Explores the relationship between participation in a Canadian urban adult literacy programs and employment status over three years. Finds that most participants returned to the same sort of low-paying jobs. Suggests that agencies and groups providing financial support for such programs reconsider the strong focus on employment that permeates these…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the…

An impact study was conducted of ABC CANADA's LEARN campaign, a national media effort aimed at linking potential literacy learners with literacy groups. Two questionnaires were administered to 94 literacy groups, with 3,557 respondents. Findings included the following: (1) 70 percent of calls to literacy groups were from adult learners aged 16-44;…

This report focuses on a December 1988 to December 1989 evaluation of the structures, processes, and outcomes of 15 primarily volunteer tutor-based literacy programs. It addresses the effectiveness of the Saskatchewan Literacy Campaign in increasing tutor and learner enrollments in the programs. Chapter 1 provides background and definitions.…

The Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) is a Canadian social demonstration and research project designed to test an employment alternative to welfare. The SSP makes work pay by offering generous earnings supplements to long-term, single-parent welfare recipients who find full-time jobs and leave Canada's Income Assistance (IA) welfare system. The SSP's…

This document discusses the adult education component of two Canadian women's organizations from a historical perspective. The two organizations chosen, the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Canada have traditionally emphasized the education of women. The six sections of the paper cover…

This document reports the results of a study of literacy in Canada conducted for the Southam News in 1987. During the study, 2,398 Canadians were surveyed to determine the levels of literacy they possessed and how they coped in society if they were illiterate. The research methodology is based on an assessment of literacy conducted in 1985 by the…

The 3-year Literacy, Welfare, and Work Longitudinal Research Project explored the complex relationship between literacy and employment within the context of welfare reform in Manitoba, in an attempt to identify the barriers to education and employment that adult learners experience, as well as the policies, programs, and support services that best…

This booklet contains 29 articles about literacy that originally appeared in newspapers across Canada during September 1987. Many are based on the extensive findings of a national literacy survey of 2,398 Canadian adults commissioned by Southam Inc. The survey provided the first real statistics about the state of literacy in the country;…

This special report is a look at illiteracy across Canada and in Saskatchewan. It includes stories by Peter Calamai, a national correspondent with Southam News, and by Regina Leader-Post reporters Kevin O'Connor, Zena Olijnyk, Ron Petrie, and Beverley Spencer. The publication also includes stories by the Canadian press. Calamai's stories are the…

Most industrialized nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have entered a new economic era characterized by new industries, new forms of production and competition, and a much higher premium on skills. Those with low levels of literacy and basic workplace skills find it increasingly difficult to obtain or…

This executive summary sets forth the findings from a study of adult education opportunities and policies in industrialized countries. Focus of the project is on programs for workers, older persons, women entering the labor force, parents, and undereducated adults in nine countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Federal Republic of…

New Careers is an alternative adult career-training and education program that provides experienced-based career training to people in Manitoba who have had little or no opportunity to take part in formal education and employment in the labor force. The adults in training enter the program with a grade 9 educational level. They receive adult basic…

Noting that, generally, low-literate adults in Labrador and Newfoundland (Canada) are being helped only through the altruistic efforts of literate volunteers, this paper argues that adult literacy must be professionalized and become an integral part of the education system. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the definitions of literacy,…