The rapid growth of inclusive higher education opportunities for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has contributed to improvements in students' academics, employment, social, and independent living outcomes. However, many college programs lack a focus on functional literacy, a critical skill for success in…

Education has been identified as one of the most important ways to achieve national development. With 3 million non-literate adults in Lagos State, the commercial nerve center of the nation, radio becomes a veritable medium to teach such adults who, for several reasons including economic, do not have the opportunity of formal schooling. The study…

The purpose of this quantitative, pretest-posttest causal-comparative with control condition study was to examine if there was a difference in misconduct, as measured by reduction in occurrences of disciplinary infractions while incarcerated. General strain theory of criminal behavior provided the theoretical context for this study. The Arizona…

This article presents findings of study on women's experiences of Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) as a gateway to their financial progress and welfare in Lango region, Northern Uganda. The qualitative study of 45 participants aimed at examining women's live changes resulting from using their acquired FAL knowledge and skills to participate in…

This study reports opinions and practices of teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) in 34 states regarding functional literacy for students with visual impairments (VIs) and significant cognitive disabilities (SCDs). The survey asked TSVIs to select a definition of functional literacy, indicate agreement with a series of literacy…

Landscape work is dangerous. In the Southeast, Hispanic workers predominate in landscape industries. The incidence of functional illiteracy in this group of workers is high. A pictorial knowledge-based evaluation instrument was developed to measure the effectiveness of the trainings. No reading skills were required to take the evaluation. The…

The purpose of this study was to examine connections between health literacy and social communication skills in older adults, a population that experiences chronic health conditions but is reported to have low health literacy and declines in communication skills. Sixty-three older adults were administered the "Social Communication"…

Beyond 3Rs to learning within political action to functional literacy to life skills, the discourse on adult literacy has primarily been defined by civil society organizations. This article presents thoughts on adult literacy programs coming from educators and advocates and the underlying dilemmas of autonomy and collaboration with government for…

Purpose: There is limited amount of research that constitutes non-traditional curricula implemented within an institutionalized context of developing countries. An attempt is made in this project to gain a clearer understanding of a non-traditional early learning program within an orphanage campus setting of Ladyville, Belize, Central America.…

Reviews literature on U.S. Office of Education-sponsored Adult Performance Level project that cites among its accomplishments (1) a model for competency-based education, (2) creation of national awareness of illiteracy, and (3) individualized programs. Among its insufficiencies are absence of reliable measures of validity, value-laden curriculum,…

Literacy education is modeled along a continuum moving from a technical conception of literacy to a conception of literacy as praxis, or critical literacy. These competing models are contrasted, and special emphasis is given to one adult basic literacy organization that is managing to humanize the process. (Author/BJV)

This paper summarises findings and lessons from a recently conducted evaluation of an adult functional literacy program in Ghana. The study attempted to assess learners' literacy and numeracy skills, and ascertain participants' knowledge and skills in various development aspects as well as their impact. The literacy and numeracy skills assessment…

Reports the effectiveness of Thailand's Functional Literacy and Family Life Planning project in the village of Nonglungka, based upon several months of observation by the author. Concludes that, although literacy skills were improved, the participants did not apply this knowledge to their daily lives. Makes suggestions for improvement of the…

In 2000, approximately 877 million adults worldwide were illiterate and 113 million children did not attend school. More than two-thirds of those individuals lived in East and South Asia, and two-thirds were females. Functional illiteracy remains high in developed and developing nations alike. The reasons include weak training in how to teach…