This document reports oral and written testimony of witnesses at three Congressional hearings on eliminating illiteracy held in spring and summer, 1989. Witnesses included Senators Paul Simon, Howard Metzenbaum, Nancy Kassebaum, Strom Thurmond, Thad Cochran, and Orrin Hatch; Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos; literacy program managers and…

The member countries of the Commission of European Communities carried out various programs to combat illiteracy in their countries. The activities can be grouped in six areas: (1) adaptation of teaching to overcome the learning difficulties of disadvantaged pupils; (2) reconsideration and development of the objectives of language skills at the…

A study was conducted to determine to what extent community college-based adult basic education/general educational development (ABE/GED) programs reflect program characteristics addressed in the professional literature; to identify a general state of the art for the college delivery of ABE/GED services; and to understand better the current and…

The Adult School for Cuban Refugees, operated by the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit in 1980, supplied services to approximately 1,200 Cuban refugees in the six weeks of its operation at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. The program offered basic oral English classes to adults ranging in age from 18 to 81 years. The classes were conducted…

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…

The impact of recent changes in the welfare and work force development systems on adult basic education programs and their students was examined at a literacy education provider in Somerville, Massachusetts. The study found that the Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE) program had previously had no difficulty in attracting…

In 1996, the effectiveness of New Jersey's Perkins Act-funded single parent/displaced homemaker and gender equity programs were evaluated through a 20-question equity standards survey. The survey was administered to all clients before each program began and 6 weeks after completion of those portions of the programs pertaining to equity standards.…

Students in the Culebra Road GED/JOBS (General Educational Development/Job Opportunities and Basic Skills) class, an adult education class for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) students, created their own website. First, students completed a computer literacy survey to gauge their computer skills. Next, students were encouraged to…

This report addresses legislative concerns that Florida's adults with disabilities are appropriately served by postsecondary vocational and adult education programs. Introductory materials include the following: Employment Task Force for Adults with Disabilities; Workforce Development Implementation Act of 1998 Legislative Mandate; task force…

This paper examines Weekend College Programs at 11 public and private institutions of higher education in southern California during Academic Year 1990-91 from the following perspectives: student development and services; curriculum; faculty and instruction; administration; and marketing. From these perspectives the paper outlines what…

Fifteen literacy programs, structured as partnerships between Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) in Texas and nonprofit literacy councils, were reviewed. Interviews were conducted with students, tutors and instructors, program directors and other staff, and partners to study program effectiveness in establishing…

"A Feel for Books" is a book discussion program for adult developing readers and their teachers and tutors conducted at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. The program consists of five or six meetings per year, each about 1.5-2 hours in length conducted at 2 local libraries; over 2 years, 40-60 persons regularly…

The federal government's experience with adult retraining programs began in 1962 with the passage of the Manpower Development and Training Act and creation of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. When the 1973 Comprehensive Employment and Training Act expired in 1982, Congress enacted the Job Training Partnership Act. During the 1980s, states…

An evaluation described the patterns of attendance and the factors associated with the persistence of adult education clients during the first 12 months following their enrollment in federally supported adult education programs. Data were gathered from a sample of 16,754 persons who entered a program during the 1-year period beginning April 22,…

A computer-literacy staff training program was designed to provide adult basic education (ABE) instructors and staff with basic computer skills. A curriculum using both Apple IIe computers and IBM personal computers was developed and software obtained. Eight instructors and nine administrative staff members of local literacy programs completed 10…