In view of the fact that 13% of the 9, 13, and 17-year-old students in the United States have been found to be functionally illiterate in a national study, this booklet was produced by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to review efforts that have been undertaken to strengthen students' command of reading skills. Among the topics discussed are…

Examples of innovations in college and adult reading reading programs in five states are described. At Maricopa Technical College (Arizona) adult students have access to a special reading program emphasizing the language experience approach, capitalizing on students' life experiences and oral language facility. Otero Junior College (Colorado)…

The contemporary women's movement, communicating largely through the written word, mistakenly ignored or failed to notice the following: (1) almost one quarter of American women (23%) had severely limited literacy skills; (2) for female heads of households, 75% of those with less than a high school diploma lived in poverty; (3) nearly 40% of…