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9
Conclusions and Recommendations
It is clear that a significant proportion of U.S. adults do not have the
high level of literacy in both print and digital media required for negotiating
many aspects of life in the 21st century. As noted in Chapter 1, more than
90 million U.S. adults are estimated to lack adequate literacy (Kutner et al.,
2007); only 38 percent of U.S. twelfth graders are at or above proficient
in reading (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2008); and more
than 50 percent of recent 250,000 community college student enrollees
were referred to at least one developmental (remedial) education course
to remediate weak skills during their college tenure (Bailey, Jeong, and
Cho, 2010), with about one-third of them referred specifically for reading.
Furthermore, the estimated 2.6 million adults enrolled in federally funded
programs in 2005 showed variable progress in their literacy skills, and their
skill gains were insufficient to achieve functional literacy (Tamassia et al.,
2007).
This committee was asked to (1) synthesize research findings on literacy
and learning from cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral and social
science, and education; (2) identify from the research the main factors that
affect literacy development in adolescence and adulthood, both in general
and with respect to the specific populations served in education programs
for adults; (3) analyze the implications of the research for informing cur-
ricula and instruction used to develop adults’ literacy; and (4) recommend
a more systemic approach to subsequent research, practice, and policy. To
focus our work, we defined the target population (to whom we refer gener-
ally as “adults”) to be adolescents and adults ages 16 and older who need
to develop their literacy skills outside the K-12 system. This definition is
236
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
consistent with eligibility for participation in federally funded adult literacy
education programs. We considered research on learning and literacy that
would be most relevant to those eligible or likely to attend formal literacy
instruction in programs of four general types: adult basic education, adult
secondary education, English as a second language programs offered in a
wide range of settings (e.g., community-based programs, local education
agencies, community colleges, workplace, prisons, etc.), and developmental
education courses for academically underprepared students in college.
Ideally, conclusions and recommendations for adult literacy instruction
would be grounded in clear research findings demonstrating the efficacy
of the recommended approaches. When rigorous demonstrations of ef-
ficacy do not exist, the next best approach would be to recommend both
instructional practices consistent with available evidence on adult literacy
and rigorous efficacy studies to confirm these recommendations. Findings
from research on cognition and learning with the target population would
also be most useful.
The present situation is more complex. There is a surprising lack
of research on the effectiveness of the various instructional practices
for adults seeking to improve their literacy skills. The lack of relevant
research is especially striking given the long history of both federal fund-
ing for adult education programs, albeit stretched thin, and reliance on
developmental education courses to remediate college students’ skills. Few
studies of adult literacy focus on the development of reading and writing
skills. There is also inadequate knowledge about assessment and ongo-
ing monitoring of adult students’ proficiencies, weaknesses, instructional
environments, and progress, which might guide instructional planning.
Similarly, basic research on adult cognition and learning is constrained
for our purposes. It relies on study samples of convenience (college students
in introductory psychology courses) or elderly populations, and it does
not usually include adults with relatively low education or literacy skills.
In addition, it is well known that literacy research has focused mainly on
young children first learning to read and decode text. Major research ef-
forts launched by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development, and others on the development
of literacy in adolescence and adulthood are too new to have produced
numerous peer-reviewed publications. As discussed in Chapter 2, research
is emerging with adolescents on topics that we think are important to
pursue with the target population given their literacy development needs
(e.g., academic or disciplinary literacy and discussion-based approaches).
More research is needed with adolescent and adult populations to evaluate
the effectiveness of instructional practices and specify learning trajecto-
ries and the interaction of factors—cognitive, social, linguistic, economic,
neurobiological—that may affect literacy development in subpopulations
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of adolescents and adults who vary greatly in literacy development needs,
education levels, socioeconomic status, linguistic background, and other
characteristics.
Given the dearth of relevant research with the target adult population,
this report draws on what is available: extensive research on reading and
writing processes and difficulties of younger students, emerging research
on literacy and learning in adolescents and adults with normal reading
capability, and extremely limited research on adult literacy learners. Until
the necessary research is conducted with adults who receive literacy instruc-
tion outside the K-12 system, the committee concluded that it is reasonable
to apply the wealth of available research on learning and literacy with
other populations. Findings from this research provide guidance about the
reading and writing skills to target with instruction and principles for de-
signing instructional practices, technologies, assessments, and preparation
for teachers. With our conclusions, we recommend a program of research
and innovation to validate, identify the boundaries of, and extend current
knowledge to improve instruction for adults and adolescents outside school
and create the supports needed for learning and achievement.
The request to the committee stressed the need for guidance from re-
search to inform the design of instructional curricula and practices for use
in programs, and not broader improvements to adult education delivery
systems or access to programs—important as such improvements might
be. In drawing conclusions from the research and recommending a more
systemic approach to research, practice, and policy, however, we recognize
four main issues related to the adult literacy system: (1) the variability in the
profiles of adult learners, (2) the variability of instructor preparation, (3)
the existence of many different types of programs that have varied literacy
development aims and practices, and (4) the instructional and other sup-
ports that enable adults to persist in programs and practice skills outside
the classroom. We urge attention to these issues in research and policy
because they impinge directly on the quality of instruction, the feasibility
of completing the recommended research, and the potential for broad dis-
semination and implementation of the practices that emerge as effective
from research findings.
