The National Governors' Association's Making America Work initiative had a dual focus. Five task forces spent a year developing action agendas to address five barriers to self-sufficiency and productivity: teenage pregnancy, adult illiteracy, welfare dependency, alcohol and drug abuse, and dropping out of school. The second phase of the initiative…

This report is adapted from a letter sent to President-Elect George Bush in early January 1989. The report was published to stimulate a broad public discussion of the role that the Federal Government might play in developing the skills of the Nation's people. The priority of preventing damage to young children is the topic of the first section. In…

A group of adult learners in Tennessee who were in various stages of learning to read were interviewed in order to determine their assumptions concerning the acquisition of literacy skills. The focus of the interviews was on the students' motives for wanting to learn how to read and write, their concepts about the nature of the learning process,…

The National Adult Literacy Project's research and development agenda, developed through a literature survey and consultation with practitioners and scholars, is elaborated in this paper. Each of the seven topic areas begins with a rationale for its importance and a brief review of relevant research. Proposals for research studies and/or…

Papers and proposals resulting from educational and rural development fieldwork in the highlands of Papua New Guinea by the education staff and students of the University of Papua New Guinea are included in this collection. Providing essential background knowledge necessary for formulating solutions to the complex and politically sensitive issues…

Reported here are the continuing hearings on H.R. 15 (a bill to extend for five years certain elementary and secondary education programs and the Adult Education Act) which examine the accomplishments and problems of the Adult Education Act since it was last amended in 1976. One-half of the content consists of the testimony, statements, and…

Compiled for the purpose of encouraging the sharing of ideas concerning viable rural education programs, this manual provides descriptions of activities in the fields of adult, community, and vocational education which have been successful in serving rural populations. The information is divided into three areas: state projects, national projects,…

A study was conducted to identify psychosocial needs of Adult Basic Education (ABE)/Adult Secondary Education (ASE) students by using the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ). A second purpose was to test effectiveness of Achievement Motivation Training (AMT) as a technique to counterbalance the negative impact of these students' former…

This report is the outcome of a project designed to study the literacy demands of selected academic, vocational/technical, and developmental studies programs and courses and of administrative tasks in relation to the literacy skills of minority and other community college students. Chapter I discusses the nature and value of literacy in modern…

PREPARED UNDER THE SPECIAL EDITORSHIP OF COOLIE VERNER, THIS JOURNAL ISSUE REVIEWS THE OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA FROM THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT, TRACES THE GROWTH OF UNIVERSITY EXTENSION DURING THE PERIOD 1915-63, DISCUSSES RECENT TRENDS AND ACTIVITIES IN VOCATIONAL AND NONVOCATIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL…

The instructional concept guide is part of a system developed for tutor training and support. It is primarily designed for volunteers, but it can also be adapted to the training of paraprofessional tutors for any type of adult literacy program. A key component in the system is the Tutor Support Library, consisting of Instructional Concept Guides…

This research investigated whether low income rural functional illiterates could be motivated to learn by a prorated stipend given on the basis of academic performance. Fifty control subjects received a flat $15 weekly; 50 experimental subjects received the $15 plus stipends. Participants eligible for stipends were those in the upper third of…

The present study examined some effects of literacy achievement on the lives of 184 of the 215 adults who had successfully completed literacy training between 1962 and 1966 in the Flint, Michigan, Adult High School. Interviews and public records were used to gather data on student background, experiences during literary training, participants'…

Adult basic education programs must teach the "social living skills" disadvantaged adults need, as well as basic literacy skills. In creating an ABE program, one must first assess the needs of the target population--through surveys, group meetings, an advisory council of members of the target population, demographic studies, and consideration of…

In this paper, presented at the sixteenth annual International Reading Association convention, the author argues that the destitution of the Appalachian region of West Virginia and Kentucky can be partially blamed on inadequate educational funding. As a result of inadequate taxing of commercial and industrial properties, adequate schools have not…