In the spring of 1998 the National Research Council released a report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children for Adult Learning and Literacy (PRD). PRD was written with the goal of contributing to the prevention of reading difficulties by documenting the contributions of research to an understanding of reading development and the…

The growing number of youth enrolling in adult literacy education is a little-documented trend across the nation that is having a major impact on programs in some areas but appears to be unnoticed by educational policymakers and researchers. A central question is whether youth enrollments provide an opportunity for adult literacy education to…

In this chapter, the author explores the overlap between adult literacy programs and community colleges by examining the literacy skills of postsecondary education students, the remedial/developmental programs that serve them, and the effectiveness of these programs and adult basic education in helping students succeed. As he notes, to obtain…

In this chapter, the authors share their examination of the medical and public health literature regarding links between health and literacy and identify trends in research and practice. They note the connection between educational attainment and health, as education may influence lifestyle behaviors, problem-solving abilities and values. In…

This chapter seeks to provide the field of education for adult English speakers of other languages--at local, state, and national levels--with a timely overview of the state of assessment in adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs in the United States. It also seeks to provide a brief description of assessment reform…

In this chapter the authors' primary aim is to describe the general workings of the system of adult literacy and learning as it exists in the United Kingdom today. To better illuminate that system, they take a little time delving into its past--that is, showing how it arrived at its current state of operation. A secondary aim is to compare and…

Students in adult literacy education, including basic and secondary education and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), are increasingly using computers to write, find information, publish their writings, communicate by e-mail, learn basic skills, and for other purposes. In this chapter the focus is on computers, the Internet (including…

The selections presented in this paper are intended to provide readers with a general understanding of some of the key issues and practices that bear on the implementation of educational technologies in adult literacy programs. The sources listed are not exhaustive but cover two dozen major reports, articles, and Web sites produced by the federal…

Advocates diary writing as an interpretive research method, presents a reflection on the potential and quality attributes of diary writing, explains how to do diary writing, and presents an illustrative example of a researcher's diary and its content analysis. (SLD)

Studied the school careers of Dutch students of ethnic minority background in the first 5 years following the transition to secondary education using a database of the Dutch Central Statistics Office with a sample of 19,524 students, 1,140 of whom were of minority background. Findings show few reasons to be negative about the school careers of…

Performed a baseline assessment of the new curriculum standards of mathematics for elementary education in Flanders, studying the achievement of 5,763 sixth graders. Overall, the more innovative curriculum standards were less likely to be well mastered. Few gender differences in performance were observed. (SLD)

Describes the project "Effective School Improvement," designed to investigate the relationship between effectiveness and improvement in eight European countries. Presents a framework for the analysis of the case studies on school improvement projects in this special issue. (SLD)

Compared two programs in England with regard to their roles in stimulating effective school improvement: the Local Education Authority in Birmingham and a university-inspired improvement project. Visits to 10 primary and secondary schools revealed factors that promote and discourage the capacity to change. (SLD)

Presents case studies of five effective school improvement (ESI) programs developed in Spain. Identified characteristics of the Spanish education system that affect the way ESI programs are carried out and developed descriptions of the five programs and lessons learned from them. (SLD)

Studied two effective school improvement programs in elementary education in the Netherlands. Although the programs had the same goals, their strategies were different. Identified successful characteristics of both programs and found evidence for the success of both approaches. (SLD)