CONCLUSIONS
Adult Learners and Learning Environments
Conclusion 1: The population of adult learners is heterogeneous.
Optimal reading and writing instruction will therefore vary accord-
ing to goals for literacy development and learning, knowledge and
skill, interests, neurocognitive profiles, and cultural and linguistic
backgrounds. The contexts in which adults receive literacy instruc-
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
tion also are highly variable with respect to (1) place and purpose
of instruction, (2) literacy development aims and practices, and (3)
instructor preparation.
Learners have diverse instructional needs, varying motivations for ac-
quiring greater literacy, and diverse educational, economic, linguistic, and
cultural backgrounds. Some adults have specific neurocognitive challenges
associated with disability that have not been addressed with the appropriate
interventions, and others simply have not had the social and educational
environment as children that would support learning to read and write well
and with proficiency in multiple contexts and domains. Moreover, adult
learners vary, sometimes substantially, in the level of facility they have
already attained.
The contexts in which adults receive literacy instruction are highly
varied. People who need to develop their literacy skills receive instruc-
tion in many different types of programs, including adult basic education,
community colleges, general educational development (GED) programs,
workplace literacy programs, university remedial education programs, citi-
zenship programs, English language learning programs, basic skills and job
training centers, among others. While some of the adults receiving literacy
instruction may have attained certain levels and forms of literacy, they
lack the range and level of reading and writing skills required for educa-
tion, work, parental and family responsibilities, and other purposes. The
literature on adult literacy indicates that a wide range of largely untested
theoretical frameworks, practices, texts, and tools are used in literacy in-
struction with adults. At present, there are neither clear objectives for the
development of literacy skills nor standards for curricula and practice that
take into consideration research on component reading and writing skills,
valued literacy tasks linked to learning goals, and the social and cultural
backgrounds and motivations of learners. Programs also differ in whether
they provide or facilitate access to services for transportation, child care,
and psychological counseling, which might affect the ability of certain seg-
ments of the population to engage in and persist with learning.
Instructors vary in their knowledge of reading and writing develop-
ment, assessment, curriculum development, and pedagogy. The training
instructors receive is generally limited, and professional development is
constrained by lack of funding, inflexible locations, work, and other life
demands. To be effective, however, the instructors must reliably assess
learners’ skills, plan and differentiate instruction, and select and adapt ma-
terials and learning activities to meet the skill development needs of learners
who differ greatly in their neurobiological, psychosocial, cultural, and lin-
guistic characteristics, as well as in their level of literacy attainment. Thus,
teachers need to have the requisite tools for instruction and the technical
knowledge and expertise, professional development, and ongoing supports
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as needed for effective implementation. This training and support must
include knowledge and skills for teaching adults with disabilities. Teachers
of English learners need access to specific help in understanding their stu-
dents’ capabilities and challenges, communicating with them effectively, and
using available support techniques to help them engage with English texts.
They also need to understand how adults develop proficiency in a second
language and have knowledge of the characteristics of English language.
Principles of Effective Literacy Instruction
Conclusion 2: Effective literacy instruction
t
argets (as needed) word recognition, fluency, vocabulary,
•
reading comprehension, background knowledge, strategies for
deeper analysis and understanding of texts, and the component
skills of writing;
c
ombines explicit teaching and extensive practice with motivat-
•
ing and varied texts, tools, and tasks matched to the learner’s
skills, educational and cultural backgrounds, and literacy needs
and goals;
e
xplicitly targets the automation and integration of component
•
skills and the transfer of skills to tasks valued by society and
the learner; and
i
ncludes formative assessments to monitor progress, provide
•
feedback, and adjust instruction.
Students who have not mastered the foundational component skills
of reading and writing require instruction targeted to their skill level and
practice with reading and writing in amounts substantial enough to pro-
duce high levels of competence in the component skills. As discussed in
Chapter 2, a large body of research with K-12 students has identified the
major components of reading and writing and principles of instructional
practice that are important to typically developing and struggling learners.
A sizeable literature on efficacious interventions for struggling learners in
K-12 education points to additional principles for developing literacy and
overcoming specific areas of difficulty among adults:
1. Interventions that directly target specific learning difficulties in the
context of broader reading and writing instruction result in better
literacy outcomes for struggling readers and writers.
2. Intervention must include explicit instruction to support generaliza-
tion and transfer of learning, with abundant and varied opportuni-
ties for practice.
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3. Struggling learners require more intense instruction, more explicit
instruction, and even more opportunities to practice inside and
outside the classroom.
4. Attributions, beliefs, and motivational profiles of struggling learn-
ers must be understood and targeted during instruction.
5. Intervention should be differentiated to meet the particular needs
of adults, including those with disabilities. Research is needed to
test whether and when subgroups of adult learners might benefit
from different types of instruction.
Decades of research points to principles of learning (see Box 4-1 in Chap-
ter 4) and motivation (see Box 5-1 in Chapter 5) that warrant inclusion in the
design of adult literacy instruction. The principles are derived from research
with both adults and younger populations and converge with findings from
research on effective literacy instruction for K-12 students. The research
has not included samples of low-literate adults, however; further efforts are
needed to design and evaluate the effectiveness of instructional approaches
consistent with these principles for adults who need to develop their literacy.
