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3 Literacy Instruction for Adults
Pages 70-105

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From page 70...
... Because formal literacy instruction in the United States occurs mainly in adult education programs and developmental education courses in college, we organize the discussion around these two learning contexts. The second part of the chapter characterizes the state of research on instructional practices for adults.
From page 71...
... Adult education programs are largely supported by federal and state funding, which together provides about two-thirds of the funding for adult literacy programs, according to a national survey of adult education programs (Tamassia et al., 2007)
From page 72...
... is "designed to help adults who have some literacy skills and can function in everyday life,3 but are not proficient or do not have a certificate of graduation or its equivalent from a secondary school" (National Reporting System for Adult Education, 2001, p.
From page 73...
... Most participants (80 percent) in adult education programs surveyed in 2001-2002 were adolescents and young adults ages 44 and younger pursuing goals related to education, family, and work: 34 percent were ages 16 to 24; 46 percent were ages 25 to 44; 16 percent were ages 45 to 59; and 2 percent were ages 60 and older.
From page 74...
... surveyed) Adult basic education 36 35 42 52 Adult secondary education 20 11 17 18 English as a second language 44 55 42 31 SOURCE: Data from the Adult Education Program Survey (Tamassia et al., 2007)
From page 75...
... comes from a research initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute for Literacy to develop instructional interventions for low-literate adults in adult education programs and to evaluate their effectiveness (see Appendix D for details about these studies)
From page 76...
... Despite the capacity of writing to facilitate reading development and the need for adults to be able to write for work, education, and other purposes, writing has not been included in major surveys of adult learners, nor have writing skills been a focus of adult literacy research (Gillespie, 2001)
From page 77...
... The time required to score written compositions can present a challenge to the valid assessment of writing in research and for instruction. Literacy Instruction in Adult Education Programs Instructional Time Information about the instructional practices used in adult education programs is not available from the Adult Education Program Survey, although general characteristics are provided, such as whether the instruction was classroom-based or one-on-one instruction.
From page 78...
... Table 3-3 shows instructor credentials as reported by ABE, ASE, and ESL programs in 2001-2002. It appears that the bulk of instructors have inadequate or no specific training in best methods for teaching in adult literacy programs (see also Box 3-1)
From page 79...
... ABE = adult basic education; ASE = adult secondary education; ESL = English as a second language; TESOL = teachers of English to speakers of other languages. SOURCE: Data from the Adult Education Program Survey (Tamassia et al., 2007)
From page 80...
... Many instructors also are likely to have a view of the trajectory for adult literacy instruction that fits better with the world of formal K-12 schooling developed prior to the information age than to adult learners and the levels and forms of literacy needed today. Technology Most programs in the AEPS reported having access to educational technologies, although it is not clear how appropriate the technologies were for literacy practice and instruction.
From page 81...
... The NRS is the system through which all federally supported adult education programs report their annual program data, which must include assessments of learners' progress. Currently, although not at the time of the survey, states must use one or more assessments that have been determined to be valid and reliable measures and programs must administer pre- and posttests in accordance with the test publishers' guidelines.
From page 82...
... .7 More than half of community college students enroll in at least one developmental education course during their college tenure (Bailey, Jeong, and Cho, 2010)
From page 83...
... Alternate or complementary approaches to addressing the skill needs of underprepared college students include "college success" courses, college learning centers, and the incorporation of literacy skill development into disciplinary coursework. College success courses, which are increasingly required for incoming students, do not explicitly teach reading and writing skills but rather college study and research strategies that require the use of reading and writing (Derby, 2007; Pan et al., 2008; Zeidenberg, Jenkins, and Calcagno, 2007)
From page 84...
... First, our central concern is to understand the state of the research on effective practices to develop reading and writing skills among low-literate adults and college students, including students who are proficient speakers of English and those who are learning English. Although other populations may need assistance to develop literacy or compensate for declines in their literacy, we focus on research with these populations because they represent the overwhelming majority of participants in adult education programs and developmental education courses who experience particular difficulty in achieving the literacy levels needed for economic, educational, social, and personal success in U.S.
From page 85...
... This information helps to interpret experimental research findings and identify the conditions that may facilitate or hinder instructional effectiveness. Sources of information gathered include a recent comprehensive review of literature on adult literacy instruction (Kruidenier, MacArthur, and Wrigley, 2010)
From page 86...
... Adults in Basic and Secondary Education Programs The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, and the National Institute for Literacy invested $18.5 million from 2002 to 2006 in large-scale research to
From page 87...
... The researchers reported that instructional procedures were difficult to implement as intended in the context of adult education, given that many participants did not persist to the end of the studies. To combat the high attrition rates throughout adult education programs, some studies tested shortened versions of interventions that are
From page 88...
