This "Adult College Completion Tool Kit" is designed to connect state administrators and local practitioners to the strategies, resources, and technical assistance tools resulting from the Department's work. States can use this information to identify and implement state adult education leadership priorities, supported by federal "Adult Education…

This exercise is intended to help those working with adult basic education (ABE) students gain greater insight into the interests and concerns of adults entering their program. It is a group activity that presumes that at least some of the participants are familiar with entering students. It can be adapted to reflect the traditional two or three…

Six suggestions are offered to help adult basic education teachers to develop adults' critical thinking skills. The suggestions recommend that teachers (1) seek reasons for an answer, (2) look for alternative answers, (3) take a passive role in discussion, (4) do not give an opinion unless asked, (5) ask students to back up their opinions, and (6)…

Because the new General Educational Development Test emphasizes essay writing, the author presents ideas for teaching and evaluating essays, teaching critical thinking and reasoning skills, and using the concept of teacher-as-learner as an effective role model. (SK)

A weekly classroom newsletter produced jointly by students and teachers is a practical way of involving adult basic education (ABE) students in writing activities while simultaneously increasing each student's ownership of the class. Such newsletters benefit ABE programs by incorporating the following recognized principles of adult education: ABE…

The "Ready-Set-ABE" project was initiated to address the special needs of students entering adult basic education (ABE) programs directly from literacy training or others at a low level of ABE performance. The program was designed to provide these students with the tutoring they need to function successfully in mainstream ABE classes by…

Teacher materials are provided for a computer-assisted English grammar curriculum for adult basic education students (1-8 grade level). They accompany a software program (diskette) that the student is able to use by himself/herself with the Apple IIc or Apple IIe computer with single or double drive and a monitor or a television with an R.F.…

An alternative to job applications--and one that can turn an individual's deficits or disabilities into assets--is a personal resume. The adult basic education teacher can assist the student in developing a personal resume and suggest the most effective methods for using it. The informal resume used at the Rappahannock Rehabilitation Facility,…

This handbook was developed for volunteer group leaders participating in Brevard Community College's Project BEST-PAL (Basic Education Skills Through-Parenting Affective Learning). Project BEST-PAL was developed especially for low socioeconomic parents who are in need of an opportunity to explore effective parenting, with a primary objective being…

This article discusses the National Issues Forum (NIF), a national, nonpartisan program designed to encourage citizen discussion of important public issues. The programs try to recreate the town meeting concept of reaching consensus on public issues. Short workbooks are available on two reading levels for issues such as the superpowers, crime,…

This document, written in the first person, describes the history and feelings of a woman who was functionally illiterate as an adult but who, having learned to read, is now a student at Rancho Santiago Community College District in Orange, California. This "open letter" urges teachers to support and encourage students with similar problems,…

Adult education instructors can help desensitize a student's fear of certain reading materials by constructing and using worksheets to make the material user friendly. Such user friendly worksheets can be constructed for any type of reading material. Guidelines for designing user friendly worksheets that contain location, organization, and process…

The book "Make Lemonade," by Virginia Euwer Wolff, consists of 66 short chapters in which a stream of consciousness-like style is used to tell the story of a young unwed mother of two children and her 14-year-old babysitter who wants to earn money to attend college and improve her life. This 7-page guide contains teaching suggestions for…

This book is an anthology of 45 stories, poems, and essays written by adult education (adult basic education and high school equivalency program) students in Ohio. The authors and their teachers were honored at the 1999 Ohio Writers' Conference. The authors were selected from 242 entries by a committee of faculty, staff, and adult students. The…

The revised General Educational Development (GED) tests introduced in 1988 require higher-level analytical skills of examinees than previous tests. The most immediate revision is the writing skills test, which requires examinees to demonstrate writing ability. This guide provides the GED student with a plan for writing an essay that will receive a…