Societal trends and related pressures on children have generated a greater need for school support of independent reading, which can help students develop lifetime literacy and prevent school failure and dropping out. Providing opportunities for free reading during the school day is a qualitative way of filling a literacy gap for children.…

This monograph is part of OPTIONS, a packaged set of materials developed to provide postsecondary administrators, program planners, curriculum developers, counselors, and instructors with up-to-date, reliable information. This volume and two other monographs are intended to enable counselors and instructors to establish and conduct special…

Research can provide insights into problems related to adult basic education (ABE) program success. The potential ABE population is great; for example, the Maryland target group includes nearly 1,097,000. Several studies have revealed that those needing ABE most are least likely to be program participants. Various problems that often overwhelm the…

The Salvadoran educator J. Portillo describes popular education practiced in El Salvador in the midst of civil war. Salvadoran popular education is organized by members of the community who receive it and is usually led by nonprofessional educators. Most popular education is in literacy or at the elementary level. (SLD)

This paper overviews a proposal for implementing an adult literacy program in a small tribal community in northern Alberta (Canada). The program would enhance participants' ability to manage change affecting the community's economic, social, and educational circumstances. Recent data indicate that 24 percent of Native Americans in northern Alberta…

Efforts at education for all in India began with the expansion of the night school concept in the late 1800s. The government took responsibility for adult education in 1937. With independence came general acceptance of the broader concept of adult education. Despite literacy efforts through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the number of illiterate…

The Career Skills Enhancement Program (CSEP) was a National Workplace Literacy Program offered to Santa Clara County (California) Office of Education (COE) employees. A job skills study involved personal interviews, job shadowing, and examination of job descriptions and materials used by employees. Based on the study and initial needs assessment,…

This report is adapted from a letter sent to President-Elect George Bush in early January 1989. The report was published to stimulate a broad public discussion of the role that the Federal Government might play in developing the skills of the Nation's people. The priority of preventing damage to young children is the topic of the first section. In…

The educational history of adult literacy education programs in Iraq is discussed. Specifically examined are planning efforts; administration and organization; curricula and instructional materials; human, technical and material resources; program exemptions, drop-outs, and failure; post-literacy programs; and social and economic results. (RM)

This publication provides materials on the Small Group Learning Methodology Project in Victoria, Australia. The first chapter concerns the purpose of small groups in adult literacy learning. Chapter 2 deals with types of adult literacy programs, interviews, student needs, student placement, and forming groups. Chapter 3 discusses group processes,…

This handbook records the creation, development and growth, and stumbling blocks and successes of the Prison Literacy Project (PLP). It is intended to serve as a model for other community groups that are developing their own literacy projects. The handbook provides a history and philosophy of PLP, states PLP's vision and purpose, discusses need,…

Studies in Canada have shown that between 16 percent and 38 percent of Canadians are illiterate or have low literacy skills and, therefore, have difficulties in accessing and using medical care and medical information. They have also found a contributory connection between low literacy and poor health and over-use or inappropriate use of health…

Statistically, Thailand has eliminated gender disparity in access to education. Reasons that four women's conferences made very little impression on education reform could be no significant or overt discrimination against girls' enrollment and employment; education opportunity as more an issue of class (affordability) than gender (culture); and…

Seven voluntary organizations in Canada looked at the literacy needs of the people who used their services. The Canadian Home and School and Parent-Teacher Federation began an 18-month pilot project focusing on "Literacy in the Information Age." It sponsored literacy exchanges in neighborhoods across Canada. The Canadian Child Welfare…

This guide, which is addressed to community-based organizations desiring to start or expand existing adult literacy programs, deals with recruiting and training volunteer literacy tutors. Outlined in the guide are strategies for expanding community outreach efforts (identifying who needs help and where help is typically obtained, learning from…