This study reviews the literature on past, present, and projected literacy requirements for United States Navy enlisted personnel, literacy skills of those entering the Navy, and activities developed to bridge the gap between the two. Through an examination of research reports, historical accounts, and instructional methods and materials, the…

Adult literacy programs must provide individuals with the essential knowledge and skills which enable them to function effectively within their environments. The goal of adult literacy programs must be to enable students to become less dependent on others, which is also the goal of most adult students. Administrators of adult literacy programs…

This paper discusses the literacy situation in Thailand, where, while literacy is regarded as the basic right of every Thai, the greater proportion of the population reads at the elementary level. The paper first examines the national policy on literacy, focusing on problems which remain to be tackled under the Fifth National Economic and Social…

This brief paper describes a literacy program for adults with mental retardation in the Boston metropolitan region developed when more than 300 individuals formally requested literacy services. Several cognitive and literacy assessments were reviewed and implemented. No one assessment was found to be sufficient to assess ranges from pre-literacy…

For almost half a century the United States military services have incorporated formal literacy programs into job training for those enlistees who are less than fully qualified. Over the years, several successful job-specific reading programs have evolved. In 1975, the Army began the Functional Literacy (FLIT) Program, a program based on a…

A cost-effective, computer-based, Navy-related basic reading skills program was developed for United States Navy recruits reading below sixth grade level. The program, called Performance-Related Enabling Skills Training (PREST), is designed to enable recruits to improve their reading and study skills and, thereby, increase the probability of their…

Government survey results reveal that large numbers of adults in the United States do not possess the minimal survival and life-coping skills necessary to function successfully in daily living. Since reading is the most basic of all life survival skills, a thematic reading that emphasized consumer survival was developed in the fall of 1977 at…

The University of Akron's Reading Assessment Component (RAC) research study assessed the effectiveness of a computer-based literacy program, Principles of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS), as an alternative to classroom instruction for functionally illiterate adults living in Summit County, Ohio. The RAC study assessed four objectives: (1)…

A systematic model for accelerating the process of developing the word decoding skills and building the vocabularies of bilingual adults was used among prison populations in Rockland County, Dutchess County, Suffolk County, and Essex County, New York, as well as in work-study programs in community centers in New York City. Literacy levels of the…

Prepared for instructors in adult literacy programs, this paper summarizes a reading curriculum designed to meet the needs of a predominantly Spanish-speaking community. The reading instruction curriculum is presented as a sequence of educational objectives under five headings: basic skills, structural analysis, vocabulary, comprehension, and…

This paper describes a model for a literacy program proposed for the Rural Education Project at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. The program would target unemployed adults, at-risk youth and others in a seven-county target area whose lack of reading skills hampers their search for employment. The model calls for cooperative…