Despite national demands to improve the weak literacy skills of young adults, educators and policymakers lack the diverse types of data needed to make changes. The report, "Workplace Competencies: The Need to Improve Literacy and Employment Readiness," points out that past measures of literacy have lacked comparability, resulting in no accurate…

Most major workplace literacy programs involve unions. Organized labor's current leadership in worker education and training is not a continuation of earlier activities but an expansion of union interest and activity that is unprecedented in the history of organized labor. These efforts do not rely on public funding, because many unions have…

This report presents a statistical profile of Latino literacy in the United States based on a secondary analysis of the 1976 Survey of Income and Education, the 1979 National Chicano Survey, and the 1980 Census. Overall illiteracy in English for the Hispanic population was 14.7 percent, but the rate varied when the population was broken down by…

Intended for those groups contemplating the establishment of any type of literacy services within a community, this resource is designed to help in the analysis of both the need for literacy services within the community and the currently available resources for meeting that need. Five steps are recommended to identify clearly both the needs and…

This report provides an overview of the efforts and results of adult basic education centers and classroom teachers and volunteers who provide instruction in the most basic and essential skills for the educationally disadvantaged adults in New York. Charts and graphs illustrate the data that are presented in this photograph-enhanced compilation of…

Three possible directions for literacy research in the United Kingdom (UK), in terms of three comparative perspectives are (1) cross-cultural, (2) academic/practitioner, and (3) adult/school. Walter Ong's argument that with the advent of writing human consciousness and ways of thinking were altered fundamentally, underlies many of the claims for…

Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS) combines national network television and radio broadcasts with community action, alerting the public to the urgency of the adult illiteracy problem and helping to mobilize efforts to deal with it in towns and cities across the United States. All 525 affiliate and member stations of the American Broadcasting Company…

The role of higher education institutions may be changing as the public becomes increasingly disquieted by the enormity of the adult illiteracy problem. Recognizing the need to help growing numbers of semiliterate freshmen catch up, colleges and universities have set up centers to provide basic skills programs, counseling, and other services.…

In reporting the history and status of the National Adult Education Programme of India (NAEP), a five-year literacy campaign (1979-84) that was designed to educate approximately 100 million persons, this study emphasizes the program's preparatory phase and its monitoring/evaluation systems. After a survey of the literacy needs and past literacy…

This blueprint is intended to give employers and organized labor an overview of the issues involved in workplace literacy. The guide is divided into six sections. Section 1 defines and introduces workplace literacy. Section 2 highlights some of the issues employers and organized labor are facing as a result of low literacy levels in the workplace.…

Part I of this document contains materials that relate to the Screening Test for Adult Learning Difficulties (STALD). The test, other testing materials, and test administrator's sheets are provided as attachments. The test is aimed at screening adult learners individually to see whether characteristics common to adults with learning difficulties…

This document contains a congressional hearing on S.1016, which would provide financial assistance for the establishment and operation of Literacy Corps programs. (The Literacy Corps would enlist college students to tutor in reading and math for 6 hours per week in a 10-week semester). Testimony includes statements and prepared statements from…

This volume is part of a series that is designed to promote stronger ties between the educational resources in the Northeast and Midwest and the economic development process. The discussion identifies steps that businesses, education communities, and public policymakers can take to define literacy standards and raise basic competency levels in…

Three motivating factors are discussed as they relate to the adult illiterate: social-cultural forces; interests and needs; and methods, techniques, and devices. (MW)