Several texts for adult literacy classes are reviewed and trends are indicated in the following areas: definitions, assumptions of prior knowledge, teacher guidance, reading instruction, writing instruction, writing expectations, reading/writing strategies, grammar, and illustrative materials. Questions for teacher guidance are appended. (Contains…

Describes a study that determined the readability of medical information found on such CD-ROM products as the Health Reference Center on InfoTrac. Findings revealed that the readability scores all exceeded the accepted standard reading level of eighth grade, so they would not meet the needs of people with poor reading skills. (Author/LRW)

In 1992, the Library Literacy Connection of the Mansfield-Richland County (Ohio) Public Library was established to help promote adult literacy. The library began documenting its impact through a collection of interviews. In this article, adult learners and tutors share their tales of libraries and literacy. (AEF)

Reports that the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) was administered to 20 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1998. IALS identified a very large proportion of adults with very low levels of literacy, most of whom did not see literacy as being crucial to their well being. (Contains 12…

Evaluates the International Adult Literacy Survey (as reported in OECD 1997) from a New Literacy Studies perspective. Criticism of the survey includes charges that: it provides only a partial picture of literacy; culture is treated as bias; and the test items do not represent the real-life items as claimed. Contains 30 references. (PGS)

Examines underlying epistemological and theoretical assumptions of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS). Concludes that IALS is primarily geared toward enhancing labor-market competencies but should instead make learners co-responsible actors of their own learning process and participants in a democratic debate defining the kind of…

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) has serious limitations. Interpretation of data often manifests an ethnocentric Western attitude, ranking handling of data-based information higher than experiential and contextualized information, and ignoring how people solve problems in their life context. Proposes an alternative model, called…

Points out the difficulties of defining and operationalizing literacy and literacy development across communities with diverse socioeconomic profiles. Proposes consideration of diverse socioeconomic patterns and level of community (in addition to macro-level of nation-state and the micro-level of individual) to analyze matters relating to literacy…

Discusses information literacy and its importance for the workplace. Topics include literacy for economic and social upward mobility; the use of computers to help achieve information literacy; adult information literacy; the roles of professional associations, government agencies, teachers, and print media; information overload; information…

While college composition theory/pedagogy courses are standard offerings in composition and rhetoric graduate programs, specialized basic writing graduate courses lag behind. At the same time, there is a pressing need for highly qualified teachers of nontraditional adult students, especially in community college and adult literacy education…

The Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES) assesses cognitive skills in three areas using the following three separate subscales: Reading Text, Document Use, and Numeracy in Working-Age Adults. The sample was composed of 2,688 working-age English-speaking Canadians who came from a variety of settings (e.g., trades training programs, adult…

Planning adult literacy education in developing nations is largely viewed as a technical process reserved for government officials at the Ministry of Education. This empirical study argues that in Botswana, state sponsored adult literacy asserts its hegemony and stifles learner participation and district initiatives. The paper provides an overview…

The purpose of this study was to measure and compare the extent to which three groups of stakeholders in the welfare-to-work process judge a selected list of workplace topics as important for inclusion in the curriculum. Topics were derived from the 1991 report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). A 45-item survey…

The purpose of a state report card is to provide the general public and policymakers with information to assess and improve post secondary education in each state. "Measuring Up 2008" is the fifth in a series of biennial report cards that evaluates states in six overall performance categories: (1) Preparation for post-secondary education…

The purpose of a state report card is to provide the general public and policymakers with information to assess and improve post secondary education in each state. "Measuring Up 2008" is the fifth in a series of biennial report cards that evaluates states in six overall performance categories: (1) Preparation for post-secondary education…