According to a National Assessment of Educational Progress report, most American school children have mastered reading and writing fundamentals without learning how to analyze, evaluate, and extend ideas they read and write about. To address this "surface understanding" problem, the report recommends literacy programs aimed at high risk…

Examines two trends in research on literacy--formal and functional literacy--by analyzing some assumptions held by researchers representative of each. Indicates that formalists view literacy as mastery of linguistic and textual forms, while functionalists see it as the ability to use appropriate discourse forms to accomplish desired ends. (SKC)

Examines the validity of oral reading accuracy and comprehension as indicators of difficulty for functionally illiterate adults and the feasibility of using four less commonly measured variables as additional indicators of difficulty. Indicates that accuracy and comprehension are valid indicators of difficulty. Rate and miscue quality are strong…

The formal court system in Australia has long been criticised for its adversarial nature. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation. These are promoted as a means of increasing access to justice by disadvantaged groups and as an inexpensive way of solving legal or quasi-legal…

Commonwealth Ministries of Education were asked to report on how they are undertaking the improvement of the quality of basic education in their respective countries. The papers in this volume focus on: (1) Antigua; (2) Bermuda; (3) India; (4) St. Kitts and Nevis; and (5) Turks and Caicos Islands. Charts and statistical data support each country's…

Commonwealth Ministries of Education were asked to report on how they are undertaking the improvement of the quality of basic education in their respective countries. The papers in this volume focus on: (1) Botswana; (2) Namibia; and (3) Pakistan. Charts and statistical data support each country's report. (EH)

This issue contains a variety of articles related to international events and concerns. The focus article is entitled "Is Education For All on the Right Track?" and examines what has - and has not - happened since the 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand. The assessment compares the goals of the conference with…

This report describes a program to increase sight/functional vocabulary to improve reading comprehension. The targeted population consisted of one 2nd-3rd grade and one 6th-8th grade cross-categorical self-contained class, located in an elementary school and a middle school. The schools were located in a northeast suburb of a major city in the…

The Pakistani Adult Functional Literacy Project (AFL) produced educational television programs which were shown at community viewing centers. Evaluation results are encouraging. (AM)

An advisory group in Princeton, New Jersey, has set functional literacy goals for students to learn to think, communicate, cooperate, and make reasoned and well-informed decisions. The goals are made up of four main components: information, skills, appreciation, and attitudes. (MLF)

Defines the meaning of literacy and other related terms and then examines the relationship between literacy and both social and economic development. The role of communications and the use of different types of media in literacy education are also discussed. (EAO)

This critique of the television special "Is Anyone Out There Learning?" emphasizes three points: (1) CBS presented its own biases disguised as research; (2) television cannot teach literacy; and (3) CBS made education the scapegoat for our social crisis. All articles in this journal issue concern this television program. (SJL)

A study attempted to identify those performance-related factors that were responsible for subjects' errors on one measure of functional literacy. The analysis of errors revealed that the majority of errors could be explained in terms of information processing failures. (MKM)

Reviews research on the average reading level in the United States, on how well the average American needs to read, and on what the average American can and does read. (MKM)