"Focus on Basics" is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. "Focus on Basics" is dedicated to…

This brief article reports information gathered at a symposium on issues and challenges in assessment and accountability for adult English language learners, hosted ny the National Center for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE). Teachers, program administrators, researchers, test developers, and policy makers gathered to discuss the field's vision for…

Developed in the early 1980s, the Hill Areas Education project provides basic education to children and adults of Thailand's six ethnic minority groups, who live in the remote mountainous region of northern Thailand. The project delivers a locally relevant curriculum, equivalent to the six compulsory grades of the formal education system; promotes…

This paper discusses the discrimination against individuals with psychiatric disabilities in educational institutions and how the transition from discrimination to acceptance is occurring. It examines the characteristics of those who return to educational institutions, why they return, and the specific needs of individuals with psychiatric…

A national survey identified the extent of computer technology use in adult literacy programs and explored the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of adult literacy providers in implementing technology. It also conducted a systematic inventory of the types of computer technology currently in use in adult literacy programs. In recent years, a…

The Adult Learner Competencies Project included literature and consultation with adult education practitioners in Pennsylvania to establish competencies that can be used by all Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) providers in the state. The lists that were developed through the project, and which form the major part of this document, are…

The "Focus on Basics" serial concerns adult Learning and literacy. The eight short articles in this theme issue are all devoted to the topic of "learner motivation": (1) "Power, Literacy, and Motivation" (Greg Hart); (2) "The First Three Weeks: A Critical Time for Motivation" (B. Allan Quigley); (3) "Build Motivation by Building Learner…

This document lists the national quality standards for volunteer literacy programs that were developed by Laubach Literacy Action in a 2-year project that began in 1994 and involved the following activities: extensive review of existing literacy quality standards and guidelines; analysis of previous national efforts to identify the elements…

This 2000-2001 annual report from the Mississippi State Board for Community and Junior Colleges includes information on enrollment trends, revenue by source, expenditure by function, adult basic education (ABE) participation levels, ABE participant achievements, ABE cost effectiveness, workforce education data, workforce accountability summary…

This paper describes the 1999-2000 Adult Basic Education (ABE) Teacher Development Project at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The project's goals were to help the Hawaii Department of Education develop the infrastructure to provide continuous support to its ABE teachers and to disseminate information to and among ABE teachers. Its two…

This paper explores a common assumption: that education must be made an open, interconnected chain of learning opportunities, available to people from cradle to grave, i.e., a "learning society." Learning is examined in the following three distinct, but interrelated, domains: the domain of work; the domain of the community; and the…

This document contains the proceedings of a conference on adult learners conducted to identify barriers that prevent certain groups of adults from participating in lifelong learning opportunities and to deepen understanding of practices and institutional arrangements that better enable such adults to learn. Following a summary of the workshops of…

In describing the successful development of a special homemaking, hygiene and counseling program for urban disadvantaged adults who do not neatly fit into usual adult education classes, the author emphasizes communication and cooperation among several agencies. Approximately forty clients at a time are served in a warm and humane atmosphere. (AJ)

Success in the specialized form of teaching reading to adults is conditional upon teachers understanding the relationship between language and the physical world. A lot can be learned from the Direct Method techniques used by those who teach foreign languages. Suitable reading materials are at last becoming available for beginners. (Author/AJ)

A discussion of the use of videotape to provide a living newsletter'' for the rural and isolated areas of Appalachia. (Author/HB)