Conclusion 3: Although knowledge of effective literacy instruc-
tion for adults is lacking, research with younger populations can
be used to guide the development of instructional approaches for
adults if the instruction is modified to account for two major dif-
ferences between adults and younger populations: (1) adults may
experience age-related neurocognitive declines that affect reading
and writing processes and speed of learning and (2) adults have
varied and more substantial life experiences and knowledge and
different motivations for learning that need attention in instruc-
tional design. Research with adult literacy learners is required to
validate, identify the boundaries of, and extend current knowledge
to identify how best to meet the particular literacy development
needs of well-defined subgroups of adults.
Except for a few intervention studies, the study of instruction in the
component literacy skills and processes has not been a priority in research
with adults, nor has the research incorporated knowledge of the practices
that develop reading and writing skills in K-12 students. Research even
for younger populations is not complete with respect to understanding the
components of literacy, interrelations among the components, how to most
effectively develop each component, or why literacy may not be sufficiently
developed in every adult. Significant research remains to be undertaken
with individuals of all ages to develop more comprehensive models of adult
reading comprehension and of adult writing to guide assessment and in-
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struction. Similarly, questions remain about fluency and its relation to other
components of literacy, and the best ways to teach vocabulary remain to be
fully tested. Significant work remains to be done to identify the social and
contextual factors that affect the literacy development of adolescents and
adults, neurobiological mechanisms of reading and writing development,
and age-related changes in reading and writing processes, all of which have
implications for the design of instruction and development of assessments
to measure progress.
Yet the practices already validated to develop reading and writing skills
in younger students should work for older students, provided that the in-
struction is modified in two ways. First, findings from cognitive science and
aging show that the increased knowledge and decreased speed and informa-
tion processing capacity of cognitive processes that occurs with age may, at
the margin, require some tuning of instruction for older learners. Second,
although general principles of motivation should apply to learners of all
ages, the particular motivations to read or write are often different at dif-
ferent ages. Instruction for adolescents and adults may need to be designed
differently to motivate these populations to persist.
Compared with children progressing through a more typical trajectory
of literacy development, adolescents and adults may have more knowledge
and possess forms of literacy while still needing to fill gaps in component
skills, acquire content knowledge, and develop types and levels of literacy
proficiency needed for education, work, and practical life. Engagement
of learners in higher levels of literacy and learning need not wait until all
the gaps in lower level skills have been filled, however. Scaffolds, such as
prompts and visual displays, can provide the supports learners need to
engage with texts and develop complex thinking usually prohibited by
the lack of fully fluent foundational skills. To become facile in executing
component skills for particular purposes, adults require both explicit teach-
ing and plentiful opportunities to practice skills typical of those needed to
achieve functional goals. For this reason and for increased motivation, it is
important to facilitate the development and integration of component skills
as much as possible using texts, activities, and tools that relate to the adult
learners’ interests, learning goals, and everyday functional literacy needs.
Conclusion 4: Literacy development is a complex skill that requires
thousands of hours of practice to reach the levels needed for full
opportunity in modern life, yet many adults do not persist long
enough in adult education programs or developmental education
courses. Many factors—instructional, cognitive, economic, and
social—affect persistence. At present, research does not indicate
which methods are most effective in supporting adults’ persistence
and engagement with instruction. Enough is known, however, from
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
research on motivation, literacy, and learning with other popula-
tions to suggest how to design motivating instructional environ-
ments, create more time for practice, and ensure that the time is
efficiently used. The efficacy of these approaches will need to be
tested rigorously.
A most significant challenge to the design of literacy development
opportunities for adults is getting the adults to participate and persevere.
Findings show low completion rates for developmental education courses in
college, lack of persistence in adult education programs, and high rates of
attrition from research studies on instructional effectiveness for adults with
low- to intermediate-level skills. Moreover, even if completed, the available
programs cannot, by themselves, provide enough practice to build needed
facility levels. Future interventions must be designed on the assumption that
a main reason for the lack of substantial progress is that significant portions
of the needed practice have not occurred for adults with inadequate literacy.
Motivation involves multiple factors that are related but not identical.
First, the adult needs to be present for and persist with instruction. Con-
venient instructional opportunities may be critical to supporting repeated
access. Many adult literacy programs are offered at specific sites, often sites
that low-income adults cannot easily reach. Accordingly, the total time
spent going to a class, attending the class, and going home may be much
longer than the time spent in the literacy-enhancing activity. This challenge
to access and participation suggests that if some literacy instruction or
practice could be provided to adults in forms they could access at home,
the yield from whatever time they choose to invest would be much higher.
Certainly, as discussed later, information technologies can be exploited for
this purpose.
Time for learning competes with time for work. Transportation from
home to a study site and child care responsibilities can be major barriers.
Increased access to child care and transportation and other social services,
such as counseling, may help with retention of learners in programs and
with their persistence in literacy practice. Financial support and incentives
may be necessary even for highly motivated learners. Although research on
the factors that motivate adults to persist in literacy programs is limited, we
encourage the development and testing of approaches that have been used
with some success to motivate adherence to health promotion programs
(e.g., weight loss, smoking cessation). Reminder systems used in health
care may also prove of benefit in encouraging repeated presence for classes.
