Childhood education affects how individuals adapt to the challenges of adulthood. Although various generalizations are made relating childhood educational experiences to characteristics of adults, there is scant evidence to support those assertions for adult literacy learners in the United States. This study investigates the relationship of…

Adult basic education students manage adult responsibilities and obligations and personal goals related to school. They commit their time and limited resources and thus are investors in their own learning. As investors, their voices matter. When one countywide adult basic education program implemented a systemic plan to ask students upon entry…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception of employability and success among workforce education and development (WED) graduates. A quantitative study was conducted through the administration of an online survey to graduates (N = 85) of a WED program located within a midwestern, state university. The survey included demographic…

Lower-skilled workers in the United States face a shrinking pool of employment opportunities. To combat this, the city of New Orleans' Office of Workforce Development (OWD) developed a job training program with a grant, awarded in 2014, from the U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Innovation Fund. The program, Career Pathways, was designed to help…

The Pathways for Academic Career and Employment (PACE) program is established to provide funding to community colleges for the development of programs that will lead to gainful, quality, in-state employment for members of target populations by providing them with both effective academic and employment training to ensure gainful employment and…

The pathways for academic career and employment program (PACE) is established to provide funding to community colleges for the development of projects that will lead to gainful, quality, in-state employment for members of target populations by providing them with both effective academic and employment training to ensure gain. This is the fourth…

The pathways for academic career and employment program (PACE) is established to provide funding to community colleges for the development of projects that will lead to gainful, quality, in-state employment for members of target populations by providing them with both effective academic and employment training to ensure gain. This is the third…

The authors use administrative data from Florida to determine the extent to which prison-based adult basic education (ABE) improves inmate's postrelease labor market outcomes, such as earnings and employment. Using two nonexperimental comparison groups, the authors find evidence that ABE participation is associated with higher postrelease earnings…

This publication is dedicated to Chris Selby Smith, who was posthumously awarded the 2009 National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) VET Researcher of the Year Award. Selby Smith's body of work displayed many aspects of the excellence for which the award is offered. His experience working in both academia and the public service gave…

Adults who are undereducated or who lack basic skills are at a disadvantage in American society. Family literacy programs are often one of the last opportunities for adults to raise their level of education or develop skills which enable them to participate in different aspects of American society. This study explored the outcomes of adults who…

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) measures the English literacy of America's adults (people age 16 and older living in households or prisons). The average quantitative literacy scores of adults increased 8 points between 1992 and 2003, though average prose and document literacy did not differ significantly from 1992 (figure 1).…

The 285 adult schools in California enrolled 1,206,864 adult learners supported through state apportionment funds in program year 2006-07. This report presents the results of data collected by the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) from all learners enrolled in California adult schools. The report analysis was prepared by…

GED [General Educational Development] Tests offer many young adults who have left school a second chance to gain a credential, yet many educators have concerns about policies for very young test-takers and how they perform on the GED Tests. The GED Testing Service sets the absolute minimum age for taking the GED Tests at 16 years of age. However,…

Many adult basic education programs use the Tests of General Educational Development (GED[R] Tests) to measure the skills and knowledge associated with a high school program of study as well as to assess the achievement gains of adult learners through participation in their programs. Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy…

The growing number of youth enrolling in adult literacy education is a little-documented trend across the nation that is having a major impact on programs in some areas but appears to be unnoticed by educational policymakers and researchers. A central question is whether youth enrollments provide an opportunity for adult literacy education to…