The concept of "competency mapping" emerged from a study of the state-of-the-art of adult education needs assessment to provide the basis for development of a model for states to adopt or adapt to fulfill requirements of the 1978 amendments to the Adult Education Act. Need was defined as a lack of functional competency and those problems…

Examines assumptions (such as "every adult can read to some extent" and "adult students will be well motivated") held by a veteran high school social studies teacher before he began teaching adults how to read. Discusses how some of the assumptions were valid, some invalid, and others partly valid. (RS)

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,…

Reviewing the development of the Adult Performance Level (APL) Project and its life coping skills curriculum, the author focuses on adoption of the APL Competency-Based High School Diploma Program in correctional institutions. (SK)

A project assessed educational effectiveness of the Adult Proficiency Level (APL) Pilot Project in Area B of the Indiana Office of Occupational Development. Activities involved design of data collection instrument, sampling and data collection at all six educational classroom sites in Area B, and data analysis. Program strengths identified were…

Examines the claims of the developers of the Adult Performance Level (APL) program to improve the teaching and testing of adults enrolled in federally supported adult basic education programs, identifies APL's theoretical problems, scrutinizes the technical aspects of its development, and evaluates the role of the U.S. Office of Education in these…

This booklet describes educational materials (developed by special projects funded under Section 309 of the Adult Education Act) which may be especially useful to adult education programs that are being developed around Adult Performance Level objectives. The products listed may be utilized or adapted by teachers without requiring special training…

How to use math in handling money is the most important life-coping skill/competency adult basic education students in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska want and need, according to a survey conducted by the Adult Consumer Education Project, part of the Adult Education Program at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. (SH)

Adult performance level (APL) methodology, results, and conclusions are summarized. Taking exception to functional literacy accounting for an individuals level of income, education, and job status, the author questions the utilitarian value of an APL curriculum. (Author)

Discusses successes and problems of the Adult Performance Level (APL) project funded by the U.S. Office of Education in 1971 to identify the skills necessary for an adult to function successfully in today's society. (TA)

Written to provide the adult basic education teacher with practical low level reading materials based on the Adult Performance Level (APL) goals and objectives, these modules on consumer economics and community resources have the following goals for students: (1) To manage a family economy and to demonstrate an awareness of sound purchasing…

The Adult Performance Level (APL) project, which developed and validated a series of objectives for adult functional competency free from school-based notions of literacy, is the most widely accepted approach to adult literacy and adult literacy education in the United States today. Yet a review of the project and its impact reveals that the APL…

This curriculum guide was developed in Phase II of a two-phase project designed (1) to develop a model curriculum guide for all adult basic education programs in Rhode Island that reflects the goals and objectives of the Adult Performance Level Study (a study which stressed the need for adult educators to become involved with the concepts of…

The evolution of the Adult Education Act (AEA) in the last 25 years illustrates the progress of adult basic education (ABE) in the United States. A detailed look at the literature and outcomes of AEA-funded projects provides a sense of the effectiveness of 25 years of federal involvement. The passage of the AEA in 1966 led to the first systematic…

This catalog provides descriptions of specific adult education programs funded under Sections 306 (a) (4) and 309 (1 and 2) of the Adult Education Act. It consists of three sections: project summaries, a subject index, and statistical matrices. Project summaries are organized alphabetically by state of origin and grouped under headings of major…