U.S. Adult Literacy Programs: Making a Difference

Adult education and literacy programs are increasingly being called upon to prove that they are effective:

• Funders want to know that their dollars are being well used.
• Community agencies that refer students to programs want to know that people will get the help they need.
• Potential volunteers want to know that their time will be well spent.

Program leaders recognize that outcomes are important. They understand the value of being able to prove that the students who attend literacy and adult education programs make progress, and that their learning has benefits for the individuals involved as well as for their families, their employers, and their communities. Many of these programs, however, are struggling with how to demonstrate outcomes.

After talking with literacy and adult educators throughout the country, ProLiteracy America staff decided that it could help by providing local programs with a survey of research about the effects of low literacy and the outcomes that are achieved by people who participate in adult education and literacy programs. Local programs could then decide how to best use and build upon this information.

We hope that this report will be a useful tool for those individuals and organizations that are part of the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) in the United States and for the communities that support them.

Dr. Peter A. Waite
Vice President of U.S. Programs for ProLiteracy Worldwide and
Executive Director of ProLiteracy America

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