Comprehension monitoring is a meta-cognitive skill that is defined as the ability to self-evaluate one's comprehension of text. Although it is known that struggling adult readers are poor at monitoring their comprehension, additional research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying comprehension monitoring and their role in reading…

This chapter describes international policy contexts of adult literacy and language assessment and the shift toward standardization through measurement tools. It considers the implications the quantification of learning outcomes has for pedagogy and practice and for the social inclusion of transnational migrants.

Both within and beyond the OECD region, governments and other stakeholders are increasingly interested in the assessments of the skills of their adult populations in order to monitor how well prepared they are for the challenges of the knowledge based society. The current paper provides an overview of the two international assessments of adult…

Governments and other stakeholders have become increasingly interested in assessing the skills of their adult populations in order to examine how well prepared they are to meet the challenges of the modern knowledge-based society. The current paper provides a conceptual framework for the assessment of reading component skills in the OECD's…

Governments and other stakeholders are increasingly interested in assessing the skills of their adult populations in order to monitor how well prepared they are for the challenges of the modern knowledge-based society. The current paper provides an overview of the conceptual framework guiding the development of the assessment of literacy in the…

The field of adult literacy is complex. This complexity poses many challenges for literacy programs. This paper addresses the challenges of collaboration, diversity, attendance, assessment and professional development as they apply to adult literacy programs. Recommendations for increasing the success of literacy programs are provided.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) is a household survey conducted periodically by the Department of Education that evaluates the literacy skills of a sample of adults in the United Stages ages 16 and older. NAAL results are used to characterize adults literacy skills and to inform policy and programmatic decisions. The Committee on…

Intended to help adult education teachers and administrators select the type of adult literacy program that works best for their students, this digest surveys nine different programs and discusses the assessment methods used for each program. The programs examined are: (1) Time to Read; (2) Center for Literacy program; (3) Federal Prison System…

It is estimated that 22 percent, of adults in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina have poor literacy skills, meaning that they have difficulty with tasks involving simple texts and documents. Purpose: Given this low level of adult literacy, the purpose of this exploratory research study was to analyze the perceptions of North Carolina's adult…

Research on metacognition and literacy development in children and adults that was conducted during the past 15 years was reviewed to determine how metacognition can be applied to instructional approaches for adult literacy and how assessment methods may need to be modified if metacognition is to be applied successfully. Among the key findings of…

This information sheet describes Reading and Writing, one of four streams or subject areas offered in the Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) in Australia. The stream is organized around the four main social contexts in which individuals function within society: family and social life, workplace and institutional settings,…

THE WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION PREPARED THESE GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS OF UNDEREDUCATED ADULTS--ILLITERATE, FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE, AND NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING. THE RATE OF ILLITERACY HAS BEEN DECLINING, STANDING IN 1960 AT 18,059. FUNCTIONAL ILLITERACY IS HARDER TO DEFINE SINCE CRITERIA ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING, BUT IT IS FOUND…

This report describes a low-cost, adaptable methodology for assessment of basic learning competencies (BLCs) in diverse cultural contexts. Following the introduction, section 2 provides a policy framework and covers priority populations; policy and assessment needs; challenges for policy-driven assessments; and questions policymakers might have.…

England's Learning and Skills Development Agency welcomes the introduction of a coherent national funding and delivery strategy for adult literacy, numeracy, and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). The agency believes that the strategy should incorporate the lessons of previous literacy and numeracy initiatives and build on examples of…