This report condenses discussions held at the 1990 Reporters' Workshop on Literacy, attended by about 40 journalists and other professionals. The workshop's purpose was to help journalists dig beneath the traditional "Johnny can't read" stories to report on the serious social implications of illiteracy in America. Following an…

A case study of Alonzo A. illustrates the danger of a monocultural approach to education and provides a living example of the impact of marginalization and alienation on the lives of persons of color. Born in Mexico and raised by grandparents in California, Alonzo dropped out of school in the eighth grade and joined a gang. He was a heroin addict…

A study investigated the educational background of Vietnamese Amerasians and their Vietnamese peers in the Philippine Refugee Processing Center. Results indicate that Amerasians have significantly less education and a higher illiteracy rate than their peers, while half-siblings of Amerasians do not differ significantly in schooling from youth not…

Historically, the business community has been concerned with educational issues. The United States Chamber of Commerce has had an active educational committee involved in shaping federal education policy since the l960s. Local and state school systems, along with business leaders, parent-teacher associations, advisory boards, and school finance…

A study investigated the nature and extent of adult illiteracy and the characteristics of the less literate populations in Philadelphia. Data were collected through 2,197 telephone interviews and 607 personal interviews. The personal interviews involved use of a modified version of the instrument developed by the National Assessment of Educational…

Approximately 25 million adults are currently reading below the fifth-grade level, and another 35 to 40 million adults read between the fifth- and eighth-grade levels. This is particularly significant for the American press inasmuch as the average daily newspaper is written at a minimum of a ninth-grade reading level. A number of unexamined…

This report examines reasons for the varying estimates of illiteracy in the United States. It discusses why the agency charged with transmitting literacy, the public school system, has not satisfactorily accomplished this task and recommends improvements to reduce and eradicate illiteracy. Part 1 focuses on the confusion about the extent of…

Based on material received by the International Institute for Adult Literacy Methods during the first half of 1984, this issue contains selected summaries of books, articles in periodicals, and conference and seminar reports published in the field of literacy and adult education. Some of the issues addressed include (1) the role of adult education…

While the implementation of adult literacy promotion can best be handled at the national level, some important things can be done at the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) level. A persuasive argument can be made on behalf of adult literacy in the SADCC development strategy. The people need to be educated in the…

For the first time, federal funding for literacy services will focus new attention on the plight of the homeless. Under the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, each state will receive funds for literacy for the homeless. Although there are no firm estimates on how many persons are homeless, a number of indicators point to a problem of major and…

In the United States, the illiterate or functionally illiterate population has been estimated at somewhere between 7 and 73 million people. This range is primarily due to variables such as definitions of literacy, methods of survey research, and the researcher's unique perspective. Literacy is traditionally defined using some criteria relating to…

A study examined the Federal Government's role in adult literacy. A far-reaching plan of action for the Federal Government was proposed that was based on an understanding of national literacy need and the structure and politics of Federal Government. The focus of the current national literacy movement was found to be seriously flawed in…

This annotated bibliography contains 34 references on issues concerning adult literacy listed in the ERIC database. It contains citations from the period between 1987 and 1989 and is divided into four sections. The first section provides an overview of adult literacy. Articles and papers in the second section describe and discuss adult literacy…

This report describes the formation of the Literacy Coalition of Harrisburg, which sought to allow for the pooling of resources, elimination of service duplication, and establishment of a referral system. Chapter I focuses on activities prior to submitting a grant proposal and includes correspondence. Chapter II covers writing and submitting the…

This handbook is intended to help Adult Basic Education (ABE) volunteers in recruiting students for ABE programs. General information on the College of the Albemarle and on continuing education programs appears first. A glossary of adult learning terminoloqy and a brief history of ABE follow. The next section discusses four basic recruitment…