Having some level of choice in the source, location, and form of in-
struction is likely to increase motivation. For this reason and because effec-
tive literacy is built up over thousands of hours, it is extremely worthwhile
to include out-of-class practice opportunities in any program. Technology
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has the potential to expand time for practice beyond what institutions can
afford to provide via human instructors. Substantial innovation may be
required, however, to provide adults with access to technologies. In some
cases, community-based centers with computers that afford some level of
privacy or computer loan programs so that students can work at home may
be helpful for increasing access and retention. Just as schools sometimes
team with other institutions to provide after-school learning opportunities,
adult literacy programs may need to team with a range of other entities to
provide easily accessible learning time in addition to formal classes “on
campus.”
Second, when present in the instructional setting, adults need to be
motivated and engaged with learning through the instructional interactions,
texts, tasks, and tools available in their learning environment. Learners
are more engaged and more likely to persist when literacy instruction and
practice includes valued learning activities designed to scaffold progress.
As described in Chapter 5, research shows the importance of setting clear
goals and a path toward longer term goals. To engage in and persist with
learning, learners need help to set realistic goals and expectations about
the amount of effort and practice required. Learners can underestimate the
amount of practice and effort required to achieve fluency and often need
help with monitoring their progress and regulating their behavior toward
goal attainment. Instruction also needs to help learners develop self-efficacy
and feelings of control and autonomy. Thus, learners are likely to benefit
from realistic expectations about the amount of practice needed to achieve
literacy development goals and feedback that allows for recognizing both
progress and the amount of work needed to achieve the next goal.
Even when learners are eager to improve their literacy, they can possess
deeply rooted and maladaptive attributions and beliefs about their literacy
skills as a result of past experiences with learning in school, past failed at-
tempts at remedial literacy instruction, and labels assigned to them based
on skill and background. Because adult literacy learners have a history of
failure and embarrassment at reading and academic learning, it is important
to explore through research whether persistence might be increased through
learning communities. Collaborative learning arrangements, both group
learning and learner interactions via online environments, are promising
ways to increase engagement.
English Language Learners
Conclusion 5: The component skills of reading and writing in Eng-
lish and the principles of effective literacy instruction derived from
research with native English speakers are likely to apply to English
language learners. Consistent with principles of learning, effective
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
instruction meets the particular skill development needs of English
learners, which differ in several respects from the needs of native
speakers, and uses existing knowledge of content, language, and
literacy whether in the native or the English language.
English language learners are the largest subgroup of adults enrolled
in adult education programs. Although treated as a monolithic category, in
reality they vary dramatically in what they need to become more literate
in English. Some are literate in a first language and hence may need little
practice in recognizing or spelling words or even basic comprehension
skills. Many are U.S. citizens who speak English well but have low- to
intermediate-level English literacy skills. Others are recent immigrants who
lack basic literacy skills in any language. Some English learners may be
challenged by the lack of opportunities to use and be exposed to English.
The principles of effective literacy instruction discussed in Chapter 2
for typically developing learners should apply to English learners as well.
Instruction will need to target, however, the particular skill development
needs of the specific English learner, which can differ depending on the
degree of literacy in a first language. For example, English learners show
weaker vocabulary and comprehension relative to native English speakers
but often show relative strength in decoding, especially if they are literate in
their first language. Some of those learning English may benefit from some
cultural background knowledge to support their learning and performance,
for example, in reading comprehension.
Adult English language learners who can read fluently in their native
language often can use some of their first language and literacy skills to
facilitate learning to read and write in their second language. This means
that adult literacy instruction would be most effective if tailored to the level
of literacy they have developed in their native language.
A particular challenge to address in adult literacy instruction for Eng-
lish learners is developing their language and literacy skills at the same
time. Second language learning past childhood can be difficult and differs
from language learning at younger ages in two important ways: it usually
is learned via explicit instruction more than through implicit learning, and
it also usually is more closely tied to reading.
Experiences in second language instruction with young language learn-
ers, high schools, and colleges suggests several principles that may be effec-
tive with adult language learners, although these principles await systematic
evaluations in adult education contexts. These include a balanced and inte-
grated focus on oral language, reading, and writing; providing meaningful,
genuine, and relevant materials and tasks; utilizing learners’ first language
strengths; a focus on both form and meaning; providing frequent and ex-
plicit feedback; providing opportunities to experience and apply linguistic
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structures in varied contexts, including outside the classroom; and being
sensitive to learner’s existing levels and readiness as new linguistic concepts
are introduced.
Assessment
Conclusion 6: Improved adolescent and adult literacy programs
require the development of measures and comprehensive systems of
assessment that (1) include measures of language and literacy skills
related to a range of literacy forms and tasks, domain knowledge,
cognitive abilities, and valued functional as well as psychological
outcomes; (2) include measures for differentiated placement and
instruction, diagnosis, formative assessment, and accountability
that are all aligned to work toward common learning goals; and
(3) produce information at learner, classroom, and program levels
that is useful to learners, instructors, program administrators, and
policy makers.
