The Adult Basic Education (ABE) classroom is often viewed as a "safe haven" for participants. The teacher's actions, interest or lack of interest in participants and the degree of concern or caring expressed for the learners all make a difference in program retention. As a result of this bond between teacher and learners, ABE instructors…

Through a participatory approach to adult basic education, a project was conducted to break the debilitating cycle of illiteracy that passes from low-income parents to their children. The approach included a family literacy book club designed to encourage parents and children to read together and to improve parents' literacy skills, interests, and…

The main objective of the 1994-95 PASSAGE Newsletter project was to provide timely workplace and job skills information to Pennsylvania's adult learners, unemployed/underemployed individuals, adult educators, career counselors/trainers, and resource/training centers. The newsletter highlighted a variety of topics: classroom skills used in the…

This issue contains five articles about assessment in adult literacy programs. The first article, "Living Literacy: Rethinking Adult Learner Assessment" (Susan L. Lytle), focuses on developing alternative forms of assessment such as literacy portfolios to identify changes in four dimensions of adult literacy over the course of literacy…

A study investigated beliefs about second language learning held by 27 adult students and 10 teachers of Arabic at the Yemen Language Center. The survey instrument consisted of 5 demographic statements and 47 statements concerning language learning in a Likert-type scaled response format. Results indicate students and teachers generally agreed…

Lack of success of some adult learners of English as a Second Language may be due to learning disabilities (LD). Review of research reveals that LD can affect every aspect of learning, impairing single or multiple skills and sometimes appearing in the second language when not in the first. Identification of adult ESL learners as having LD can be…

This book contains papers, reports, and opening and closing speeches presented at a worldwide conference of adult education experts. The document begins with the following: an introduction (Jelenc); a reprinted article, "Time to Collectively Rethink Our Field" (Franklin W. Spikes); and opening speeches by various adult education…

Gathered from practitioners in Washington state, this resource book contains composite lists of volunteer tutor management ideas and practices for teachers of literacy and English as a second language. The guide brings together into one reference work the ideas and resources gathered from 28 programs. The guide is organized around the three major…

In 1991, a study was conducted at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) to determine the characteristics of and major problems confronting adult students with English as a second language (ESL). A questionnaire was distributed to the 105 CCRI students enrolled in ESL I, ESL II, and Paragraph Writing for ESL classes, requesting them to…

In this 23-minute videotape, a panel of 13 women and men of various racial and ethic backgrounds who are enrolled in a high school equivalency program in Bloomfield, Connecticut, share their thoughts about participation in adult education. In the first part of the tape, the panel members explain why they decided to return to school (desire to make…

This report describes the JobLink workplace literacy program conducted for employees of nine companies in Costa Mesa, California. The introduction provides background and describes the problem: one-third of the 2,870 workers had inadequate language and literacy skills. The next six chapters describe the problem, solutions, tasks, challenges, and…

There is a need for highly trained professional staff, particularly paraprofessionals, in Title I schools. If paraprofessionals are spending a significant amount of time working with Title I students in a teaching environment, it is crucial that they possess the knowledge and skills sufficient to help the students achieve the same high standards…

The Technological Baccalaureate (TechBac) is a new award that aims to achieve parity of status between academic and vocational qualifications in England. It is designed primarily to be awarded to people aged 18-19. The number of British students who stay in full-time education at 16 is lamentably below figures for other advanced countries. In…

This guidebook is for adult students at California State University, Hayward (CSUH) who are entering or returning to higher education. The guide discusses the common obstacles facing adult learners; ways to prepare an academic action plan; learning how to learn; becoming a self-directed learner; managing stress and time; dealing with math anxiety;…

Since 1947, public community colleges have grown faster than any other sector of higher education. Despite the dynamism of the community college movement, the early 1980's saw the beginning of a period of financial retrenchment, fear of declining enrollments, and skepticism about the future. From 1983 through 1987, the number of associate degrees…