Popular education has three essential, integrated components: praxis, a collective and participatory orientation, and action. Also important are systematization, communication, and attention to participants' everyday needs. (SK)

Reviewed four studies of nonparticipation in adult basic education programs and found that nonparticipants are not homogeneous and have aspirations that may or may not involve education. Determined that nonparticipation is more complex than previously assumed. (JOW)

A telephone survey of 129 Iowa adults who had not completed high school determined reasons for lack of participation in adult basic education. Factor analysis of 32 reasons yielded 4 interpretable factors: low perception of need, perceived effort, dislike of school, and situational barriers. Low perception correlated with age and situational…

An Iowa survey of 351 adult basic education participants uncovered 10 motivations for participation, which were used to develop a cluster-analysis market segmentation. Another Iowa study found 4 basic causes for nonparticipation: low perception of need, perceived difficulty, dislike of school, and situational barriers. (SK)

A study was conducted in Iowa to determine why adults eligible for adult basic education (ABE) frequently fail to participate. The study was conducted on a representative sample of 129 persons who had not completed high school, were aged 18 or older, and had not attended ABE classes, through open-ended questions refined into telephone interview…

Based on three studies of adult literacy in Iowa, this book identifies policy issues raised by research on adult literacy and recommends solutions. It also examines adult literacy education from the perspective of the learners themselves in order to inform improved practice. The book addresses six basic questions that are the topics of the first…