Assessment

FOR YOUR INFORMATION ... DAEL NOTES

Source: Thursday Notes, Adult Learning and Literacy, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Division of Adult Education and Literacy, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-7240, (202) 205-9872

From the July 16, 1998 issue:

Funds available for America Reads Tutors
As of July 1, 1998, the federal government will pay 100% of wages of federal work-study students tutoring children and/or their parents in family literacy programs. President Clinton announced recently that 1000 postsecondary institutions have joined the America Reads Challenge by committing to send college work-study students to tutor children in reading. Family literacy programs and colleges and universities are invited to take advantage of this opportunity. See http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/coluniv_fws.html

New in ESL
Issue Brief: Adult Participation in English as a Second Language Classes prepared by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) gives a brief overview of ESL participation. It addresses why learners participated in ESL and how they found classes. Contact NCES at 1-800-424-1616.

From the July 30, 1998 issue:

Welfare Study Cites Mismatched Literacy Skills, Job Requirements
According to Alec Levenson's new study for the Milken Institute, most welfare clients transitioning to work have literacy skills at Level 1 or 2 of the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), but most available jobs require literacy skills at much higher levels. Levenson analyzed data from the 1992 NALS and the 1990 Census to estimate that 35% of welfare recipients have Level 1 literacy skills, while another 41% have Level 2 literacy skills. He estimated that 64% of available jobs require Level 3 through Level 5 literacy skills. Only 12% of jobs, he projected, can be filled by workers with Level 1-- and 24% with Level 2--literacy proficiencies. Contact Alec Levenson. Phone 310-998-2600.