The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was set up in the aftermath of World War II with the mandate of safeguarding global peace by promoting international intellectual cooperation across national boundaries. UNESCO's first flagship educational initiative, launched in 1946, was the Fundamental Education…

This article argues for the beneficial interconnectedness of adult basic education as an educational practice, community-based participatory research as a methodological approach, and the framework of transformative learning, for exploring and theorizing about adult learning and education. It is elaborated that these three approaches are connected…

This paper contributes to debates that shaped a special issue of "Discourse" in 2017 by taking the debate about "responsibilisation" in education into the realm of Foundations Skills in Australia. The difficulties that many Australian adults experience with low levels of language, literacy and numeracy skills (Foundation…

Under UNESCOs global mission, fundamental education became an essential tool for development that was praised for promoting peace and improving the human condition. The Centro de Cooperación Regional para la Educación de Adultos en América Latina y el Caribe (CREFAL) hosted educators from throughout the Americas in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, to study…

Shorthand is, by definition, coded symbolism used for purposes of speed. It's a system of abbreviation, intended to skim the top of more complex systems of meaning, taking shortcuts but keeping track of the important facts. Shorthand is used all the time in adult basic education (ABE). The very name of the field, adult "basic" education,…

This article is written by two researchers and a teacher involved with the development and implementation of a web-based intelligent tutoring system for adults reading at elementary levels. A description of the tool is provided, followed by some of the challenges faced in designing, developing, and using the tool in adult literacy classrooms.

Amidst diminishing federal investment in Adult Basic Education (ABE), there is growing interest in return on investment (ROI) as an economic rationale to support ABE funding. Against this backdrop, we provide an overview of the ROI concept and methods and the empirical evidence on ABE program impacts to broaden the discourse among practitioners…

In the final article of the forum, the field of adult basic education has mounted a strong response to COVID-19's disruption of classes and educational practices. As educators begin to think about the long-term consequences of this disruption, it might be useful to consider the ways that these changes and innovations could be built upon. In the…

This article discusses student leadership developed through an instructional approach to teach basic skills instruction within the context of climate hope, regeneration, and transformational resilience. The purposes of this approach are threefold: to develop student leadership, enhance basic skills instruction, and better prepare students for the…

This essay describes the decline in the number of participants enrolled in federally-funded adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and adult English Language (EL) programs. Enrollment data since 1965 indicate a steep and consistent downward trend in the number of adults enrolling in these programs since the 1990s.…

In this commentary, the authors review one area of federal policy, adult basic education policy, since its inception in the 1960s as an example of how educational policy can drift from its broad purpose as it responds to political, social, and economic forces. The authors argue that its current narrow focus on workforce development underestimates…

The focus of the Technology Solutions for Adult Basic Skills Challenges column begins with common challenges facing adult basic skills practitioners, expressed, for example, in the LINCS Integrating Technology group for which I am the moderator, in other LINCS groups, in my national and state conference or webinar presentations, or privately in…

Collaboration is a practice that many providers say they are doing but rarely do we see it translated into the actual work that staff connected with our learners--our customers--do. Our customers face multiple barriers in their desire to succeed and move forward. Leadership with a focus on creating partnerships to address the multiple barriers of…

This chapter reviews the implications of policy as it has affected adult basic education over the last 25 years and problematizes the increasing institutionalization and stability that it has brought to the field.

For nearly one year, the EdTech Center at World Education led a field test of the unique mobile app, Learning Upgrade. In this report, we share use scenarios and observations gleaned from this research in adult English speakers of other languages (ESOL) and basic education programs across the U.S. The field test helps us better understand how and…