The Talk to a Literacy Learner (TTALL) program was developed in response to a New South Wales (Australia) government initiative, and is designed to focus on parents and the strategies they use to interact with their children as they read and write. An 8-week parent workshop on literacy development and a community tutor program trained selected…

A project was conducted to develop and implement a comprehensive assessment system in existing adult education programs. Weekly site visits were made to four programs as follows: a segment of a large adult program offering literacy, General Educational Development (GED), and specialized technical courses; a small community-based program with…

The case study of a Bulgarian immigrant child's literacy education in English as a Second Language (ESL) is presented. Focus is on the boy's literacy development within the context of a mainstream kindergarten/first grade classroom in Australia. The report details the teacher's observations in the classroom and particularly in the child's writing…

This book, presented as a conversation among its three authors, offers strategies for theme exploration in whole language classrooms and focuses on the first and fourth grades. The book asserts that exploring a theme with students is the epitome of whole language teaching because students develop language and literacy best when they use language…

This document consists of a project report as well as a handbook which was developed during the project. The purpose of the project was to encourage adult students of English as a Second Language (ESL) to take their skills home and reteach them to family members. The project evolved from concern that adult ESL students had low retention rates…

This document contains selected papers from the 25th annual conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA). Topics addressed in the papers include the following: visual literacy; graphic information in research and education; evaluation criteria for instructional media; understanding symbols in business presentations;…

As part of the National Adult Literacy Survey in 12 states, approximately 1,250 adults in Iowa were surveyed as representatives of the 2.1 million adults in the state. The aim of the survey was to characterize literacy skills based on performance on diverse tasks that reflect the materials and demands that adults encounter every day. Fourteen to…

Based on an earlier study of approaches to training English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) and adult basic education (ABE) instructors, the current report draws implications and makes recommendations for delivering effective staff development. The five implications are that: (1) ABE and ESL teachers, volunteer instructors, and trainers will attend…

To learn more about students' computer-literacy levels and attitudes about computer use, a pilot study was performed in the summer of 1993 to evaluate the computer literacy of first-year students entering the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. A survey was completed by 444 incoming students during their orientation programs. The majority had some…

This working document suggests guidelines and strategies for the development of education in Africa during the 1990s. The first chapter, "Educational Development in Africa during the 1980s," identifies the following: the main educational challenges in the early 1980s and the responses proposed by the Conference of Ministers of Education…

An intergenerational English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program was implemented in Plymouth, Michigan, as a result of a need in a community adult ESL program and child care center, where many adult ESL students (predominantly Japanese) had preschool children who could not adjust to the child care center. The program initially allowed for mother…

The conference reported in this document, jointly sponsored by the Queensland Board of Teacher Registration and the Centre for Research in Literacy, arose out of public concern about literacy standards and claims that higher literacy levels will be needed in an increasingly technological society--concerns that make it necessary for educators to…

Previous studies indicate that only 6 percent of the nation's population possess the minimum level of understanding of science and technology needed to function minimally as citizens and consumers. Many educators speculate that scientific illiteracy originates in elementary school classrooms, not from intellectual inferiority, but rather from…

This document begins with a checklist of 13 behaviors that people with learning disabilities may exhibit. It includes a guide for assessing the problem and a list of 27 publications, 15 national organizations, 5 national clearinghouses, 6 sources of basic/remedial education, sources of education and training opportunities and financial aid, 13…

This Vocational Education Resource Package (VERP) was developed to provide materials useful in replicating an exemplary vocational education program for special student populations in the California Community Colleges. This VERP provides information on an intensive computer training program for the physically disabled, originally developed at…