The many advantages claimed for using the computer in adult literacy instruction--privacy, immediate feedback, individualization, control, and flexibility--have also been observed in the practice of dedicated teachers, without the help of computers. Fortunately, many scholars still emphasize the need for teacher sensitivity and teacher-student…

A study of the philosophies and practices of community-based literacy programs focused on their nature, characteristics, and needs. Five activities were conducted: determination of criteria for defining literacy programs as community-based; program identification; survey and interview of program directors; meetings and follow-up conversations with…

The Literacy Prescription Project has served 250 clients in Illinois by providing individualized instruction and complete diagnostic reports--developing four profiles of adult disabled readers who can be treated with associated instructional techniques. Profile One adults cannot read the simplest pre-primer text and can only recognize a few words…

This document describes the British Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) because information on the ALBSU experience might be useful to planners working to establish a similar national literacy center in the United States. (The ALBSU was formed in London in the mid-1970s to support the BBC's television-based national adult literacy…

The field of cognitive science (as represented, for instance, by intergenerational literacy programs) offers new ways to think about increasing cognitive abilities, which is particularly important in view of the disappointing outcomes of many intervention programs that do not seem to make their participants more knowledgeable or better thinkers.…

This workbook is focused on helping students learn how to use the newspaper as reading material. The workbook contains 26 lessons with short word lists at the beginning of each lesson and exercises which utilize the words from the word lists. The guide also includes five self-check exercises. (MS)

The National Child Development Study is a longitudinal survey of all people who were born in the week of March 3-9, 1958 in England, Scotland, and Wales--approximately 17,000 people. A project used information collected from 12,500 of these people through interviews in 1981 when they were 23 years old. The project sought to determine (1) what…

This directory of resources for disabled adults was compiled to assist state directors of the federally funded, state-administered Adult Education Program as well as administrators and practitioners in providing services for adults with disabilities. The first two sections include 15 federal and nonfederal organizations serving adults with various…

This resource directory begins with a list of U.S. Department of Education Regional Civil Rights Offices, which offer assistance on legal interpretation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), followed by a list of public and private groups providing general assistance to handicapped persons. The third section lists agencies that focus on…

Noting that adult illiteracy is a problem in Nevada, this report assesses adult literacy programs and needs for the State of Nevada by examining the issues and surveying state funded and volunteer literacy programs as well as all public school districts. An executive summary presents (1) the extent of the illiteracy problem; (2) ramifications of…

This booklet provides guidelines for setting up workplace programs to strengthen employee basic skills. It is intended to help employers who are contemplating the establishment of basic skills training programs and those with programs already in place who seek to improve their current designs. Part I addresses the basic skills problem in the…

This document is a teacher's edition of a basic skills curriculum in science for adult basic education (ABE) students. The course consists of 25 lessons on basic science concepts, designed to give students a good understanding of the biological and physical sciences. Suggested activities and experiments that the student can do are also included.…

A qualitative study examined the way in which literacy is perceived by illiterate adults. To identify the perceptions of illiterate adults toward literacy, researchers conducted in-depth unstructured interviews with 40 illiterate native English speaking adults living in a northeastern urban area. Half the members of the study sample are currently…

Addressed to professionals involved in program evaluation, this working paper covers various aspects of evaluation planning, including the following: planning as a sociotechnical process, steps in evaluation planning, program planning and implementation versus evaluation planning and implementation, the literacy system and its subsystems, and some…

Adult illiteracy is a complex, costly, and growing social problem. Three common areas of controversy related to the problem are: (1) definitions of adult literacy, (2) characteristics of illiterate adults, and (3) the purposes of literacy education. Illiteracy can be understood only in relation to a culture's definition of literacy. Due to…