Research into the best practices for basic skills education, national bridge programs, the new GED® assessment, and accelerated developmental education indicated that contextualized instruction was most effective when preparing adult literacy students for college and work. Nevertheless, "remedial pedagogy" with a sole focus on the technical aspects of basic skills, continued to dominate most basic skills instruction. Such a lack of engagement in teaching and learning may promote high attrition rates in basic skills programs. This paper recommends problem-based learning and concept mapping to promote student learning of basic and higher-order thinking skills.