It is estimated that 70% of incarcerated youth struggle with mental health challenges (Karger & Currie-Rubin, 2013) in addition to other academic impairments which, in turn, substantially increases their likelihood to reoffend postrelease (Yampolskaya & Chuang, 2012). Consequently, these youth would likely benefit from therapeutic…

This article examines perceptions of indigenous women of the "Bilingual Indigenous Education Model for Life and Work" (MIB) programme which the Mexican Government initiated a decade ago as an alternative route for indigenous youth and adults into basic education. Programme objectives include the promotion of equal access to quality basic…

A 2014 study found that more than half of all Americans aged 16-74 do not possess the literacy skills needed to adequately cope with the demands of day-to-day life, with over 13 million people in the United States alone considered to be functionally illiterate. There have been numerous efforts to address these high illiteracy rates by way of Adult…

Literacy is the foundation of lifelong learning and a crucial element in the universally recognised right to education. However, illiteracy continues to exist as a global challenge, and many individuals still lack the basic literacy skills that are needed to engage in further learning opportunities and for the economic and social development of…

There are an estimated 23 million functionally illiterate adults through the country; 30 million more have such limited proficiency that they are only marginally capable of being productive workers. The proportion of undereducated Appalachian adults is estimated to be substantially higher. Literacy programs offer hope, but are usually underfunded.…

Only 26.4% of the 100 millon people living in Pakistan are literate. There are sharp differences between urban and rural literacy rates, literacy rates in the four provinces of Pakistan, and the literacy rates for men and women (with females constituting the largest group of illiterates in the country). Politically there has been a great deal of…

Pakistan, like the rest of the world, is confronted with urbanization, industrialization, the information explosion and all the complexities that characterize the atomic age; however, the majority of Pakistanis have yet to acquire basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills which are essential to meet the simplest demands of modern living. An…

This report offers a brief account of Iraq's recent mass literacy initiative, considered within the broader context of illiteracy problems throughout the Arab world. The Iraqi experience is noteworthy for both the size and the unique character of the campaign launched by that nation's Arab Ba'ath Socialist regime. (Author/SJL)

This volume accompanies a study of community-based approaches to literacy education for adults. It provides profiles of 26 community-based educational institutions that provided study data. Each profile provides name, address, and telephone number; contact; other project sites; institutional description; mission/purpose; approach; skills…

More than 1,000 New South Wales adults are being helped to overcome illiteracy in a program aimed at teaching them reading and writing which was introduced into the Evening Colleges of the New South Wales Education Department in Mid-1972. (WL)

Describes literacy education in Flanders, Belgium, for adolescents and adults. Discusses education policy, courses, materials, and students and teachers. (SR)

This document offers an overview of the Houston READ Commission (HRC), a nonprofit urban literacy coalition created by the Mayor and City Council in the Greater Houston area. It describes how the coalition of community organizations first came together in 1988, in response to a survey's finding that there are over one million functionally…

This document describes the programs and services offered by the Houston READ Commission (HRC), a nonprofit urban literacy coalition created by the Mayor and City Council of the Greater Houston area. After highlighting what HRC provides for the community, the document provides brief descriptions of general programs and services, talks about the…

This final report of the Literacy Education for the Elderly Project (LEEP) provides a description and the results of the project designed to target literacy education to the older adult. The strategy of the two-year program, established in 27 sites nationwide, was to: (1) link the local level aging services network with the volunteer adult…

This document contains a Congressional hearing on the scope of the problem of adult and juvenile illiteracy and programs that are attempting to meet the problem. Testimony includes statements, prepared statements, letters, and supplemental materials from individuals representing the Department of Education; National Institute of Education;…