Reviews state requirements for minimum competency testing and discusses past and potential future challenges to such testing. Offers possible solutions. (MD)

Literacy and illiteracy are cultural; the need to read, to write, and to compute comes from values placed on these functions by the cultural or social group in which one lives. They are also intergenerational. This intergenerational factor should be turned around so that parents transmit literacy to children. Illiteracy is also costly to society…

Outlines a successful reading program developed in Wakulla County, Florida, schools where the adult illiteracy rate was seriously high. The success of this program emphasizes three points: begin with detailed needs assessment, establish clear program goals, and provide continuous evaluation.(MD)

Computer games, rock video, television, and movies are robbing teenagers of time they should be using to develop their minds. However, the electronic media do have a positive potential. A 10-item reference list is provided. (Author/DCS)

Advocating the literacy campaign as the most appropriate and adequate means for dealing with large-scale illiteracy, this book presents eight case studies of national campaigns as examples and illustrations of this approach. The book notes that mass literacy campaigns are not the exclusive province of any particular ideology, but are possible…

The San Francisco Renaissance is a job training program for unemployed innercity youths. The illiteracy rates of youths applying to the program are high so a literacy class was developed to raise the students' reading and math skills to the eighth- and ninth-grade levels required by the technical job market for which they are being trained. (MD)

Reports on the 1985 convention of the National Education Association noting changes in the group's politics and its efforts to present a more moderate image. One event during the convention was a march on the South African Embassy protesting apartheid. (MD)

Discusses Kentucky's efforts to increase adult literacy through the New Books for New Readers program in which scholars were asked to write books emphasizing adult topics with a reading level of third to fifth grade. Describes the process through which the target audience is involved in the creation of books for the program. (KO)

This project focuses on non-formal and adult education for women in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, India. The objectives of the project were: (1) to provide non-formal education to girls and adult education to women in a coordinated manner; (2) to raise civic and social awareness of women; (3) to decentralize planning and implementation of programs…

Discusses the issues of a curriculum of literacy in Canada. Describes the influence of educational trends in the United States and Great Britain. Suggests that the literacy problem is not such a crisis as the media makes it appear. Urges a union of educational and scholarly concerns, building on lessons of history and theory. (DK)

Summarizes results of UNESCO's review of estimates and predictions of literacy in light of new data and revised methodology. Analyzes past trends in literacy, illiteracy rates, and prospects for future development. Suggests that the target year 2000 seems unrealistic for those most disadvantaged. Includes breakdowns for disparities by sex, age…

This state master plan provides a structure to facilitate the development of an appropriate and effective education system for all students in Utah, including those at risk of dropping out and of failing to achieve literacy. The challenges of ensuring an appropriate and effective education for each student are significant, numerous, and complex;…

Discusses past work toward eliminating illiteracy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Suggests planning future strategy with evaluation of what has been done based on reliable information and an effective political will. Urges concentration on quality teaching, planning, integral strategy, and a new political will. Argues that literacy training…

This manual contains guidelines for implementing and maintaining Workplace Skills Enhancement programs. These guidelines are intended to be a resource to adult education directors and their staffs as they work with local businesses, industries, and organizations in combating adult illiteracy. The manual is divided into the key steps in…

The Major Project in the Field of Education stresses renewed and intensive efforts by Latin American and Caribbean Island countries to provide the resources and training necessary to meet basic education needs by the year 2000. This document examines project achievements, innovations, and problems through 1986 in the areas of rural education,…