Environmental literacy has been defined in various ways: from acquisition of scientific knowledge to addressing environmental concerns through indigenous knowledge. Program planners and educators need to identify and employ strategies for inclusive program development where all stakeholders are given an equal opportunity to share their opinions as…

Estimates of the true extent of illiteracy among the United States's adult population vary widely. The Department of Education has estimated that there are 23 million illiterate Americans and an additional 46 million American who function only marginally in an increasingly technological society. Federal support for adult literacy began in 1965…

The Georgia Governor's Task Force on Adult Literacy conducted a study to determine the extent of adult illiteracy in the state, develop a program to deal with illiteracy, and make recommendations to the state for a future course of action to reduce the problem. The task force arrived at a working definition of adult literacy that included three…

Suggestions are presented that are drawn from basic skills instruction at the English Learning Centre at Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology (England), an open learning center geared specifically for ESOL students. Funded for 2 years as a special project by the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit, the center examines procedures that…

This document summarizes the proceedings of the first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL). The report is organized in five parts that cover the following: (1) background, objectives, participants, summaries of opening speeches, and working methods of the conference; (2) review of the progress in the implementation…

In response to the problem of adult literacy, the Michigan State Board of Education initiated a program to reduce the functional illiteracy rate among adults in the state significantly. This is to be accomplished by: (1) raising the level of awareness of the scope of illiteracy problems in the state; (2) developing comprehensive literacy programs…

The research on workplace literacy programs during the past two decades has revealed a great deal about the requisites for successful workplace literacy programs. The following have been identified as characteristics of effective workplace literacy programs: active involvement by all project partners; employee involvement in the early stages of…

If Australia's adult educators involved in adult literacy, language, and numeracy provision are to initiate significant changes in the inequalities existing in Australian society, they must examine a range of issues extending far beyond classroom walls. Much discussion about workplace communication in recent years has evolved from the growing…

This paper describes the literacy education work being done by two agencies, the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) and the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE). SIDA strives to promote economic growth, economic and social equality, economic and political independence, democratic development, the use of…

A Unesco-sponsored conference on literacy was convened to establish a working definition for functional literacy relevant to the Caribbean; to develop strategies aimed at eradicating illiteracy by the year 2000 or achieving a substantial reduction in illiteracy; to assess skills for the production of materials for adult literacy; to develop…

The United Way of America has issued a Call to Action that asks the United States to make the achievement of literacy a top national priority. The goal is to achieve literacy by the year 2010. The Call to Action includes a set of strategies, objectives, and actions based on United Way's community problem-solving approach. At the heart of the Call…

Research has suggested that many adults choose not to participate in available literacy programs because they equate literacy education with school. Two new directions in adult literacy program development are being explored in an effort to make programs more appealing to nonparticipants. The first is connected to program content and the second…

Although the National Workplace Literacy Program is relatively new, a new orthodoxy of program development based on particular understandings of literacy and learning has emerged. Descriptions of two model workplace education programs are the beginning points for an examination of the assumptions contained in most reports of workplace education…

This plan seeks generally to improve literacy skills and specifically to aid adults in progressing through three adult performance levels to obtain the general educational development (GED) diploma. The introduction discusses the general growth of adult basic education; a chart depicts that growth in Kansas. The document is then divided into five…

Profound changes in our socioeconomic structure seem to question the relevance of both "institutional" as well as "open school" forms of education. The educator is faced with the challenge of selecting a model, combining models, or devising a new one. Dealing with these fundamental questions, 10 articles have been selected for their potential…