Appalachia has a history of isolation, poverty, substandard education and services, and economic exploitation by outside forces, but also has a long history of resistance and community organizing. This paper describes three rural Appalachian community organizations whose mission is the strengthening and empowering of communities as well as…

The Louisiana Adult Education Program provides academic education for persons 16 years old and above with less than a high school education, with emphasis on decreasing the illiteracy rate in Louisiana. The program enrolled 44,515 students in literacy efforts in fiscal year 1986-1987. Approximately 33,000 students were tested. The average of the…

For nineteen years, Mercy Learning Center, a community-based literacy organization, has provided basic literacy instruction to low-income women in Bridgeport, Connecticut. During that time it has grown from three students and two tutors to 450 students, 155 tutors, and five full-time teachers. This growth has been affected by changes in welfare…

The Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) program, operated by the St. Louis County Juvenile Court, Clayton, Missouri, provides career orientation and counseling, high school equivalency and remedial education, and placement and follow-up to deliquent school dropouts age sixteen and older. Community organizations help to promote client status…

This booklet contains descriptions of the 13 finalists in the U.S. Secretary of Education's Program of Awards for Outstanding Adult Education Programs. The programs, which include adult basic education (ABE), English as a second language (ESL), and adult secondary education (including general educational development--GED) programs are grouped into…

The Basic Educational Skills Training (BEST) workplace literacy demonstration model was designed to provide adult basic education (ABE) services simultaneously for multiple employers in Maury County, Tennessee. The BEST model focused on job-related instruction. The goal of the program was to achieve increased safety, productivity, and employee…

A project to develop grass roots alternative diploma study (Project GRADS) was undertaken for the purpose of formulating and implementing a multimodal, systems approach to preparing rural adults to pass the General Educational Development (GED) Tests. During the year-long, countywide program, GED programming was developed and delivered via the…

This report describes and evaluates the Raven School, a charter school established in 1998 to serve adjudicated youths ages 16 to 18. The school is administered by the Gulf Coast Trades Center, a private nonprofit organization located in the Sam Houston National Forest in rural Texas. In addition to academics and GED preparation, other program…

This report records the accomplishments of single parent/homemaker vocational education programs in California, mandated by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984. These programs assist single parents/homemakers in their progress from poverty and public assistance toward personal empowerment and economic self-sufficiency. The report…

Intended for people interested in developing a skill clinic, this document contains examples of community and workplace approaches to skill clinics. It describes skill clinics that make it easier for adults to pursue further education and training by offering one-stop service, coordination, assessment, referral, and career counseling. Nine…

A community volunteer program was developed for Miami Southridge Adult Education Center in Dade County, Florida. The program was designed to serve a variety of needs, including providing remedial training for students preparing to take the General Educational Development examination, providing supervisory and tutorial services for the children of…

A total person-concept program combined the development of vocational, communication (English), living, and leadership skills in persons of limited English proficiency. The program, which included vocational, English language, and leadership development classes, had as its objective providing participants with new experiences to develop…

Older teens living in families receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) face serious sociodemographic disadvantages. When combined with the characteristic risk-taking behaviors of adolescence, these disadvantages pose a threat to TANF teens' immediate and future physical, psychological, and emotional health and to their long-term…

Seventeen Massachusetts programs involving schools and communities working together to support the educational success of linguistic minorities are described. The programs represent a cross-section of efforts in the state serving a variety of language groups. Program focuses include: (1) supplemental support and resources for Cambodian students;…