Research and development on formative assessment has paid little attention to part-time adult basic education in informal community-based settings. A three-year project funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the National Research Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy, and the Quality Improvement Agency addresses that gap in vocational and…

The Attleboro (Massachusetts) Workplace Education Program, a partnership of four area companies and Bristol Community College, is intended to provide workers with education that will improve the quality of their lives and their work. Housed in a corporate office building in the Attleboro Industrial Park, the program offers classes in English as a…

The Tools of the Trade project was undertaken to offer comprehensive job search assistance to adult basic education students in the form of career awareness workshops. The workshops covered the following topics: completing job applications, writing resumes, filling out skill cards, interviewing for a job, analyzing the job market, following up on…

An investigation was conducted of the implementation of a new orientation procedure for adult basic education students in 17 classes spread throughout three rural counties and one city in the Dublin, Virginia, area. The new orientation procedure was contained in a guide that called for teachers to implement it in five consecutive class periods.…

A project was undertaken to help low-literate Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) members develop the reading and writing skills needed to participate fully in AA/NA programs. A training program consisting of three 1.5-hour-long sessions and accompanying training guidelines were developed and used to train 21 student and 7 tutor…

The Iowa Adult Basic Education Assessment Study was conducted to document the qualities of excellence, accountability, and purpose that are present in Iowa's adult basic education (ABE) program. A six-step documentation procedure included creation of an ABE task force; submission of written assessment reports from ABE coordinators; development,…

This guide builds on the framework for evaluating technology effectiveness in K-12 schools as described in the Council for Educational Development and Research's publication, "Plugging In: Choosing and Using Educational Technology." The revised framework is designed to provide encouragement and some rudimentary guidelines for critical thinking…

This training manual was developed as a source of information about Competency-Based Adult Basic Education (CBABE) for administrators, counselors, and teachers involved in the implementation of a CBABE program. After section I provides an introduction to Brevard Community College's development of CBABE curricula, section II explains the purposes…

This manual describes an effective, cost- and time-efficient approach to basic education and vocational training for adults. The approach was developed during a pilot project in Massachusetts that featured the following: capitalizing on students' interests, hands-on vocational training, the expectation that students' motivation to learn a…

A project was conducted to increase the retention of African American men in the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council's literacy program. The project's primary objectives were as follows: develop a program in self-esteem, goal setting, and decision making and use it as a "draw" to bring new students into the literacy program; build…

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…

This book is intended to assist literacy program administrators, coordinators, instructors, and volunteers in the design and implementation of literacy programs for homeless adults. Chapter 1 discusses barriers to instruction when serving homeless adults, including shelter environment, impermanence of location and opportunity, and the effects of…

Intended for use by literacy workers, teacher trainers, and program developers and directors, this annotated bibliography brings together the most current writings about adult literacy education available in journals, books, and ERIC documents. The entries are arranged into five sections: (1) the state of adult literacy, both in the United States…

A 10-week course called "Communiclearsory" Training was developed to improve the written and oral communications skills of supervisors/foremen in the manufacturing trades. A total of 39 selected supervisors from 2 manufacturing industries in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, were assessed by using the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE)…

A project was conducted to provide staff development workshops about adults with learning problems to agencies throughout Pennsylvania. Workshops and accompanying guides on nine topics ranging from understanding learning differences, problems, and disabilities to alternative instructional techniques were developed. Workshops were conducted…