Prisons are intended to rehabilitate criminal offenders, as well as to punish and incapacitate them. The education and training systems operating within most prisons are a key component of the rehabilitation mission of prisons. Previous studies have shown a relationship between participation in educational programs and recidivism rates, with…

Two facts have become clear since passage of the Workforce Investment Act in 1998. First, when low-skilled individuals increase their basic skills, these higher skills pay off in the labor market in the form of higher employment and earnings. Second, these earnings increases are typically modest and fall short of what people need to become…

An existing 353 project that used professional staff as distance education contact persons for students in General Educational Development (GED) programs in rural areas was modified so that volunteer instructional aides (IAs) could serve as contact persons for GED students choosing the program's home study option. A home study packet to be used in…

The Bethlehem Area Chamber of Commerce (Pennsylvania) developed a model network of nine Lehigh Valley Chambers of Commerce and two literacy coalitions to improve the literacy levels of a two-county area work force. A literacy coordinator conducted the following activities: (1) publicized program provider information; (2) encouraged company-based…

A project developed and conducted a summer institute to offer training, hands-on activities, and workshops addressing educational technology for adult basic education (ABE), General Educational Development (GED) and literacy education teachers, administrators, and staff. During the first phase of the project, the institute was designed as a 3-day…

In this document are a final report and a teacher's manual developed to assist General Educational Development (GED) program teachers in incorporating a focus on career planning and goal setting in the GED curriculum. The report notes how the manual was developed using the following methods: surveying past graduates, GED teachers, and present GED…

An instructor and her students used questions to plan, teach, and assess a lesson in a Family Literacy/General Educational Development (GED) program. The class identified that their families should lose weight and exercise more to have healthier hearts. They focused on the area of responsibility, called Promote Family Members' Growth and…

The 12 programs selected as 1996 winners of the Secretary's Awards for Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs illustrate a diverse range of promising practices for the 21st century. Winners were selected based on the presence of 10 elements, including the following: effective and potentially replicable practices; measurable objectives…

The Star Team Acquiring Rewards in Literacy and Insights Through Education (STARLITE) program was implemented to improve the job proficiency of employees at the Pacific Star Hotel, Guam. Its goal was to provide employees with both workplace literacy skills and employability skills. An audit was completed in each department of the hotel. Modules…

There is a strong and growing argument for higher educational attainment in the United States. The jobs that are expected to support the economy in the coming years will depend on a skilled workforce that is able to learn and adapt quickly to new challenges. However, demographic patterns demonstrate that relying on the traditional K-16 pipeline to…

A staff development program was conducted to provide adult educators in Pennsylvania with information about adults with learning differences and information about using alternative instructional tools and techniques to instruct such adults. The following four training sessions were developed: (1) Teaching GED (General Educational Development) Math…