Defining literacy is a compelling challenge to educators. They generally use three models: instrumental, functional, and empowerment. The latter two approaches, which were increasingly evident in the 1980s, identify literacy by the social functions required in a given context or by the qualities needed for illiterate people to take control of…

Written primarily for use in training, this monograph is addressed to the middle-level evaluation worker in literacy projects and programs. The 12 chapters deal with the following topics: evaluation as a link in the "ideology to technology" chain, evaluation models and approaches, the situation-specific strategy model of evaluation, making…

The International Seminar on Functional Illiteracy and Professional Incompetence as Risk Factors of Modern Civilization and the Role of Adult Continuing Education in Overcoming Them examined the modern problem and definition of illiteracy, the causes of professional illiteracy, measures to eliminate the causes, and recommendations for further…

The hypothesis of this study was that a predominantly localized visual-aural recruitment package would be effective in attracting and recruiting functionally illiterate adults into Adult Basic Education programs. In order to test this hypothesis, data pertaining to past and current methods of recruiting students to Adult Basic Education programs…

Integrative learning is an application of the theory of multiple intelligence to teaching strategies and learning environments. Teachers in various parts of the country who have used integrative learning principles in their classrooms have noted dramatic gains in students' test scores and significant reductions in the amount of time required for…

Community-based, or inmate-run, literacy programs are a significant alternative to literacy programs run by those outside the correctional institution. Such programs provide meaningful self-involvement and opportunity for the development of problem-solving skills for the inmates. Beginning in the spring of 1984, the Institute for the Study of…

This guide, part of a Mexican series of instructional materials, is intended for advisors of students participating in an adult education program offered through public and private organizations in communities in Mexico. The first part of the program comprises Spanish and math; the second, education for family life, education for community life,…

This manual is part of a Mexican series of instructional materials designed for Spanish speaking adults who are in the process of becoming literate or have recently become literate in their native language. This document describes the concept of a model for community adult education for the purpose of supporting local educational committees…

This document describes literacy models for urban and rural populations in Mexico. It contains four sections. The first two sections (generalizations about the population and considerations about the teaching of adults) discuss the environment that creates illiterate adults and also describe some of the conditions under which learning takes place…

This book, part of a Mexican series of instructional materials, is directed toward people over the age of 15 who are interested in beginning, continuing or finishing their basic education. It explains the pedagogical model developed for adult education in Mexico based on the following features: (1) the content of the textbooks must be useful for…

To achieve the intergenerational social reproduction of labor, all societies develop suitable institutional arrangements for the delivery of "Education and Training for Work" (ETW). Three programs together constitute the bulk of ETW initiatives in almost every country on the globe: functional literacy (FL), workplace literacy (WPL), and technical…

Based on adult learning and reading acquisition theories, the model forming the basis of a one-semester graduate course resulted in increased competencies of thirty-five presently employed or future adult basic education teachers each of whom taught reading to one adult illiterate during the course. The model consisted of assessment of reading by…

The Worker Education Program (WEP) of Northeastern Illinois University (NIU) is a partnership among NIU; the Union of Needle Trades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE); and companies whose employees are represented by UNITE. Now in its fourth year, the WEP operates in 13 diverse types of workplaces in three states: Illinois, Ohio, and…

The Workplace Education Initiative was created in Massachusetts to provide workers with the opportunity to develop basic literacy skills, to increase employer and union awareness of the extent of functional illiteracy among workers as well as its cost, to develop a number of partnership models that link the acquisition of basic education skills…

The marked decline in international interest in promoting adult literacy that has occurred over the last decade has had serious consequences for literacy education in third world countries. In general, planning and implementation of literacy instruction in these areas has neither improved nor adapted itself to changing circumstances. While the…