Three types of assessment are needed: diagnostic, formative, and ac-
countability assessment. The different forms of measurement serve different
purposes. Diagnostic assessment gives detailed information to instructors
about which skill components the learner possesses and which need to be
developed. Formative assessment provides the information needed to im-
prove instruction by focusing attention on skills that need to be improved
as instruction progresses. Accountability assessment provides funders and
the public with a sense of how well the program and systems that serve
adult literacy learners are working. There is a focus on the development of
effective diagnostic and formative assessment of learners’ progress during
the course of instruction, so that it can be focused efficiently and improved
continually. Instructors also need training in how to use diagnostic assess-
ments to guide instructional choices and formative assessments to improve
instruction.
To be feasible to implement, classroom instruction must share com-
mon elements whenever possible while being differentiated enough to meet
each learner’s needs for skill development and practical goals for learning,
and thus assessments are needed to help differentiate instruction. Although
some attempts have been made to assess adults’ profiles for instructional
purposes, the reliability and validity of any particular approach to assess-
ing profiles of skills and other characteristics for the purpose of planning
instruction remains to be established (see Chapter 3).
The validity of measures for both practice and research needs attention
with respect to (1) the suitability of the measures for adults, (2) compre-
hensive coverage of the multiple dimensions of component skills (especially
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initial test sites. In the same time frame, advances in measurement and as-
sessment must be made, which will require the collaboration of programs.
Recommendation 1: Federal and state policy makers should move
quickly to build on and expand the existing infrastructure of adult
literacy education to support the use of instructional approaches,
curricula, materials, tools, and assessments of learners consistent
with (a) research on reading, writing, learning, language, and adult
development; (b) research on the effectiveness of instructional ap-
proaches; and (c) knowledge of sound assessment practices.
Although the evidence is mostly on groups not quite identical to the
target group (children still in school, students in college who participate in
psychological studies, and the elderly), a substantial body of research ex-
ists to guide the selection and implementation of instructional practices in
reading, writing, and oral language for adolescents and adults with literacy
development needs that range from minimal to substantial. Thus, some
practices warrant application immediately, based on evidence from other
populations, while research is undertaken to assess the extent to which
they produce improvements for various segments of the adult population.
Recommendation 2: Federal and state policy makers should ensure
that professional development and technical assistance for instruc-
tors are widely accessible and consistent with the best research on
reading, writing, learning, language, and adult development.
The variability in instructor preparation is a clear impediment to both
ensuring instructional effectiveness on a broad scale and conducting the
needed research. There is a critical need to ensure that instructors possess
knowledge and skills that are consistent with the most reliable research on
literacy development and learning.
Although recommendations about specific mechanisms for delivering
instructor preparation are beyond the charge to the committee, it is worth
noting that instructors experience many of the same constraints on their
professional development (lack of funding, inflexible locations, work and
other life demands) as those who participate in literacy programs. Given
these constraints, options to consider include online courses supported by
the U.S. Department of Education to deliver instruction in the science of
teaching reading and writing and a process that involves researchers and
practitioners in the development and evaluation of professional develop-
ment content, to ensure that it is consistent with the most recent research
and validated best practice. Education and technical assistance efforts for
instructors themselves need evaluation to determine whether they result in
more effective implementation of taught practices and continuous improve-
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
ment of offerings. It may be possible to offer a collection of professional
development modules that serve both high school and adult literacy instruc-
tors, even if subsets of the modules need to be specialized for one group or
the other. Along with such programming, attention must be given to pro-
viding appropriate incentive structures to ensure that instructors needing
the support take advantage of it. There is also a need for data to identify
the characteristics of teachers associated with effective implementation of
literacy instruction across the four general types of literacy education pro-
grams (basic education, secondary education, English as a second language,
and developmental education in colleges).
Recommendation 3: Policy makers, providers of literacy programs,
and researchers should collaborate to systematically implement and
evaluate options (instructional components, technology compo-
nents, social service components, incentives) aimed at maximizing
persistence with literacy learning.
Achieving literacy requires thousands of hours of practice. The prob-
lem of high attrition from instructional programs (as well as the relatively
brief length of those programs altogether) must be resolved if adults are
to receive sufficient amounts of practice and instruction and if reliable
evidence is to accumulate on the instructional methods that are effective
when adults engage with learning. Although research documents the chal-
lenges that adults experience with persistence and engagement, it does not
provide clear evidence about specific practices and policies that address
these challenges for particular groups of adults. Systematic implementa-
tion and evaluation of various approaches is required to identify the mix
of strategies that will engage learners of different backgrounds for the large
amounts of time required for instruction and practice to be effective. The
interventions should be developed with consideration of the factors that are
likely to cause attrition and lack of perseverance. Programs can then select
strategies that are most appropriate with an understanding of the specific
situations of their students.
Recommendation 4: To inform local, state, and federal decisions
aimed at optimizing the progress of adult learners, the commit-
tee strongly recommends strategic and sustained investments in
a coordinated and systemic approach to program improvement,
evaluation, and research about adult literacy learners.
A variety of federal units currently play a role in the education of adult
learners and in research to understand and intervene with this population.
