The following steps will integrate computers into a volunteer literacy program: (1) decide how the computers will be used, depending on the program's needs (typically, computers are used to help with management chores and to motivate students and help them attain their academic and career goals); (2) investigate software and hardware, including…

A descriptive study identified and assessed programmatic characteristics of rural literacy services in northern Pennsylvania and factors affecting participation of adult literacy students in those services. The study focused on service delivery aspects of programming and incentives/motivations as well as on barriers affecting participation.…

A project was conducted at the Adult Learning Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, to help clients who had recently failed (and almost passed) the General Educational Development (GED) examination to reapply themselves to specific curriculum materials, correct deficiencies, and retake the GED test. Intense guidance was provided to each student in the…

Effective teaching in adult basic education (ABE) is especially complex and difficult due to context--specific factors that function synergetically to impede success in teaching and learning. These distinctive attributes include open enrollment, irregular attendance, time on task, student diversity, and teacher characteristics. Research concerned…

Four major types of approaches to learner assessment are standardized testing, materials-based, competency-based, and participatory assessment. Standardized tests are easy and inexpensive to administer. Objections are their intrinsic defects and misuse. Materials-based assessment, the practice of evaluating learners on the basis of tests following…

Parents of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students often face linguistic and cultural challenges while trying to support their children's education. Parents depend on educators to help them strengthen their abilities in these areas. Language, literacy, and cultural needs may vary widely, and parent education programs should be adapted to this…

This evaluation used ethnographic data collection methods to discover why IBM's PALS (Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System met with different degrees of success at the two Massachusetts pilot sites after 2 years of operation: the North Central Correctional Institute (NCCI) in Gardner, and the Brightwood Branch Library in Springfield. Three…

The concept of "preliteracy" is important for adult literacy programs. All illiterate adults can undertake their initiation into the world of letters and figures provided they are strongly motivated to do so. Experiments on motivation indicate that literacy programs must respond at least to one essential need of the future literate…

This document consists of the four issues of the first annual volume of a quarterly magazine for new adult readers. It is aimed at adults reading at the fourth- to eighth-grade level. The magazine is designed to be self-motivating to the new reader or the learning disabled. Phonetic helps are provided for those words that do not conform to typical…

The Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) analyzed draft plans, required by the Education Reform Act 1988, from about 40 percent of the local education authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales to identify basic skills and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) provisions for adults. Topics of concern were the maintenance of programs…

This bibliography is designed: (1) to bring information together on research on family roles in literacy acquisition and on parent involvement programs; and (2) to present a range of models, resources, and approaches that English family literacy program designers, curriculum developers, and teachers can use in developing their own programs. The…

A survey of the literacy proficiency of 1,500 Australian adults indicates that: (1) people who demonstrate some proficiency with using printed material should not be classified as illiterate; (2) appropriate rating scales should be developed for assessing adults' literacy skills; (3) more detailed analysis of the characteristics of those who…

There are 900 million illiterate people in the world. Because of reflective insights and creative research during the last two decades, the literacy process is no longer conceived as a training process that concentrates exclusively on implanting specific mechanical skills. It is now recognized as an educational process, as an unfolding of human…

The gap in literacy rates between women and men continually broadens. In 1985, 63 percent of the world's approximately 1,000 million illiterate people were female, compared to 60 percent in 1970 and 58 percent in 1960. A process of social change, including community involvement and mobilization in favor of women's literacy, is needed to sustain…

This newsletter issue focuses entirely on classroom instruction in adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs. The first article, "Whole Language and Adult Literacy Education" (Kazemek), describes 10 principles of holistic language education and how they may be translated into actual classroom practice.…