In 2008 the South African Government launched the "Kha Ri Gude" mass literacy campaign to address the country's adult illiteracy problem. The Campaign drew upon the Cuban "Yo, Si Puedo" campaign model. In 2012, an Australian non-governmental organisation, Literacy for Life Foundation, likewise informed by the Cuban "Yo, Si…

Education is recognized to be a key factor of economic development, not only giving access to technological progress as emphasized by the Schumpeterian growth theory, but also entailing numerous social externalities such as the demographic transition (Murtin, 2009) or democratization (Murtin and Wacziarg, 2010). If the evolution of world…

Teaching national history in school generates significant public anxiety and political debate--as the various "history wars" around the world reveal. For many school students, however, studying their nation's past is dull and repetitive. Such lack of interest has been confirmed by surveys and research reports that reveal alarmingly low…

This study identifies a unique context for exploring lay understandings of language testing and, by extension, for characterizing the nature of language assessment literacy among non-practitioners, stemming from data in an inquiry into the registration processes and support for overseas trained doctors by the Australian House of Representatives…

This paper and the four commissioned works on which it is based are guided by the important question: How can we start valuing practices and outcomes of teaching and learning that are difficult to reduce to numbers? As the process of developing indicators for the Post-2015 education targets unfolds, some of the targets are at risk of being dropped…

This article provides a critical review of popular models for literacy pedagogy with regard for the needs of low-literacy refugee-background students. We argue that in a context of high linguistic diversity there is a need to re-evaluate teaching practices and curriculum in a way that is more responsive to difference and which pays closer…

The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments related to the development of indicators of educational progress in the context of the Post 2015 deliberations to generate a new international architecture for educational investment through to 2030. There have been a plethora of suggestions and several parallel consultation processes…

This report reviews the conceptual debates and existing data sources that relate to three ambiguous and controversial targets included in the post-2015 education framework: Relevant Learning Outcomes; Knowledge, Skills, Values, and Attitudes (for education for global citizenship and sustainable development); and Teachers and Safe, Inclusive, and…

Presents arguments for spelling reform, addresses various objections which are made against it, and briefly notes a method of reform called SR1, as it is used in Australia. (TA)

Research findings are discussed that lead to a reassessment of popular perceptions about literacy and prisoners, particularly that the percentage of illiterate prisoners is higher than in the general population and that many prisoners are reluctant to participate in prison literacy programs. (Contains 24 references.) (LB)

Discusses the problem of illiteracy among youth and adults in Australia and the country's problems and efforts in assessing literacy. (SH)

Based on a 1989 research project on the outcomes of adult literacy programs, this paper reports findings in five categories: socioeconomic, personal, social, cognitive, and enactive. The research raises questions about what literacy progress means to adult students and their teachers. (Contains nine references.) (LB)

A study to determine the incidence of functional illiteracy in English among adults in the metropolitan area of Sydney is reported, which showed the incidence of illiteracy among Australian/English born adults to be lower than previously reported while that among non-English born is very high. (WL)

Reports results of two national literacy and numeracy testing programs in Australia revealing that there is a sizable fringe group of people unable to function effectively because they cannot meet minimal demands of reading skills. (JL)

The purpose of the 1973 Pilot Literacy Project (Victoria, Australia) was to explore the nature of the problem of nonmigrant adults who had attended school but who considered themselves illiterate or functionally illiterate, to discover what sort of people were illiterate and to what extent, and to examine home influences and educational…