Current accountability policy that bases assessment on validity and reliability criteria in the positivist research tradition is counterproductive to serving adult learners and their communities. In this article, we outline a framework for accountability that allows for the emergence and demonstration of the full range of program outcomes and…

Globalization and the revolution in technological communications are major forces of change in higher education. This environment, when coupled with the needs of adult learners and the rising costs of tuition at traditional colleges and universities, has stimulated the emergence of for-profit, degree-granting higher education in the United States.…

This study examines effects of short, medium, and extended second language (L2) experience (3 months, 3 years, and 10 years of United States residence, respectively) on the production of five suprasegmentals (stress timing, peak alignment, speech rate, pause frequency, and pause duration) in six English declarative sentences by 30 adult Korean…

This article describes the emergence of the field of adult Jewish learning and the need for research in this burgeoning aspect of contemporary Jewish life. The authors describe the context in which the upsurge of adult Jewish learning has occurred, drawing attention to the absence of systematic data collection about programs, funding structures,…

This study is a review and a critique of the 2008 U.S. "National Report on the Development and State of the Art of Adult Learning and Education" (ALE) prepared by the U.S. Commission for UNESCO and the U.S. Department of Education as a preparatory document for CONFINTEA VI, the 6th International Conference on Adult Education. The study…

Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a developmental disorder characterized by poor social skills and restricted interests, but also by extensive knowledge in specific areas and an extensive vocabulary, thereby giving college students with AS specific abilities that are desirable in academe. In fact, young individuals with AS are often referred to as "little…

This article describes a project to improve the health and quality of life of minority ethnic communities in the West Midlands. The project demonstrates the difference adult learning can make to agendas such as health and community cohesion. "Tandrusti" is a Punjabi word meaning a sound condition of the body or mind. It's also the name…

This briefing paper endeavours to highlight the challenges facing refugees and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom in accessing education, training and employment. It does not claim to cover all the issues but is intended as a starting point for providers of adult learning and/or advice. It initially sets out the facts about definitions and…

The purpose of the research was to get insights into the ways learning strategies typically used by adult learners can be taken into consideration when designing web-based courses to facilitate learning in teacher education. Teacher students wrote narratives in discussion forums by completing various types of group projects. The relevant…

While current research shows that comprehensive high schools remain the norm, effective small-scale high schools feature lower student-to-teacher ratios, longer instructional blocks, more parent involvement, and increased advisory and student support. The resulting instructional benefits include reduced dropout rates, increased attendance, higher…

This paper discusses a qualitative case study that addresses how an intranet can provide opportunities for learning about an organization's culture. Four primary findings are discussed with the study concluding that cultural knowledge is conveyed and renewed through an intranet in a learning process that emphasizes informal learning and…

This article describes and analyses the background and goals of students at the Finnish open university in the beginning of the twenty-first century. The material consists of statistics based on the student records of the Finnish open university in 2000 (n = 9080) and of the stories, educational autobiographies written by the adult learners (n =…

The authors report on an interpretive case study that investigated how three elementary teachers summatively assessed their own students' written work over a three and one-half month period. Their collaborative assessment sessions reflected their ongoing routines that created productive social spaces that sowed the seeds for transformational adult…

A common outcome of entering post-compulsory education as a mature aged learner appears to be development and growth of the self. However, this is often only viewed as an outcome or considered an added benefit, rather than an integral part of the academic process itself. This paper explores the relationship between academic growth and personal…

This article describes how two African American young adults engage in learning and activism in their Harlem community through employment of art forms. Observations on the reversal of learning--from adults to young people in classrooms and young people to adults in the community--are critiqued.