By the year 2000, most new entrants to the work force will be women, minorities, or immigrants who have not mastered the skills necessary for the entry-level jobs of the future--the ability to conceptualize, analyze, and communicate well. However, research has demonstrated that these people, who are at risk of chronic unemployment, do not perform…

Adult literacy programs need reliable information about program quality and effectiveness for accountability, improvement of practice, and expansion of knowledge. Evaluation and assessment reflect fundamental beliefs about adult learners, concepts of literacy, and educational settings. Resources for planning program evaluations include surveys,…

Illiteracy is intergenerational and is correlated with poverty. Especially significant is the effect of the mother's education level on children's academic achievement. A number of recent initiatives are emphasizing the role of parents as reading boosters. However, this approach fuels the debate between those who view literacy as skill development…

The Family Support Act of 1988 is based on the assumption that education, training, work experience, and support are the way to reduce welfare dependence. The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program in the act requires participation of many welfare recipients in state job training programs. Comprehensive welfare reform programs in…

Representatives of the business community define workplace literacy according to how well informed are the spokespersons for business, how expansive is their view of the role of literacy, and the extent to which literacy bears on their firms' productivity. These elements affect business people's understanding of what constitutes workplace…

This document describes a workplace literacy program designed to improve the literacy skills of entry-level workers in the housekeeping, food service, and laundry departments of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. An introduction describes the goals of the program and the employees served (low-literate adults who relied on word of mouth for most…

This guide was developed by the Chicago Urban Skills Institute to provide improved instruction in English as a second language (ESL) to adults in the adult learning skills program. The guide provides standardized guidelines for the content of ESL courses and ideas for lesson and course planning. Course content is described for 21 ESL courses which…

The New Jersey Adult Reading Project was a state project involving more than 500 New Jersey adult educators from 98 adult education programs around the state. The primary objective of the project was to develop a competency-based adult reading management system that would allow program completers to achieve the following goals: continue their…

Issues that are relevant to promoting the intellectual potential and trained competence of the U.S. population are addressed. Important concerns include the following: preventing retardation among unborn children and young children; providing essential early childhood experiences through programs such as Head Start; and insuring literacy among…

The National Adult Literacy Project's research and development agenda, developed through a literature survey and consultation with practitioners and scholars, is elaborated in this paper. Each of the seven topic areas begins with a rationale for its importance and a brief review of relevant research. Proposals for research studies and/or…

The prevalence of underprepared students attending colleges, the need to define literacy requirements of courses, the implications of research on literacy in the design of remedial programs, and the need for systematic evaluation of such programs are considered. Literacy is broadly defined as a language competence that is used to achieve both…

This Project Drive booklet titled The Car: Its Parts and What Makes It Go is one of eight booklets designed for intermediate-level English-as-a-second-language students and low-level adult basic education/basic reading students. The goal of the booklet is to aid the student in developing the oral and sight vocabulary necessary for a basic driver…

This annotated list of 103 instructional materials for use in an independent living program focused on personal, social, and community adjustment of those with special needs is cross referenced using a subject index that lists skill areas within a fourteen-category system. Document descriptions are arranged alphabetically by author and include…

A report is presented on a two-year project developed by the Cleveland Public Schools to develop and pilot-test a "packaged" curriculum model designed to support both the basic and functional skill development of high school students in each of five major content areas--English, social studies, mathematics, science, and…

A survey of the needs of the community in the matter of adult education was conducted, and the type of permanent organization that should be set up to serve those needs was determined. Questionnaires, explanatory letters, leaflets, meetings, advertisements, and interviews were used to obtain data. The definition of adult education used was: it is…