Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, North Carolina serves a rapidly growing Hispanic population through its Family-Centered Literacy Program. The Hispanic population in the region has been increasing at a staggering rate of 50% per year, most of which is in-migration. These newcomers frequently face challenges adjusting to their jobs,…

The Council on Postsecondary Education is directed by statute to provide the Governor and the members of the General Assembly an annual accountability report on Kentucky's postsecondary education system. The report documents system-wide and institutional progress in advancing the Public Agenda and the mandates of the Kentucky Postsecondary…

Appalachia has a history of isolation, poverty, substandard education and services, and economic exploitation by outside forces, but also has a long history of resistance and community organizing. This paper describes three rural Appalachian community organizations whose mission is the strengthening and empowering of communities as well as…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are used to estimate empirically the impact on the earnings capacities of young female dropouts if they were to return to complete either a regular high school education or a General Educational Development (GED) degree. To reduce the potential upward bias on these estimated rates of return,…

This paper reviews research published in the last 20 years which evaluates the performance of general education development (GED) certified students at public two-year community colleges. First, information is provided on the role and enrollment conditions of today's community colleges in America, focusing on the growth of community college,…

Problem posing is a tool for developing and strengthening critical thinking skills. Freire expanded on the idea of active, participatory education through problem-posing dialogue, a method that transforms the students into critical coinvestigators in dialogue with the teacher. Problem posing begins by listening for students' issues. Teachers…

A study evaluated different approaches to placing students in adult literacy classes using 168 adult basic education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) students. Students in classes at Rochambeau School in White Plains, New York, were given the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE), the Tests of Adult Literacy Skills (TALS), an oral…

A study examined the relationship between the motives and needs of 658 adult students enrolled in a Dutch adult high school program and the curricular and instructional design of an educational reform--an open learning program. The population was all 4,442 adult learners in 3 schools who started an open learning experiment. When the students…

Comprehensive evaluations of two dropout prevention/reentry demonstration programs, sponsored by the Department of Education, one funded under the School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Program (SDDAP) and one funded under the Cooperative Demonstration Program (CDP), are provided in this paper. Both programs were designed to demonstrate effective…

This staff briefing report was prepared for the Wisconsin Legislative Council's Special Committee on Educational Programs in Adult Correctional Institutions. The two-part paper provides background information on Wisconsin's adult correctional system, its residents, and the educational and vocational programs in adult correctional institutions.…

In 1987, General Educational Development (GED) test passing score requirements were raised in Wisconsin. To study the effect, data were gathered from samples of 480 examinees each for 1986 and 1989 through site visits and follow-up surveys mailed to 900 of the 960 in the samples. Responses were received from 206 persons (37 percent). Chi-square…

A case study was done on the effects of training programs sponsored by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) on 835 women textile workers dislocated by a plant closing in Blount County, Tennessee. Data were gathered by former workers through structured interviews with 100 women typical by age (about 45-years-old) and length of service (14-16…

The Louisiana Adult Education Program provides academic education for persons 16 years old and above with less than a high school education, with emphasis on decreasing the illiteracy rate in Louisiana. The program enrolled 44,515 students in literacy efforts in fiscal year 1986-1987. Approximately 33,000 students were tested. The average of the…

This resource handbook was developed to provide constituent school district personnel with a variety of strategies for improving student attendance and for reducing the dropout rate. A significant number of studies completed during the last 5 years have identified attendance as the critical issue confronting school administrators. Further, recent…