Published on 6/21/2012 1:00:00 AM
School of Education Dean Alan Lesgold recently met with the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Adolescent and Adult Literacy—of which he is the chair—in Washington, D.C., to discuss and release a report on the development of adult literacy programs in the United States. The project was highlighted in this week's
University Times. (An excerpt from the article follows below.)
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With more than 90 million U.S. adults lacking the literacy skills needed to lead fully productive and secure lives, the U.S. Department of Education called on the National Research Council (NRC) to review the problem and suggest solutions.
Because adults with low levels of literacy have lower rates of participation in the labor force, earn less than those with higher levels of literacy, and have less ability to access, read, and use health information, they tend to be a drain on the economy and cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
The NRC Committee on Adolescent and Adult Literacy, a committee of experts headed by Alan Lesgold, dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, recently released an NRC report that recommends the development of more effective training programs to teach adult literacy, more use of technologies so adults can practice reading and writing at home, and the allocation of resources to make it possible for illiterate adults to become literate, contributing members of society. The committee also recommended better training for adult literacy instructors, better tailoring of courses for English language learners to build on the literacy skills some of them have in other languages, and more research focused specifically on adult literacy learners.
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For more, click through to the article “National Research Council Committee Chaired by Pitt Education Dean Addresses National Adult Literacy Crisis, Which Costs Taxpayers Billions” on the
University Times Web site.