Reports on a study of reading and writing practices within a community environment. Concludes that literacy has different meanings for members of different groups, with a variety of modes, functions, and uses. Points out that these differences have yet to be taken into account by policymakers. (JMF)

This document describes the British Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) because information on the ALBSU experience might be useful to planners working to establish a similar national literacy center in the United States. (The ALBSU was formed in London in the mid-1970s to support the BBC's television-based national adult literacy…

A model program was designed to provide objective ways of measuring the academic and vocational needs of a maintenance and custodial work force and to develop a core curriculum based on the information obtained. To gather data, the researchers administered a needs assessment survey and conducted interviews of staff and management of the…