Key among them are the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, the
Institute of Education Sciences and the Office of English Language Acquisi-
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tion of the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor,
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the
National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Other
agencies that might play a role in shaping and monitoring adult literacy
education efforts include the National Institute on Aging of the National
Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. However the
proposed research and programmatic changes are implemented, they will
benefit from a coordination infrastructure that ensures continued focus on
the primary goal of producing a better educated workforce and citizenry.
The five-goal structure used in the Institute of Education Sciences’ ap-
proach to research and development is very close to the research strategy
needed, although more attention will be required to defining subgroups
of learners that require specific variations in instructional approaches to
meet their needs. The sequence includes exploration, innovation, efficacy
testing, scaling up, and assessment development. Some of the practices of
the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation
that represent focused, long-term strategies might also be helpful, includ-
ing registries for related research findings and possibly the designation of
multidisciplinary centers to pursue synergistic programs of work that are
guided by an overarching research plan and regularly reviewed by an advi-
sory group of scientists for adherence to the plan.
Research Design
The research called for in this report should meet the following
requirements:
• Research should address the diversity of populations for whom
literacy improvement is a concern, including high school dropouts,
low-literate English language learners with varying levels of first
language literacy, students with documented disabilities, students in
career and technical education, academically underprepared college
students, and other adults who fared poorly in the K-12 system.
• Research should use rigorous designs and integrated multidisci-
plinary perspectives that can clarify the effective components of
instructional practice and why they work, with adequate experi-
mental power to clarify both what does and what does not work
for specific subgroups of the population. Planned variation experi-
ments would be one approach that is valuable for this purpose.
The research should include detailed qualitative and quantitative
information on learner and instructional contexts, because the
diversity of learners and instructional contexts may affect whether
the results generalize.
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• Research should include longitudinal designs to determine which
approaches produce substantial and durable literacy improvement
and to track the developmental trajectories of students in an in-
structional program to provide some insight into what types of
individual differences might be instructionally relevant.
• Research should use the best methods for reducing attrition
known to be effective in conducting research with difficult-to-study
populations.
• Research should determine that the approaches and effects are
achievable and sustainable in the instructional context and thor-
oughly analyze the instructional practices, the instructors, the in-
structional environment, and provided supports.
Priorities for Basic and Applied Research
As the committee notes throughout this report, a substantial program
of research is required to better articulate the specific literacy needs and
challenges of adult learners, the literacy demands they face, and the cogni-
tive, neurological, linguistic, social, cultural, and systemic factors that affect
their learning. This research should address the following aspects:
Characteristics of literacy learners: The range of specific literacy
•
needs of the population needs to be better understood, including
competencies in a native language that can support the develop-
ment of English literacy and the challenges to learning faced by spe-
cific subgroups of English learners. Done well, such research would
provide a stronger basis for the differentiation of adult literacy
instruction and for grouping of learners who need substantially
different learning opportunities.
Specification of the literacy skills required in today’s society: The
•
specific literacy skills required for meeting certain educational or
career milestones need to be documented, including the literacy
skills associated with knowledge building, collaborative problem
solving, and effective use of new communications media. This
information would permit a move from indexing the success of
adult literacy instruction using traditional measures, which are
based mostly on the learning that typically occurs in elementary
school, to the assessment of literacy skills and levels required for
adults’ educational and economic success and full social and civic
participation.
Knowledge of the cognitive, linguistic, and neural underpinnings of
•
instruction: The underlying cognitive, linguistic, and neural func-
tions need to be further developed as part of instruction for both
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typical adult literacy learners and those with learning disabili-
ties. Such research would allow better adaptation of instructional
approaches to cognitive differences among children, adolescents,
and working-age adults, and the specific challenges faced by some
adults trying to become more literate.
Contextual influences on literacy development throughout the life
•
span: This would include research on the multiple paths of literacy
development and, more specifically, the ways in which various
forces (cognitive, linguistic, social, cultural, instructional, and sys-
temic) interact to affect typical and atypical literacy development
from childhood through adulthood. This research would provide
knowledge about the population needed to better address the chal-
lenges that adult learners experience in developing their literacy
skills outside K-12 education.
Priorities for Translational Science
Translational science bridges the gap between the type of knowledge
derived from small-scale, controlled research and that required for imple-
mentation in large systems that serve diverse individuals in diverse contexts.
To improve adult literacy instruction, translational research is needed in
four areas to inform the selection and use of practices and products that
effectively develop valued literacy skills: (1) instructional approaches and
materials grounded in principles of learning and instruction derived mainly
from other populations, (2) supports for persistence, (3) technologies to
assist with and expand opportunities for learning, and (4) assessments of
learners and their instructional environments.
The research will need to include a strong instructor training com-
ponent and thorough description and analysis of the practices used and
instructor characteristics to inform improved instructor recruitment, train -
ing, professional development, and ongoing supports required to deliver
instruction effectively. It should include large-scale data collection and
information gathering. Strong leadership will be required from the U.S.
Departments of Education and Labor and other sponsoring research agen-
cies. Partnerships will need to be developed among interdisciplinary teams
of researchers, practitioners, curriculum developers, and administrators to
systematically build this knowledge and to identify and address barriers
to implementation.
