This paper explores relations between literacy education, ideology and politics, based on an analysis of educational reforms during Soviet and US military occupation in North and South Korea. Following the end of the Second World War, anti-illiteracy campaigns in the two Koreas became important means of political socialisation for Koreans amid the…

How did Cuba erase illiteracy in a single year? How did they combine both a phonics approach with the constructivist meaning-based model for teaching reading that we cannot seem to manage here in the states? This paper seeks to shed light on Cuba's impressive 1961 National Literacy Campaign and reflects upon implications for early literacy…

Modern notions of literacy can be informed by past successes in the field of literacy. One of the most successful national literacy campaigns occurred in Nicaragua in 1980 and was called "Cruzada Nacional de Alfabetización" (CNA). The fight against illiteracy to provide a space for marginalized voices in Nicaragua is a story worth…

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…

As a collaborative effort of the Center for American Progress and The Center for the Next Generation, this report examines where the United States is today and how that compares with two of its fiercest competitors for the jobs and thought leadership of the future, China and India. This report shows that their governments have embarked on…

Illiteracy is a huge problem, socially, economically and educationally. This study of the history and current practices of American public libraries examines their role in supporting the development of human literate abilities and in helping all Americans to be critically literate in order to participate fully and successfully in our society. This…

Scholars of adult basic literacy curricular materials have argued that the skill-based, deficit-oriented approach of many such materials denies the interests and motivations of adult learners. Exploring why these kinds of curricular materials are prevalent in adult basic literacy education, this article focuses on the case of ProLiteracy, a…

This article discusses a solution-oriented and incremental approach to solving major social problems. If we are to solve important social problems such as child abuse, delinquency, and illiteracy, researchers need to generate effective programs that can be replicated and social service providers need to implement those programs with fidelity. The…

This phenomenological study examined the stories of illiterate African American adults to determine the factors that led to their illiteracy. Narrative techniques were utilized to discern themes from narrative accounts of eight participants. The participants were enrolled in one of two adult basic education programs referred to as ABE I and ABE…

Some of the many topics which challenge psychologists working in the literacy field are: (1) the priority that should be attached to illiteracy in relationship to other national and personal problems; (2) varying definitions of "literacy" and "illiteracy" that inhibit communication and generalization; (3) the lack of valid and…

As many as 70 million Americans are functionally or marginally illiterate. Among the consequences: disproportionate numbers of illiterates are unemployed, 50 percent of inmates are illiterate, and illiterate parents are more likely to raise illiterate children. (SK)

Discusses the dimensions of the illiteracy problem among adults in the United States and suggests the role libraries and librarians could play in resolving it. (JD)

Examines the failure of adult literacy programs in North America. Argues that the problem's scope and funding limitations demand cost- effective measures: prevention of early childhood deprivations that stunt cognitive development, replacement of many full-time programs with part-time or drop-in programs, and use of volunteers. (SV)

Although efforts to combat illiteracy in the Arab world began several decades ago, the illiteracy rate in Arab countries is one of the highest in the world, as there are more than 70 million illiterate people in Arab countries. By contrast, many countries in the world have succeeded in eradicating adult illiteracy within a few decades. The study…

Compares and comments on two recent national surveys of adult literacy standards in the United States and Canada, which move away from reporting the number of literates/illiterates and use levels of literacy proficiency. Notes that different concepts for literacy levels, different types of sampling, and different ways of measuring literacy and…