An evaluation was conducted of a summer institute on assessment in adult literacy held at the University of Pittsburgh. The summer institute was designed to enable program administrators and instructors to hear experts in the field of adult assessment discuss, in depth, the issues that are common to all adult literacy providers. Participants had…

A system was developed in the Open Learning Centres to make resources and instructional materials available to adult basic education (ABE) students. The materials were organized so that information could be provided to students to help them make choices among the items. Initially, a color coding system was devised, but it was found that it was not…

This publication presents a series of papers on the role of the university world wide in advancing universal literacy. Chapter 1 looks across the Asian and Pacific Region and shows the large regional disparities which exist in addressing literacy issues at the university level. The second chapter describes the magnitude of illiteracy in the…

This book, which is intended as a resource for trainers, managers, supervisors, union representatives, or writers of training materials, contains six sections dealing with various aspects of the process of writing a wide range of workplace documents. Discussed in section 1 is the importance of identifying the purpose, topic, and audience of…

Five pre- and postevaluations were administered to 413 therapy aides who had participated in a workplace literacy program (which 273 had completed) to upgrade their job-specific reading, writing, and oral communication skills in five New York City psychiatric hospitals. Four of the measures showed significant pre-post gain. The data were then…

Indonesia seems to be succeeding in its fight against illiteracy due to the choice of Bahasa Indonesia, a simple language, as the national language and as a unifying force. A literacy campaign is based on Package A, a group of 100 booklets. The main effort is to form groups that meet regularly and are taught by volunteer tutors. Many Package A…

This module was developed by educators from the Emily Griffith Opportunity School. Designed for a broad spectrum of employees at a health care facility for the elderly, this three-session workplace literacy workshop is designed around a basic three-part communication model that includes listening, problem solving, and follow-up, along with a…

Development must offer people not only release from poverty but also social esteem and political freedom. While knowledge production has exploded, its distribution and use is still limited, especially in the Third World. Literacy is the most promising means of bringing information and technology to common people in developing nations. Each country…

In its third year of funding, Project VITAL (Volunteers In Training Act and Learn) was designed to provide literacy training to 500 librarians, coordinators, and volunteers working in literacy programs. Through the techniques of improvisational theater, structured scenarios were enacted dealing with illiteracy, women's concerns of domestic…

Literacy for women is a frequently voiced need that most governments recognize officially as a high priority. Despite the expansion of public education, women (particularly poor and rural women) continue to show adult literacy rates lower than those of men. Five key challenges to the attainment of literacy emerge for women. The first challenge is…

Publication of student writing in adult basic education (ABE) or adult literacy classes in Great Britain was the focus of a research project. Discussions with 120 tutors and 136 students took place during field visits to 12 classes, 21 tutoring projects, 2 prison education departments, 2 further education colleges, 5 open learning centers, and 7…

The purpose of this report is to present a public forum expressing the views of the people of New York and their thoughts on the role and needs of New York's Libraries. Exhibit One provides a brief overview of New York's libraries and the New York State Archives, and the roles which these systems play as part of the state's library systems.…

What can employers assume about the literacy skills of General Educational Development (GED) program graduates? A subsample of 1,012 young adults, aged 21 to 25, selected from the Young Adult Literacy Survey (YALS) was used to study this question. The sample consisted of all Caucasians, African-Americans, and Hispanics in the following categories:…

A minicourse pilot project was designed by the Massachusetts Department of Education to meet the staff training and development needs of workplace educators in the National Workplace Literacy Program. During the course, various activities and group configurations were used to help teachers apply modeled approaches to their own teaching contexts,…

This guide is designed to provide private industry councils (PICs) with information on developing workplace literacy or job-related basic skills programs. Chapter 1 contains an overview of the nation's literacy problem and how it affects business and is designed to provide PIC members with background information to use when discussing the problem…