The One-Room-Drop-In-School (ORDIS) emerged as one of Tennessee's dropout prevention program innovations. A pilot ORDIS was started in Nashville (Tennessee), in a high density housing project where concentrations of poverty and illiteracy usually exist. A five-bedroom apartment in the housing project was set up as a school. A certified teacher,…

This set of Oakland Readers consists of four books of oral histories edited on four reading levels. Each book contains life stories told by students in the Second Start Adult Literacy Program. The books are intended for use by tutors and adult students/new readers in adult literacy programs. Life stories of eight students appear in each book. In…

This manual was developed to help trainers and volunteer coordinators prepare volunteers who tutor adults in basic skills. It is based on 9 of the 11 workshops presented at a Training the Trainer conference in Colorado. Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 6 provide background information for training. Chapters 3, 5, and 7-9 provide materials for presenting…

The Literacy and Health Project was set up to determine how reading and health problems were connected. A research phase documented the relationship between literacy and health. Information was collected from community organizations, literature review, three case studies in Ontario, and key informant interviews. The consultation process involved…

This document is one of a series of student workbooks developed for workplace skill development courses or workshops by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) and its partners. Designed to help customer service employees who use the telephone in a hospital, this telephone tips course discusses dealing politely and effectively with callers…

This report is a summary of information from both research and experience about the assumptions and practices that guide successful basic skills programs. The 31 guidelines are basic to building a solid foundation on which effective instructional programs for adults can be developed. The first six guidelines address some important characteristics…

Applying the philosophy that strategic partnerships are the most effective way to share knowledge, skills, and resources, emerging community corrections adult education programs and existing community adult education service providers have begun to forge critical linkages. In Texas, the law now requires assessment of the educational level of all…

A project geared to adult educators in rural central Pennsylvania addressed the topics of recruitment and retention of students in adult education programs in order to help the educators find solutions to these problems. Seminars conducted twice during 1993 covered the following topics: methods of recruitment, overcoming text anxiety, curbing the…

This book promotes a library-based curriculum for teaching reading and suggests a wide variety of books to use with new readers. It provides an outline of basic skills that literacy students must master to become good readers. It also suggests numerous skill-building activities for teachers to develop using the words and ideas derived from…

Weaving learners' everyday stories with those of other teachers, volunteers, and students, this book shares strategies and experiences designed to empower adult learners in alternative literacy programs. Strategies in the book came from educators in such diverse settings as college developmental reading and writing, learning disabilities, adult…

This guide is designed to introduce adult literacy educators to the concept of portfolio assessment and to provide some guidance about how to incorporate portfolio assessment into adult literacy education work. An introduction describes what a portfolio is and provides an overview of the four major areas of reflection and decision making that make…

After a brief literature review, this paper examines the problem of defining literacy. It emphasizes the importance of using a flexible definition based on learners' needs and goals in social contexts in determining the goals of literacy instruction. In order to illustrate the wide variation in not only students' levels of English-language…

As part of the National Adult Literacy Survey in 12 states, approximately 1,250 adults in Iowa were surveyed as representatives of the 2.1 million adults in the state. The aim of the survey was to characterize literacy skills based on performance on diverse tasks that reflect the materials and demands that adults encounter every day. Fourteen to…

Project EXCEL is a federally-funded workplace literacy program involving hotel enterprises in the San Francisco (California) Bay area. Its focus is on identification and instruction of literacy skills essential to job success for limited-English-proficient (LEP) workers. Training is intended to enable employees to understand written work orders,…

This packet contains the four issues of a newsletter published in 1989 by the Adult Literacy & Basic Skills Unit in England. The Winter issue contains the following articles: "After the Act"; "An Evening at the Theatre"; "Horticulture: A Practical Project with Autistic Adults"; "Shared Reading"; and "Literacy and Adult Basic Education in…