The United States lacks uniform popular definitions of "literacy," remediations, or consensus for national standards. Factors beyond the control of educational and political structures continually modify and dominate discussions of illiteracy and strategies of remediation. In most advanced cultures, alienation and functional illiteracy…

This book contains 29 stories recorded during an oral history project conducted in the spring of 1991. The stories were told to adult literacy students from 28 literacy projects in Ontario (Canada). They record the authentic voices of the following groups: native people in Thunder Bay and Golden Lake, women in Kingston and Killaloe, deaf people in…

This paper provides a transcript of a videotaped roundtable discussion on learning disabilities among people in adult literacy programs in Canada. Panelists discussed several definitions of learning disabilities, such as processing difficulties, physical difficulties, and receptive difficulties. They debated the usefulness of labeling persons with…

This paper, translated from French, is a transcript of a roundtable discussion on workplace literacy programs in Canada (especially in Quebec). During the roundtable, the panelists discussed various workplace literacy programs being conducted in their companies through joint partnerships of employers and unions, sometimes with government financial…

These 15 papers cover a wide range of topics and perspectives on the work of Adult Literacy and Basic Education (ALBE) practitioners in Victoria, Australia, in the contemporary ideological and political context. A preface (John Wilson) and introduction (Delia Bradshaw) begin the anthology. The papers are as follows: "...A…

This guide gives adult educators and trainers in the literacy field concrete suggestions and alternatives for their work. It provides historical and evolutionary frameworks they can use to shape a new philosophy of adult literacy and improve their practice. Part 1 looks at literacy through the eyes of society, describing myths, rhetoric, and…

This book is designed to show teachers how to reach out to adults and adolescents with learning disabilities and employ specific strategies for helping them to compensate for the disabilities and acquire literacy skills. The ways in which specific differences in brain structure inhibit the mastery of reading, spelling, handwriting, phonics, and…

The aim of the Basic Skills at Work Program was to help improve the competence of the work force in England and Wales in basic literacy, numeracy, and communication skills. Of the 82 Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) in England and Wales, 73 participated. Surveys of basic skills requirements as perceived by local employers indicated that…

This technology guide is intended to introduce adult literacy providers to the concepts,hardware, and procedures of online communication. The six-part guide explains the following: (1) what electronic networks are; (2) why adult literacy practitioners may want to join the Internet; (3) how adult literacy practitioners are already using the…

This document, which was developed to meet the needs of trainers and workers in Australia's automotive industry for learning activities designed to boost auto workers' numeracy skills, contains a total of 33 learning activities organized into 8 sections. The topics covered in the individual sections are as follows: calculators (key words and…

The quality of a literacy program can be assessed by taking into account the following factors: purpose of the program, how the program meets the most important current needs of the adult population, if it is accessible to the people who need services, and whether the literacy content is relevant to learners' needs. Flexibility of funding also is…

Typically, teacher research is conducted because teachers want to have some questions answered. Starting effective teacher research begins by framing the question in a way that will yield the best research. Three important suggestions when framing teacher research questions are as follows: the question needs to be open ended enough to allow…

This theme issue focuses on the need for adult literacy programs, as well as recent innovations in literacy education. "Adult Literacy and Leadership: Current Innovations" (Aurelio M. Montemayor) describes an adult literacy outreach program in Texas, and discusses the importance of family literacy for parents' involvement in their…

Functional illiteracy is an urgent problem for the U.S. business and industrial communities. Employers can uncover literacy problems among employees by conducting analyses of the literacy tasks needed on the job and assessing the basic skill levels of their work force. The design of a basic skills training program should be based on clearly…

A study was conducted in the seven Acadian regions of Nova Scotia to identify the basic educational needs of the Acadian population, identify appropriate responses to those needs, and develop recommendations for adult literacy, basic education, and academic continuing education. Results are presented in this report, in both French and English. An…