Improving Adult Literacy Instruction Options for Practice and Research (2012) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-7
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Adults in adult education programs (an estimated 2.6 million in federally funded programs in 2005) show variable progress in their literacy skills, and for many, their gains are insufficient to achieve functional literacy.3 This report responds to a request from the U.S.
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for instruction to be used in adult literacy education.4 There is a surprising lack of rigorous research on effective approaches to adult literacy instruction. This lack of evidence is especially striking given the long history of both federal funding for adult education programs and reliance on the nation's community colleges to develop and improve adults' literacy skills.
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The second is that adults bring varied life experiences, knowledge, and motivations for learning that need attention in the design of literacy instruction for them. Compared with children, adolescents and adults may have more knowledge and possess some literacy skills while still needing to fill gaps in other skills, acquire content knowledge, and develop the level of literacy needed for education, work, and practical life.
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The population of adults who need to develop their literacy ranges from recent immigrants with only a sixth grade education in their native country, to middle-aged and older U.S.-born high school graduates who find they can no longer keep up with the reading, writing, and technology demands of their jobs, to adults who dropped out of school or whose learning disabilities were not fully accommodated in school, to highly educated immigrants who need to learn to read and write in English. The largest subgroup of adults enrolled in adult education is adults learning English as a second language.
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Fourth, to inform local, state, and federal decisions aimed at optimizing the progress of adult learners, the committee strongly recommends strategic and sustained investments in a coordinated and systemic approach to program improvement, evaluation, and research about adult literacy learners. Translational research should be conducted in four areas: (1)
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The information collected on instructional programs should include learning goals and objectives and the practices, materials, tools, and assessments in use. This information is needed to better understand current practices, plan the appropriate professional development of instructors, create effective out-of-classroom learning opportunities, and better match literacy instruction to emerging literacy demands for work, education, health, and functioning in society.
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These factors affect the quality of instruction to be implemented, the feasibility of conducting the needed research, and the potential for broad dissemination and implementation of the practices that are identified as effective.
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