"Lessons Learned" in Adult Literacy
by Dr. Kathryn Chang Barker

WERE YOU AWARE THAT THIS IS THE International Decade for Literacy? Do you remember the urgency with which International Literacy Year 1990 launched so many studies and plans to change the adult literacy situation? If you are wondering what have accomplished over the decade you will want to watch for the release of a report from the Evaluation and Data Development Branch of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC).

Lessons Learned in Adult Literacy is based on the evaluation of adult literacy policies, programs and practices in Canada and in other industrialized countries. It is part of a "Lessons Learned" series that is intended to inform public policy. Each report in the series includes a technical report, two summarized reports (long and short), and a video. FuturEd, with assistance from the National Literacy Secretariat and a Blue Ribbon consultative group of adult literacy experts, was contracted to complete the adult literacy reports.

FuturEd gathered and analyzed evaluation reports and studies, produced from 1988 to 1998, that were readily available in either French or English. Studies were gathered from countries similar to Canada in terms of literacy needs and approaches, e.g., Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States.

Literacy is fundamental to citizenship in a democracy - to informed decision-making, to personal empowerment, and to active and positive participation in the local and global social community.

In industrialized societies, adult literacy is a public policy issue within the contexts of citizenship, human resources development, and lifelong learning. Literacy is fundamental to citizenship in a democracy - to informed decision making, to personal empowerment, and to active and positive participation in the local and global social community. Literacy is an essential skill for work and participation in the economy. Literacy is a foundation to basic education and to lifelong learning. The policy issue is that, in Canada as in other industrialized countries, a considerable number of adults do not have the level of literacy skills that are required for active , participation in the community, the economy and in lifelong learning. As a result, great numbers and varieties of policies, programs and practices have been developed. However, relatively few have been evaluated, thereby limiting the scope of this study.

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