Presents Botswana's experience with a national literacy program as a model for the understanding of policies and implementation of national literacy programs. Concludes that, although the Botswana National Literacy Programme represents a significant effort in adult literacy education, a rapid increase in the literacy rate is unlikely. (KO)

Discusses Kentucky's efforts to increase adult literacy through the New Books for New Readers program in which scholars were asked to write books emphasizing adult topics with a reading level of third to fifth grade. Describes the process through which the target audience is involved in the creation of books for the program. (KO)

Examines what happened to a little-known black newspaper, the "Provincial Freeman," which was published between 1853 and 1860 in what is now Canada's Ontario Province. Describes an uphill battle waged by editors and publishers to build a subscription base, solicit donations, recruit advertisers, and receive payment for their product. (TB)

Literacy is a cultural construct, and the dominant view of literacy reflects only dominant values and assumptions. There are many kinds of "literacies," and the Great Divide theory that illiterate people are fundamentally separate from literate people is being rejected in current policy debates. (SK)

Describes literacy education in Flanders, Belgium, for adolescents and adults. Discusses education policy, courses, materials, and students and teachers. (SR)

Examines statistics on minority illiteracy from the 1990 Chinese national census across age groups in relation to China's changing language policy among three types of minority communities: those with writing systems of historically broad usage; those with historically limited usage; and those without functional writing systems. (Author/VWL)

Provides an overview of science education in Central America. Discusses the organization of science education, the public and private school systems, traditional obstacles to science education, illiteracy, the low quality of basic education, economic support and employment opportunities, science and society, and the future of science education.…

Describes three school programs designed to provide alternative schooling for Brazilian street children and illiterate adult students with the basic skills to survive in their world. Directly or indirectly embedded in Freirean principles, the three programs are: (1) Sao Paulo Interdisciplinary School Reform; (2) Projeto Axe: Schooling for Street…

After decades of debate inside the educational community, literacy policy has recently moved to the larger stage of national politics. Prior to 1997 no federal bill had specifically addressed child literacy as an issue. But in the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush regularly touted his record on literacy, and he and his wife Laura, a…

The question of unequal access to education among males and females appears to be universal in the developing world. However, females in Africa seem to suffer more discrimination in terms of access to education. This study revisits the question of gender disparities in educational access in Africa by analyzing data from recent comparative national…

This study reviews state and national surveys of prisoner literacy and compares their results to two recent surveys of literacy in Michigan prisoners. The persistent notion that prisoners are severely illiterate is shown to be a myth. In Michigan, only 10 to 11% of commitments were found to have Test of Adult Basic Education scores below grade…

To understand the problem of illiteracy, a detailed review of the definitions of literacy and illiteracy is in order. A full definition of these terms in the current print and electronic context of adult American society in school and out of school, and for adult learners of English as both a first and a second language is presented here. Strong,…

In Fall 1992, 400 telephone interviews established levels of basic skills difficulties among the work force as encountered or perceived by employers in the United Kingdom. Costs to employers of poor basic skills and the effect of these on their operation were quantified and described. Respondents were mainly personnel/training managers or…

Since a robust curriculum is needed to combat illiteracy in Nigeria, a study investigated whether the 4P's model of reading instruction enhanced the performance of reading comprehension teachers, promoted classroom interactions, and enhanced the language competence of students more than the classical method. Subjects were final year students and…

One cause for illiteracy that is often overlooked is the difficulty of learning the English orthographic system, which is less consistent than that of many other languages. Several historical and linguistic factors have contributed to this inconsistency, including: the "freezing" of the rapidly changing spelling system in the early years of…