A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

National Evaluation of The Even Start Family Literacy Program, 1998

Chapter 5

In What Contexts Are Adult Education Services Provided?

Projects described the extent to which their adult education curricula incorporated functional literacy approaches and whether the context of lessons involved life skills, vocational skills, or parenting practices.66 The majority of project sites in 1996-97 included at least "some" functional literacy in their adult basic education curricula (see the upper half of Exhibit 5.9), and these percentages represent increases over previous years. Project sites that offered at least "some" functional literacy at the secondary level increased from 74 percent in 1994-95 to 80 percent in 1995-96 and 94 percent in 1996-97. Sites reporting at least "some" functional literacy at the intermediate level also increased, from 78 percent in 1994-95 to 82 percent in 1995-96 and 96 percent in 1996-97.

Exhibit 5.9: Characteristics of Adult Education Services (1996-97)

 

Adult Education Components
 

Beginning
(0-4)

Inter-
mediate (5-8)

Secondary/GED
(9-12)

ESL

Primary Instructional Approach

Mostly functional literacy

28%

29%

71%

37%

Some functional literacy

24%

67%

23%

40%

Little or no functional literacy

48%

5%

7%

23%

Instructional Context

Life skills

68%

75%

73%

55%

Parenting

65%

75%

74%

49%

Vocational

40%

58%

69%

39%

Note: The percentages for this table are based on 655 project sites operated by the 605 projects included in the evaluation analyses. The percentages in the top three rows do not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Exhibit reads: In 1996-97, 28 percent of Even Start project sites used mostly functional literacy materials in the beginning adult education programs; 68 percent of project sites incorporated life skills training in the beginning adult education programs.

ESL and beginning level adult basic education classes involved the least amount of functional literacy. In these classes, the necessity of learning the basic English language rules, vocabulary, and academic skills may take precedence over practical applications.

The majority of projects incorporated life skills, vocational, and parenting topics and activities into their adult education curricula (lower half of Exhibit 5.9). While life skills and parenting have been common topics of adult education lessons in a majority of Even Start projects over the last three years, inclusion of vocational topics is increasing, possibly in response to welfare reform's mandate that recipients obtain employment. Project sites using vocational materials for the beginning, intermediate, secondary, and ESL classes increased between 5 and 13 percentage points between 1994-95 and 1996-97 (not shown in exhibit).

The largest increase in the use of vocational materials was at the intermediate level (corresponding to 5th- through 8th-grades); from 45 percent of project sites in 1994-95 to 52 percent and 58 percent of project sites in the following two years. With welfare reform, the participants and/or projects may feel an added urgency to focus on job-related skills of adults who lack high-school level academic competencies. This may be an increasing trend in coming years as the implementation of welfare reform progresses.

Footnotes:

66 The term functional literacy refers to the application of literacy-related skills to real-life situations and practical activities. Examples of functional literacy include reading and writing required in jobs, shopping, using public transportation, filling out tax forms, etc.

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