Survey of practitioners who have or teach for the Royal Society of Arts Diploma in Teaching of Literacy Skills to Adults or City and Guilds of London Certificate in Teaching Basic Skills identified advantages and disadvantages of both and the difficulties in applying National Vocational Qualifications' functional analysis of job tasks to the work…

Presents a study in which 32 Chinese-speaking adults solved single-digit multiplication problems. Chinese adults made more errors that indicated interactions between phonological codes activated at encoding and production of answers as compared to samples of English, French, and Dutch-speaking adults from other studies. Contains 26 references.…

This theme issue addresses the systemic and institutional barriers that impact urban adult basic education learners and programs in the United States. Focuses on provisions of the Workforce Investment Act (1998) and literacy education. (SLD)

Provides a historical overview of the development of the Native American community in Chicago, Illinois, and focuses on issues impacting their education. Discusses ways to enhance adult basic education for Native Americans in urban settings. (SLD)

Transfer of knowledge and skills is optimized if learning is situated in a context such as the workplace. The example of Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's welfare-to-work program illustrates how situated work force education can produce greater long-term outcomes. (SK)

Adult literacy learners face uses of funding, access and lack of expertise and time related to technology use. Issues for literacy programs include funding, access, staff development, assessment, and maintenance. Technology can individualize literacy learning, allow privacy and asynchronous participation, and provide immediate feedback. (Contains…

This article focuses on the Lawrence Adult Learning Center, the only program in Kansas offering Adult Basic Education. The LALC has been a program on wheels, always moving to another location. Its mission is to enable adult students to: acquire appropriate skills and knowledge necessary to become informed decision makers and effective…

The idea that popular culture and entertainment media influence us in both conscious and unconscious ways is not new. The use of alternative spaces, such as internet sites, for creating entertainment will continue to influence society and challenge educators. The importance of the internet was reflected in Time magazine's choosing YOU (meaning the…

In March 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that the situation in the Chinese countryside is desperate and claimed new resources would be devoted to healthcare and education. This announcement should have pleased architects of the Chinese "learning initiative" who are building learning cities and villages. The authors describe why…

This annual newsletter contains updates on the latest CCRC research, new publications and details of upcoming presentations at major conferences. The feature article in this issue, "Addressing the Needs of Underprepared Students," by Thomas Bailey, summarizes the discussion found in the paper "Challenge and Opportunity: Rethinking…

In 1997 the British Columbia Open University (BCOU) adopted a virtualization strategy based primarily on twinning off-line independent study distance education courses (textbook-based with study guide and telephone and e-mail tutor support) with alternate online versions (textbook-based with integrated conferencing and communications provided…

This issue of a newsletter on adult literacy and learning disabilities focuses on self-esteem. Contributors include a professional in learning disabilities, an adult basic educator, a state literacy resource provider, and two adult students who tell how they overcame struggles with low self-esteem to confront their literacy difficulties and…

This guide, which is intended for project directors, coordinators, and other professional staff involved in developing/delivering workplace education programs, explains the process of developing a functional context workplace education curriculum. Discussed first are the following: the types of information needed to develop a functional context…

Literacy is a social process. Each person constructs his or her own "literate identity" and each community constructs its own "literate culture." At times, this local and individual process is at odds with literacy development on a large scale, undertaken through social intervention. Such social intervention is counter-social in that by trying to…

Preparation of instructors is considered to be one of the greatest needs in adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programs. Many ABE and ESL teachers and volunteer instructors receive little or no training, either in subject matter content or in the process of teaching English to adults. The challenge for the adult…