Argues that a successful adult basic education program should recognize the differences between younger students and adults, provide a setting in which adults' dignity is not threatened, carefully diagnose each adult's needs, and prescribe and implement a program to meet those needs. (FL)

Describes how the work of modern poets can expand adult learners' views of the uses of reading and writing and their own ability and specifically shows how the works of Carl Sandburg, Lucille Clifton, William Carlos Williams, and Langston Hughes can be used to teach adults to read. (SRT)

Relates current trends in public interpretations of reading research, which are prone to exaggeration and paranoia, to G. Larson's "Far Side" cartoons. Notes a substantial gap between what is taught in the schools to develop literacy abilities and what is demanded in society to demonstrate literacy competence. (SKC)

Presents a taxonomy of graphs, including lineal, quantitative, spatial, pictorial, hypothetical, and omitted graphs. Provides illustrations of each kind of graph and suggests that reading teachers take the responsibility for teaching graph reading and drawing skills. (MKM)

Such everyday paper materials as cash register receipts, labels, travel pamphlets, and train schedules provide a wealth of excellent materials for teaching life skills and functional reading to multihandicapped hearing-impaired students. Possible activities include comparing grocery receipts and conjecturing about the shoppers and reading medicine…

Like Humpty Dumpty after the fall from the wall, language does not work effectively when it is not whole. For many students, the reading problems they begin to experience in the third or fourth grade are caused by the basic skills manner in which beginning reading is taught. Recognizing the limitations of basic skills instruction and the genre of…

This article suggests the following ways of making material easier for adults to read: using layout and print size to make meaning clear; making audio recordings and simplified versions of printed matter; and increasing the relevance of the content to the reader. Intended for teachers of adults in reading programs, the study also contains a…

This digest about issues currently being debated in the adult literacy field examines the appropriate goals and objectives for adult literacy education, professionalization of the field, and literacy program evaluation. The first section reflects the disagreement between those who believe the purpose of literacy education should be to support…

This book is intended to assist literacy program administrators, coordinators, instructors, and volunteers in the design and implementation of literacy programs for homeless adults. Chapter 1 discusses barriers to instruction when serving homeless adults, including shelter environment, impermanence of location and opportunity, and the effects of…

This monograph presents a collection of methods, materials, and techniques for assessing and teaching students with mild to moderate mental retardation to become successfully literate. Part 1 offers a foundation for literacy instruction and considers whether students with mental retardation can learn to read and write, the existence of multiple…

This third of three manuals providing a curriculum for students with disabilities focuses on the development of functional academic skills. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the curriculum and offers guidelines for developing instructional plans for the following three units of study. Unit 1 is on the development of functional…

Intended for educators, policymakers, and anyone concerned with the nation's reading skills, this booklet draws on four recent reports in the Nation's Report Card series, which are based on findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The first chapter discusses two important components of literacy--the ability to achieve a…

"Collaborations for Literacy" is a project conducted at Boston University (Massachusetts) that uses college work-study students to teach adults to read through reading to and with a child. This instruction is provided at two Boston neighborhood sites (Jackson-Mann Community School and the Brighton branch of the Boston Public Library).…

These bulletins contain reviews of a total of 86 publications recommended for use in adult literacy programs. The materials reviewed have all been determined to meet the following requirements: currently in print; adult oriented and interesting to learners; free of age, sex, and racial bias; appropriate to the reading level of beginning readers;…

To clarify and examine conventional wisdom and stereotypes about adult literacy, this paper focuses on the approaches of individually oriented and community-oriented programs. An examination of the literature base (encompassing research reports, informal accounts, manuals and handbooks, and theoretical, philosophical, and policy articles) leads to…