This study grew out of the realization that implicit literacy expectations between working class United Auto Workers (UAW) staff and professional class staff were complicating the filling out and filing of a position audit form. Professional class supervisors had designed the form as a measure of fairness, in that each UAW employee on campus was…

In adult English-as-a-Second-Language literacy education and staff development, practitioner inquiry has emerged as a powerful approach toward improving practice. A variety of activities occur under the umbrella of practitioner inquiry, all of which are grounded in the knowledge and questions held by practitioners. The characteristics of inquiry…

Hamilton's critique of the National Federation for Educational Research (NFER) study, Progress in Adult Literacy, addresses the conceptualization of literacy, flaws in the research design, school-oriented focus, and validity and reliability of tests used; she suggests a research strategy. Brooks summarizes NFER's response. (SK)

Uses focus groups, a questionnaire, and in-depth interviews to reveal conditions needed for teachers' professional development: time to meet, solve problems, and reflect on practice and exposure to other teachers' strategies. Notes unexpected differences between adult literacy and English language teachers. (SR)

Workplace training at the British offices of Readers' Digest is designed to improve staff skills in communicating with customers. Evaluation of workshops focused on spelling, grammar, and business writing shows that the company is achieving a return on its training investment. (SK)

The Small Group Learning Methodology Project in Australia demonstrated the powerful effect of group membership upon adult literacy. Group learning was facilitated by shared purpose, satisfaction of needs through interdependence, individual growth through group goals, and use of both whole group and one-to-one interaction. (SK)

Describes a Canadian curriculum development project; analyzes underlying policy assumptions. Advocates involvement of prison educators and inmates in the process if curriculum is to meet the educational needs of inmates. (Author/LAM)

This guide contains 55 articles written by adult basic education (ABE) practitioners in Pennsylvania suggesting ways to improve teaching and program administration in the field. The guide is organized into four parts: (1) working together for program improvement, (2) teaching and learning, (3) developing as a professional and (4) appendixes (high…

"In Quest of the Quick Fix: Staff Development in the 'National Literacy Training Act'" (Quigley) argues that professional development programs must consider "literacy for what?""Foundations for Adult Learning and Development Policy" (Craig) evaluates a policy document of the Alberta Advanced Education Ministry. (SK)

An outgrowth of several previous projects conducted by the Illinois Literacy Resource Development Center (ILRDC), the Quality Programs Project is a collaborative effort to improve the quality of literacy services in the Chicago area. A long-term investment in quality programming at the local level, the Quality Programs Project has as its primary…

The National Literacy Act of 1991 provided the funding to begin building an adult literacy staff development infrastructure by requiring all states to increase their staff development funding from 10% to 15%. Inquiry-based staff development was one of the most promising models to emerge from the staff development activities conducted in 1992-1993…

This guide was developed to aid facilitators in delivering orientation sessions for new adult education staff. The orientation is designed for 14-16 hours of class time; the 15 lessons are organized in three 5- to 6-hour days. The following topics are covered in the lessons: (1) introduction and goals; (2) what is literacy?; (3) materials; (4) the…

In response to the National Goals 2000 Literacy initiative, literacy programs in New Jersey increased their efforts to meet literacy goals. In the summer of 1993, a needs assessment survey was conducted to determine the training and program development needs of adult education classroom teachers, teacher aides, substitute teachers, program…

This document, which is intended to assist adult literacy staff development and training personnel working at the state, district, and program levels, contains considerations and guidelines essential for an effective, comprehensive staff development and training program. Discussed in Section 1, which is an overview of staff development and…

Literacy councils in central Pennsylvania recruited more potential students within their communities and increased the number of students enrolling in their programs through a staff development project. Direct-service personnel from local human service agencies that constituted important referral sources for literacy councils were targeted for…