Academic second-chance education (SCE) provides young adults with the opportunity for upward mobility. However, many young people in academic SCE have unfavourable prerequisites, which make it difficult for them to meet academic requirements. In this article, we explore how teachers respond to this challenge in their practice and the extent to…

Additional research is needed to improve adult numeracy instruction, training for instructors, and our understanding of the feasibility and impact of innovations in these areas. The Adult Numeracy in the Digital Era (ANDE) project, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education, seeks to develop and test an…

In January 2024, UNCF's Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI) published "Adult Learner Initiative External Report," which outlined key findings and recommendations from an evaluation of the Adult Learner Initiative. To supplement and extend that work, Ascendium Education Group collaborated with FDPRI and Lumina Foundation to…

With an increasing immigrant population in the United States, higher education institutions and community organizations offer a variety of adult English as a second language (ESL) courses. Given that English language learners (ELLs) come from various backgrounds, they face unique challenges. Thus, it is pivotal that adult ESL instructors…

One prominent feature of many ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses, which make them rather different from EGP (English for General Purposes) courses, is the presence of adult learners, who are primary workers and secondary learners. As ESP is a highly learner-cantered approach, paying close attention to the multidimensional needs of…

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of institutional policies and practices, based on the perspectives of minority adult learners, which contribute to and militate against underrepresented adult learners' persistence in college until baccalaureate degree completion, describe why these policies and practices influence…

Andragogy has been posited as a theory of adult learning that provides a unifying concept for the practice of adult education. Because the assumptions of andragogy only indirectly adduce the needs of society and do not purport to accommodate the proprietary interests of institutions at all, it would seem that andragogy would not be appropriate as…

In the United Kingdom, the increasing sophistication of money management and financial services' increasing reliance on information and computer technology (ICT) have made financial literacy education particularly important for older people, who are less likely to be engaged in the ICT revolution and more likely to be living on a low income.…

Studies and reports examining the problems associated with adult literacy and efforts to address those problems were reviewed to identify lessons for adult literacy programs in Canada and elsewhere. Low literacy levels were linked to above-average rates of personal and/or learning difficulties, low self-esteem, associated social problems, and…

Although English-as-a-second-language (ESL) practitioners are generally making good progress in teaching listening and speaking skills, the entire area of teaching literacy skills to ESL students is barely in the formative stage. The teaching of ESL is further complicated when students are not only lacking in English literacy skills but are also…

Increasingly, adult educators are using narrative and stories for many reasons, including their deep appeal, satisfaction, and cultural transcendence. As a fundamental structure of human meaning making narrative is a valuable classroom tool in that it can enable students to understand life events, personal actions, and solidify identity formation.…

Research on various facets of adult learners' experiences in postsecondary education has established the following facts: (1) instructors who help adult learners connect their real-world experiences and what they already know to what they are learning in the classroom are perceived as most helpful and motivating; (2) adult undergraduates generally…

The information explosion and exponential development of information-accessing tools has had a disempowering effect on many people. A major challenge of the information-centered world is for students and teachers alike to learn how to assert responsibility and control over personal practice. Meeting this challenge may require personal…

Demographic and institutional factors responsible for the large variations of student retention and achievement at further education (FE) colleges throughout the United Kingdom were examined. Data from individualized student records were analyzed, and 10 FE colleges identified as serving areas of deprivation were visited to assess the extent to…

This document contains three articles on teaching the growing population of nontraditional students. "The Changing Demographics of the Classroom" defines "nontraditional students"; reviews the characteristics, risk factors, and special needs of nontraditional students; and identifies the following services as particularly important to…