At the community level, literacy improvement can no longer be the mission of a single organization. Successful literacy intervention is a family goal. Many are intrigued with the common sense of the new collaborative literacy programs and hope that they will succeed in breaking the intergenerational cycle of low literacy. (Author/JOW)

The approaches taken by two separate family literacy programs on Chicago's South Side to create unique literacy-health projects demonstrate the fluid nature of partnerships; the essential but time-consuming building of trust and credibility; and recognition of mutual benefits. (JOW)

Twelve articles in this special issue look at changes in adult basic education (ABE) including the following: changes in policy, the overhaul of welfare, state governance, workforce development, family literacy, the connection with employment and training, contextualized literacy, health education, political and economic literacy, adult literacy…