Instructional Approaches and Materials
New and modified approaches to remedial literacy instruction are
needed that both develop the skills that society demands for education,
work, social and civic participation, and health maintenance and apply
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
the principles of learning, cognitive and neural function, and motivation
derived from research with other populations to diverse subgroups of adult
learners. An interdisciplinary effort involving researchers, practitioners,
and curriculum developers is needed to create a coherent system of lit-
eracy activities, practices, texts, and tools that are linked to the particular
literacy development needs of the learner.
The effort should address the need for appropriate texts for practicing
reading skills to develop fluency and accumulate useful knowledge. Ado-
lescents and adults lack a sufficient range of high-interest texts matched to
assessed proficiencies and designed to develop literacy skills while develop-
ing knowledge needed to achieve broader goals. “Authentic” (real-world)
materials often contain too many literacy elements that learners have not
yet mastered and so can be overwhelming and frustrating if presented
without substantial scaffolding; there is a need to develop materials and
evaluation strategies that instructors can use to select materials that pres-
ent appropriate challenges to learners according to their skill levels. One
promising possibility is to add to existing online work environment tools
that can scaffold developing literacy. Tools already exist that scaffold the
comprehension of free-standing texts, and it should be possible to build
similar tools into basic work systems that allow adults to stretch their lit-
eracy levels and thus gain added literacy practice.
Persistence
It is vital to study the mix of practices, program components, and poli-
cies that support persistence with literacy instruction and that would also
serve to reduce the high rates of attrition reported in research studies with
the population. Research should be conducted to identify how to maximize
persistence and progress by designing programs that attend comprehen-
sively to the cognitive, social, cultural, psychological, and motivational
needs of the learner. Literacy is a skill requiring thousands of hours of prac-
tice. Adults with inadequate literacy skills have not had sufficient practice
and often have not found learning in school to be pleasant. Research should
be conducted to encourage attendance, sustained practice, and engagement
with instruction. This research should apply and extend current knowledge,
focusing in particular on aspects of the learner, the learning environment,
learning activities, texts, and materials that affect persistence. In addition
to understanding persistence in programs, work is needed to determine how
to facilitate persistence with specific literacy tasks.
Technology
Developing and identifying effective uses of technology are important
for several reasons. First, technologies can free literacy practice from being
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dependent on a specific learning location. This is important because learn-
ing is usually limited for adults as a result of limited program funds and
locations available (a few hours of instruction are offered a few days per
week), participants’ work schedules, and other life demands.
Second, technologies can help to standardize instructional offerings
across the many places of instruction that have shared populations with
common literacy development needs and learning goals. Third, technologies
have the potential to provide some of the scaffolding needed for progress
with literacy skills and engagement with complex texts and tasks while fill-
ing gaps in lower level reading skills. Intelligent interactive media should
be developed to motivate and scaffold practice by adults with literacy needs
and incorporate specific work and life goals and interests.
Fourth, technology has the potential to help overcome the high cost
of intelligent human labor, in this case literacy instructors. For example,
web-based and automated evaluation, diagnosis, and prescription of further
learning opportunities could be developed both to support instructors and
to support adults in reading practice. Technology for use in classrooms
must also be engineered to be accessible to the instructors with appropriate
instructor training.
Assessment of Learners and Instructional Environments
A valid, coherent, and comprehensive system of assessment should
be developed for diagnosis, planning instruction, and accountability. The
system should comprehensively assess knowledge, skills, and valued psy-
chological and functional outcomes. It should be aligned to produce differ-
ent but linked forms of measurement for assessing learning at the learner,
classroom, and program levels. The system should generate information
that is appropriate and useful for the particular purposes and audiences:
learners, instructors, program administrators, or policy makers in local,
state, and federal governments. Effective assessment tools would address
all of the components of literacy and map onto the primary valued learning
outcomes for adult remedial and basic education. The needed assessments
would, among other things, measure the ability to comprehend and use text
meaning for purposes (e.g., for academic learning, health maintenance, civic
participation, work). Valid measures must be developed that are (1) ap-
propriate for use with adults and for learners’ cultural and linguistic back-
grounds, (2) provide comprehensive coverage of the multiple dimensions of
component skills, and (3) measure the reading, writing, and language skills
that society demands and values.
Few studies examine the characteristics of programs in adult education
associated with improved learner outcomes. One reason for this lack of re-
search is that few measures are available to assess learning environments in
adult education. Such work is just beginning even for K-12 schooling. Thus,
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
in addition to better measures of adult outcomes, standard ways of measur-
ing the quality of the educational environment are needed that are derived
from research on language, learning, and literacy. These measures would as-
sess instructional interactions, texts, and implementation of instruction and
contextual factors (e.g., content of teacher preparation, uses of technology
outside school) that support or constrain the implementation of effective
practices and adults’ opportunities to learn and practice new skills.
Large-Scale Data Collection and Information Gathering
Information about the literacy skills of adults in the United States and
in the diverse systems that offer adult literacy instruction should be gath-
ered and analyzed on a continual and long-term basis to know whether
the population is becoming more literate and whether efforts to improve
literacy are effective at a macro level as well as in specific individual efficacy
studies.
