Discusses barriers to self-direction in the adult learner and their implications for the program of reading instruction. Recommends methods by which these barriers can be surmounted. (NRJ)

Discusses open entrance/open exit programs designed to prevent attirtion in adult reading programs for students who have not completed high school. Offers suggestions for encouraging success within such programs. (FL)

Describes the elementary school that won the 1996 National PTA Reading/Literacy Award. The PTA helped create a literacy center program designed to teach adults to read so they could help their children read. The article also describes the five runner-up programs for the award. (SM)

Compares two approaches to teaching reading to adults: the eclectic, research-based method of Literacy Volunteers of America (LVA) and the phonics-based Laubach Literacy International. Concludes that LVA has the advantages of adaptability to student differences, a thorough evaluation system, and a superior published reading series. (SK)

Describes experiences with adult students showing that teachers can take a dialogic approach to literacy in any classroom setting. Points out that the focus is on talk, generative themes, and written dialog. (SR)

Describes the difficulties of teaching a reading class in a prison. Emphasizes the importance of sharing and of teaching based on democratic principles. Shows how using collaboration, perspective sharing, and children's literature helped to bond the class. Concludes that teaching inside a prison is different from teaching in a regular institution,…

Offers (1) a teaching strategy using contemporary music themes to increase adolescents' confidence and reading fluency; and (2) a brief description of four literacy programs from around the world which were UNESCO prize winners. (SR)

Describes and analyzes how an Urban Appalachian woman who could not read or write progressed to functional levels when instruction involved her in reading her own language. Argues that educators who failed to acknowledge her language as an integral aspect of her as a learner may have denied her previous access to literacy. (SR)

Evaluated a service learning course that matched preservice teachers and older adult literacy learners and aimed to address widespread attrition in adult education programs and the need for multicultural education for preservice teachers. Data revealed two essential elements of successful, reciprocal learning relationships: connecting across…

Early in 2004 the New England Board of Higher Education bestowed its annual award for excellence on Changing Lives Through Literature. A 1991 experiment that has spread by word of mouth through a dozen courts in Massachusetts, Changing Lives puts the classroom study of literature at the core of an alternative-sentencing program for criminal…

In this paper, we discuss the Functional Adult Literacy Program (FALP) that we have developed in Turkey. FALP, which is taught by volunteer instructors, focuses on individuals who have had very little or no schooling. The two evaluation studies of the first three cohorts of the program indicate that FALP is significantly more effective than the…

A third-party national evaluation of the basic grants section of the Adult Education Act was conducted in September 1990. The study drew on data from the following sources: 1990 mail survey of all federally supported local service providers; longitudinal study of local programs that provided information on the characteristics of more than 22,000…

A study evaluated the 83 basic skills open learning centers established in England and Wales to improve opportunities for adults and young people to improve essential basic skills. They were established in a variety of locations, ranging from further education colleges or adult education centers to libraries and shops. The most successful centers…

To address the expanding need for child care workers and the increase in older adults requesting job training, Generations Together (GT) developed two year-long projects to implement child care training for older adults at community colleges nationwide. The first project involved replicating a GT-developed child care curriculum and…

This booklet describes existing and planned government initiatives to address the long-standing issue of low achievement in basic literacy and numeracy skills in England. The booklet begins with a brief explanation of the economic and social importance of basic functional literacy and numeracy skills. Part 1 is a discussion of English government…