We document and disseminate various results, trainings, and resources from our research, programs, and projects.
As the 21st century begins, the citizens of the United States find themselves living and working in a new economy—one built on a foundation of information and communications technology. This new economy provides advantages to people who possess both educational credentials and strong basic skills. Those basic skills include reading, writing, math, the ability to…
The introduction of multiple intelligences theory (MI theory) in 1983 generated considerable interest in the educational community. Multiple intelligences was a provocative new theory, claiming at least seven relatively independent intelligences, in marked contrast to the traditional view of a unitary, “general” intelligence (Gardner, 1993a). Because multiple intelligences theory was intended for an audience of…
On February 14 and 15, 2000, a National Adult Literacy Summit held in Washington, D.C., was attended by over 100 representatives from the field of adult literacy and adult basic education: learners, teachers, program directors, policymakers, researchers, state- and federal-level administrators, as well as congressional, corporate and non-profit friends of the field. The purpose of…
During the summer and fall of 1999, we interviewed 60 adult basic education and literacy (ABE&L) decision-makers and practitioners from ten different states about their work and information needs. What they described was a field starved for professional development and little opportunity to sate its appetite. The reasons for this unfortunate circumstance were both extenuating…
NCSALL’s Adult Reading Components Study (ARCS) was the first large-scale attempt to describe the reading of students enrolled in adult basic education (ABE) and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) using a battery of individually administered reading and language tests. From May 1998 to June 1999 nearly 1,000 adult learners were tested at over…
This paper addresses an issue of concern to adult educators across the United States: how to measure the performance of programs by measuring the outcomes of program participation for learners. All federally funded programs will soon begin measuring three “core indicators” mandated by Title II of the 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Measurement of these…
The relationship between work and transportation has long been an important focus of transportation research. After the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, or “welfare reform,” attention turned to the role of transportation in job search and employment outcomes. While much of the work in this area focused on…
This report grew out of a study of professional development for adult basic education (ABE) teachers. The NCSALL Professional Development Study was conducted between 1998 and 2000, with the goal of understanding how ABE teachers change as a result of participating in professional development and what factors influence that change. During the course of that…
This Research Brief highlights key findings from a study that is a subset of a larger study being conducted jointly by NCSALL’s John Strucker and Kentaro Yamamoto, and Irwin Kirsch of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). This study builds on the proposition that a reader’s comprehension performance is largely determined by his or her abilities…
This Research Brief highlights findings from a qualitative study of the contextual factors that shape engagement in adult literacy education. Engagement is mental effort focused on learning and is a precondition to learning progress. Some researchers focus on engagement as a cognitive, or mental, process closely related to such things as motivation and self-efficacy. They…
World Education strives to build lasting relationships with partners across diverse geographic regions and technical sectors to produce better education outcomes for all.