Allocations of funding for adult literacy programs signal an under-
standing of the magnitude and importance of the literacy problem in the
United States. Yet the only assessment tools used at the federal level to
evaluate the effectiveness of adult literacy education programs are global
accountability measures that relate only superficially to the specific literacy
proficiencies that need to be developed. In addition, these measures do not
convey how much more a literate U.S. society is as a result of investments
in adult literacy instruction or how to focus efforts to improve instructional
practices and adult learning. While current efforts to survey literacy in the
U.S. population and collect information on adult literacy programs and
learners are important, there is a need to modify them to track progress
in the components of reading and writing that have been identified in re-
search and proficiency in performing important literacy tasks. There is also
a need to gather data on the instructional interactions, materials, and tools
used in literacy instruction 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. Finally, it is important to have data on the personal writing and
reading goals of the adult learner population, so that the gap between broad
social goals and personal goals can be negotiated. It may be productive to
embed questions relating to literacy in broader longitudinal surveys.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: LEADERSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
The current approaches to adult literacy instruction represent well-
intentioned and partly productive efforts of adult literacy program pro-
viders, community colleges, state agencies, and the U.S. Departments of
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Education and Labor, operating under several constraints. Although it is
wise not to change practice without rigorous experimental confirmation
that a new approach is more effective, the available research on literacy and
learning with other populations strongly indicates that better approaches to
instruction are possible. The request to this committee—to synthesize the
knowledge base on learning and literacy to inform instructional practice
and develop a more systemic approach to research, practice, and policy—is
a necessary step to improve adult learning in the United States. The rel-
evant agencies should encourage research that is sufficiently focused and
sustained to accumulate knowledge about how to improve adult literacy
instruction and make substantial progress in adults’ literacy.
Meaningful change will be difficult, however, given the current level
of investment, the need for substantial instructor training as part of any
change in current practice, the needed research and innovation, and the
extent of additional learning that many adults will require. Success will
depend on a strong partnership of school districts, states, and the federal
government. It will also require strong and sustained partnerships between
researchers and practitioners at various levels.
Although many federal programs and agencies contribute to adult
education services, it is the Office of Vocational and Adult Education in the
U.S. Department of Education that administers the Adult Education and
Family Literacy Act, enacted as Title II of the Workforce Investment Act,
which is the principal source of federal support for adult basic and literacy
education programs for those who are at least 16 years old, not enrolled
in high school, and lack basic skills, a high school diploma, or proficiency
in English. The law specifies that agencies eligible to provide adult literacy
instruction consider whether the programs they choose to fund use practices
that research has “proven to be effective in teaching individuals to read”
(Workforce Investment Act [WIA], Title II, Section 231 (e4)(B)). It also
gives the secretary of education the authority to establish and carry out a
program of national leadership activities to enhance the quality of adult
education and literacy programs nationwide (WIA, Title II, Section 223).
Thus, current legislation provides the authority and one possible source of
existing funds for collaborating with other appropriate funders.1
1 The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (which is Title II of WIA) aims broadly
to help adults become literate and build the knowledge and skills for employment and self-
sufficiency, completion of secondary education, and full participation in the educational devel-
opment of their children. The legislation directs how federal funds are distributed by formula
to states, defines goals for adult programs, and defines core indicators of performance. The
Office of Vocational and Adult Education contributes an estimated 25 percent of the total
funds used for adult literacy programs. States must provide matching funds to qualify for the
allocations made on the basis of census data. States competitively award most of the funds
to local institutions to provide adult literacy programs and retain 12.5 percent for overall
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The nature of the work to be done will require partnerships among
researchers, practitioners, curriculum developers, and administrators to
systematically build the needed knowledge and tools and to identify and
address barriers to implementation. Major employers, existing training
and education organizations, faith-based groups, and other community
groups will need to be enlisted to help in the effort. A number of organiza-
tions have been started by business and civic groups to promote literacy,
especially “21st-century literacy,” but these organizations have, for the
most part, been advocates for change rather than participants in effecting
change. Just as government must play a role in sponsoring the needed re-
search, providing program incentives, and monitoring progress, it also will
be important for the business community to move from a role of advocacy
alone to also providing input into literacy requirements, providing onsite
learning opportunities, being accommodating of needed research on effec-
tiveness, and helping to provide incentives to boost motivation to complete
literacy programs. Substantial national leadership will be needed to sustain
investment and strategic direction through periods of uncertainty and eco-
nomic variability. Having an educated, literate workforce is essential to the
preservation of the U.S. economy in the information age.
As with any field, the dissemination of knowledge and effective prac-
tice from research to policy makers, administrators, and instructors in the
field of adult literacy is a subject of inquiry in its own right. The commit-
tee hopes that those with a mission to improve adult literacy will, as part
of acting on the recommendations in this report, participate in the steps
needed to identify and address the factors that will affect the conduct of
the recommended research and the implementation of the findings into
widespread practice.
program improvement. Federal funding for programs has remained relatively level since 2001,
with an annual appropriation of about $560 million. An additional sum is provided annually
for research, technical assistance, and other national leadership activities, which in 2010 were
funded at 13.3 million, or .021 percent of the total $628.2 million adult education and family
literacy budget (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).
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