This study of work force illiteracy in the southern region of the United States reached the following five conclusions: (1) the problem is concentrated more among high school dropouts than among grade school dropouts who never learned to read; (2) the South risks creating a permanent, massive pool of undereducated citizens unable to support…

In order to determine whether lessons addressed to the expressed personal interest of functionally illiterate adult students would improve their reading skills, 40 such students attending an urban adult education center were divided into two reading classes. All were tested on a silent reading subtest of the Adult Basic Learning Examination and…

Designed for use as supplementary reading material, the reader is a collection of short stories (1 to 3 pages in length) developed from interviews with 12 Chippewas living in the Minnesota areas of Cass Lake, Leech Lake, Inger, Pine Point, and White Earth. The interviewees represent various occupations including teacher, school principal, nurse,…

Minimum competency testing has been mandated in one form or another by local school boards or by legislatures in 36 states. Court consideration of such testing has focused on the intent and the consequences of the testing. Where racial segregation in education has existed, courts have argued that even several years after desegregation, testing can…

A review of research in the past ten years documents adult learners' perceptions of their educational needs and their patterns of participation in adult educational activities. The populations studied include older adults, women, immigrants, native Canadians, undereducated adults, and handicapped adults. Each population is studied separately with…

The development and implementation of the Dallas Independent School District's Basic Objectives Assessment Test (BOAT) are described. Beginning in 1979, this minimum competency test was administered system-wide to all students in grades 8-12 (except for those enrolled as special education students), and beginning in 1983 it will be used in…

The Communication Experience Approach (CEA), a modification of the Language Experience Approach to teaching reading, involves the use of group activities designed to help functionally illiterate persons learn basic communication skills. This paper first discusses six distinct processes in the CEA: setting a specific purpose for communicating,…

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of a Literacy Development Program using the computer as a means of adjusting reading instruction to the varying abilities of illiterate and semi-literate adolescents and adults, and to compare the effectiveness of the literacy materials presented through the computer system with the…

The major purposes of the project were to determine the nature of the literacy problem in the Army by studying the literacy demands of Army jobs together with the literacy skills of Army personnel, and to develop a literacy training program to provide job-related-functional, literacy skills. Literacy research and development performed by HumRRO…

This study measured the extent of reading deficiencies in the United States. The research focused on reading skills that are required to cope with everyday experiences common to the lives of most Americans. Interviews were conducted with randomly designated respondents in 100 different locations throughout the country. The national sample used is…

A total of five articles concerning adult basic education are presented. These are: "Recruitment Strategies for Adult Basic Education," by Ron Howard; "Native to the Hills," by Myrtle Reul; "The Learning Laboratory--A Valid System for Adult Basic Education," by Joe Carter; "Reading Instruction for Illiterate Adults," by John George; and "Teaching…

The purpose of this booklet is to show the role and importance of work-oriented literacy for development, that it is a way of training to adapt techno-vocational and socioeconomic requirements of development. Work-oriented literacy is geared to the felt needs and interests of selected vocational groups--farmers, factory workers, small traders,…

To obtain evidence on the status of and changes in functional literacy, the National Right-to-Read Effort funded mini-assessments of the functional literacy of 17-year-olds in 1974 and 1975. The exercises were selected by a panel of reading specialists, based on the criteria that the exercises represent the types of reading materials encountered…

School attainment, age, and other factors considered in defining the concept of functional illiteracy are examined in connection with the problem in Canada. Various Canadian adult basic education programs, mostly oriented to the labor market, are described, as well as the national effort in some other countries. (MF)