... Grade equivalent scores do not represent an absolute standard, nor do they represent equal units at different levels of development.8 For adult learners, some assessment instruments are calibrated to important everyday literacy demands, and the scales from such instruments may be a far better indicator of adult literacy progress than grade equivalents. 8 The misconceptions about what grade equivalent scores mean have been widely noted (e.g., Airasian, 1994; American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education, 1985; Miller, Linn, and Gronlund, 2009; Stiggins, 1997)
From page 89...
... . These include an evaluation of a research-based, functional adult literacy program developed and implemented for women in Turkey and evaluations of a program implemented in England (Skills for Life)
From page 90...
... . Embedded case studies allowed for a deeper examination of effective instructional practices and point to several predictors of progress that warrant future attention in research with low-literate adults.
From page 91...
... Yet an examination of this research as well as research on practices used with disengaged youth reveals topics that are important to pursue in future research to identify effective approaches to adult literacy instruction. The research often converges with findings from K-12 research on reading and writing and with research on learning.
From page 92...
... are supported by research in various disciplines and thus need further specification and evaluation in the context of adult literacy instruction. Collaborative Learning Collaborative learning has been assumed to facilitate learning for several possible reasons.
From page 93...
... Contextualized Instruction Contextualized instruction is of particular interest to adult literacy practitioners both in the United States and internationally (Aoki, 2005; Casey et al., 2008; Guenther, 2002; McNeil and Smith, 2004; Thompson, 2002)
From page 94...
... Research is needed to identify the features of various contextual approaches that lead to both development of literacy skills and achievement of broader learning goals. A recent review yielded a small body of descriptive and experimental research with adolescents and adults that linked specific instructional practices to reading, writing, and mathematics outcomes, suggesting the value of pursuing this approach (Perin, 2011)
From page 95...
... Writing Instruction A very small body of research focuses on writing in basic education students. Descriptions of instructional practices across studies are consistent with many classrooms adopting versions of the writing process approach first made popular by researchers of children's learning to write, such as Graves (1983)
From page 96...
... suggests an array of psychological, social, and functional factors that may result from or influence effective instruction to develop literacy skills. Similarly, the ultimate purposes of adult literacy programs in other countries are broad and studies of their effectiveness have included psychological outcomes (e.g., self-confidence, achievement of personal goals)
From page 97...
... . UNDERPREPARED POSTSECONDARY STUDENTS As in adult education, research has not focused on evaluating instructional approaches to improve the literacy skills of underprepared college students; for example, the committee identified only seven small studies from 1990 to 2009 (see Appendix D; Caverly, Nicholson, and Radcliffe, 2004; Friend, 2001; Hart and Speece, 1998; Martino, Norris, and Hoffman, 2001; Rochford, 2003; Scrivener et al., 2008; Snyder, 2002)
From page 98...
... Text-based analyses of the writing of college students and English language learners in college have focused on error correction, sentence length and variation, audience awareness, and proficiency with specific genres. These studies report the nature, timing, and modality of feedback on elements of writing (Duijnhouwer, Prins, and Stokking, 2010; Hassel and Giordano, 2009; Morra and Assis, 2009; Sheen, Wright, and Moldawa, 2009; Yeh, Gregory, and Ritter, 2010)
From page 99...
... . These were not students in developmental education courses, however, and thus the approaches need to be evaluated with college students who need to develop their literacy skills.
From page 100...
... future study, such as collaborative learning and contextualized approaches to teaching reading and writing. To elaborate on these priorities, only a handful of interventions have been tested to develop the skills of low-literate adults in adult basic education, adult secondary education, or colleges.
From page 101...
... Except for a few studies, research on component literacy skills has not been a priority and has not drawn on findings about effective literacy instruction with K-12 students. Although research with young children yields information about the targets of instruction and effective practices, the instruction may not always work as well for adults.
From page 102...
... To date, popular frameworks in the adult education field about how adults learn lack sufficient empirical support, and the theories of adult cognition and learning from psychology and cognitive science have been developed with homogeneous populations and, most often, samples of convenience. Substantial conceptual and empirical work is needed to validate and further develop theories of learning in research studies that include broader populations of adults, such as those needing to develop their literacy skills.
From page 103...
... Qualitative research in adult literacy has suffered from thin descriptions and inadequate analysis of linkages among instructional goals, practices and outcomes. It also lacks attention to component literacy skills.
From page 104...
... There also is a lack of alignment to be addressed in the learning objectives for literacy development across adult education, colleges, and K-12 instruction. Adult literacy research is hampered by the lack of a coherent system and established curricula with materials and standard practices that can be tested.
From page 105...
... Although some amount of attrition may be handled with more effective instruction, expanding the scope of instructional research to systematically account for these other factors and reduce barriers to learning appears necessary if reading and writing instruction is to be effective -- and effectively studied -- with this population. Another clear impediment to instructional effectiveness and to conducting the needed research is the highly variable knowledge and expertise of adult literacy instructors (Smith and Gillespie, 2007)


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