This manual (and an accompanying video) is a literacy audit tool to help adult education practitioners find out how their clients and staff rate their organization's success in meeting the literacy needs of clients. The manual also contains background information about literacy and suggestions on how to use the literacy audit to help an…

This paper presents a case and some ideas for integrating basic skills development with occupational training. Explaining why traditional instructional methods do not work in the workplace, the paper summarizes learning theories that support work force literacy programs. It explains how to identify the skills needed in the workplace, provides…

A model program was developed to find ways to bring illiterate and undereducated adults into Massachusetts adult education programs. Prospective program clients (young adults) who will be identified by such organizations and agencies as schools, courts, welfare offices, and veterans and civic groups will be contacted by outreach workers to…

As the technology of the workplace changes, U.S. workers are called upon to have increasingly high workplace literacy skills in order to remain competitive. These skills encompass more than academic skills of reading and arithmetic; they involve complex applications of reasoning and problem-solving skills. In order to meet the need for workers…

The result of a study on adult literacy undertaken by World Education, this book places the educational problem of adult literacy into the larger context of a changing society and offers a fresh perspective and a new way of thinking about the phenomenon. After defining functional literacy as the possession of skills perceived by particular persons…

The quality of a literacy program can be assessed by taking into account the following factors: purpose of the program, how the program meets the most important current needs of the adult population, if it is accessible to the people who need services, and whether the literacy content is relevant to learners' needs. Flexibility of funding also is…

This report contains two sections: a summary of a conference on state literacy initiatives including the agenda and list of participants, and a series of profiles of the literacy efforts of individual states. The four issues identified and discussed at the meeting were (1) development of state initiatives; (2) coordination and expansion of state…

This report contains 10 articles, written by national and state leaders in the adult literacy field, that pose challenges confronting the adult literacy system. The articles provide a framework for states to use in beginning the process of achieving a literate citizenry and work force. Titles and authors are as follows: "Building State Literacy…

These proceedings contain 17 papers presented at a seminar to identify and evaluate research studies conducted in the past with a view to providing guidance and ready reference for those who wish to conduct research in the future. A summary of recommendations appears first. Issues, researchable questions, and suggestions are made in three areas:…

IN 1965, THE TASK FORCE ON TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE DISADVANTAGED TRIED TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS IN THE FIELD OF ADULT BASIC BY VISITING 35 PROGRAMS IN 15 STATES AND COLLECTING SOME 1,300 PIECES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL. AMONG THE PROBLEMS OBSERVED WERE THE LACK OF WRITTEN OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES DESIGNED AROUND THE STUDENTS' GOALS AND NEEDS, BROAD…

The Adult Literacy and Evaluation Research Team (also known as Project ALERT) was a project conducted by the Detroit Literacy Coalition (DLC) at Wayne State University in 1993-1994 to develop and pilot a user-friendly program model for evaluating literacy operations of community-based organizations throughout Michigan under the provisions of…

This handbook (in English and French editions) presents training in its broadest sense, highlighting its function of providing trainees both with theoretical foundations and with instrumental competencies to carry out the roles and duties of middle and grassroots level adult educators. It constitutes an attempt to present various experiences and…

Project LEAD (Literacy Education and Development) is an organization of volunteer tutors in English literacy for limited-English-proficient migrant workers, primarily Spanish-speakers. The report details project implementation in Lenawee County (Michigan) by the Adrian Public Library. The report is organized according to the project's eight stated…

This paper provides a brief implementation guide to assist programs that wish to replicate the project (a literacy tutoring program that sought to determine student needs and encourage student input), as well as an abstract of the project that created it and summaries of the results and participants' responses at two sites. The guide presents…

Adult basic education programs must teach the "social living skills" disadvantaged adults need, as well as basic literacy skills. In creating an ABE program, one must first assess the needs of the target population--through surveys, group meetings, an advisory council of members of the target population, demographic studies, and consideration of…