative assessment. It consisted of two major components--a five-session seminar held for two hours on Wednesday afternoons in May and June and two rounds of interviews with Adult Learning Center (ALC)…

This interview guide can be used to determine whether a workplace literacy provider has the skills to develop and deliver a successful workplace literacy program that will meet the needs of a business and build the productive capacity of its employees. It can be used to assess the capabilities of a wide variety of literacy providers, including…

This guide resulted from a project conducted to develop a process for evaluating adult basic education (ABE) tutoring programs. Through a literature search and discussions with ABE practitioners in Canada, a list of 17 statements of good practice was formulated. These statements were used as a basis for the development of a program questionnaire,…

This product checklist can be used to determine whether a particular workplace literacy product (such as a series of instructional workbooks, curriculum guides, or computerized instructional systems), follows best practice and will meet the needs of a particular business firm and build the productive capacity of its employees. The checklist was…

This handbook, which is intended for workplace literacy practitioners and trainers, examines how to develop and evaluate workplace literacy. Discussed in chapter 1 are the following: current practices in workplace literacy programs, literacy demands on workers and ways of addressing them through workplace education programs, and the importance of…

Dependence on standardized tests in adult literacy programs derives partly from their relative ease of adminstration and their appearance of providing valid and reliable quantitative data for program evaluation. Few adult educators are satisfied with the quality of the information, and most are extremely dissatisfied with the effects of such…

A project was conducted to design an alternative assessment tool for use with adult learners traditionally identified as reading below fifth-grade level. This assessment allows for the creation of a goal-oriented Individual Education Plan that is personalized to the learner's needs and educational goals. The approach, analogous to the art…

This checklist was developed to be used for evaluating and enhancing the performance of established workplace education programs. With minor modifications, the document also may be useful for evaluating other types of training and education programs. Management, labor, and education partners may use the checklist as a stand-alone evaluation…

This checklist was designed to be used in developing new workplace education initiatives and enhancing established programs. The checklist is organized in four sections that cover the following topics: (1) program design and administration indicators; (2) participant achievement indicators; (3) program outcome indicators; and (4) evaluation tools.…

An evaluation of the fifth cycle of operation of the Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative had several purposes: (1) to identify the indicators of quality in workplace education; (2) to begin to design an evaluation system for each program; and (3) to assess the indicators of quality for workplace education programs against the national…

Equipped for the Future (EFF) is a standards-based system reform initiative aimed at improving the quality and outcomes of the adult literacy and lifelong learning delivery systems. It is predicated on the concept that the skills adult learners need for success as parents, workers, and citizens go beyond the basic academic skills traditionally…

This guide was developed as a tool for group leaders to help people in their organizations participate in local discussions about literacy quality and evaluation in Ontario, Canada, as part of the Literacy Quality Standards and Evaluation Project. The guide is organized in seven sections that cover the following topics: definition of literacy;…