[NLA] Why so much interest in adult reading?

[Thomas Sticht]

Why is there so much interest in adult reading instruction lately?

Here is a list of some activities that have suggested to me that there has
been an upsurge in the interest in adult reading.

1. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Title 2: The Adult Education and
Family Literacy Act took strong steps toward suggesting a national
approach to teaching adults to read when six times throughout the Act it
refers to teaching phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and reading
comprehension.

2. The Partnership for Reading, formed by the U. S. Department of
Education, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and
the National Institute for Literacy to bring scientific evidence to
learning sponsored the adult Reading Research Working Group to review
research-based approaches to adult reading instruction. An extensive
report of the work of this group is available at the www.nifl.gov web
site. Like the WIA Title 2 act, it emphasizes "alphabetics," meaning
phonemic awareness and phonics, fluency, and comprehension. Additionally,
it discusses reading assessment profiles and vocabulary development.

3. , On October 2, 2002  a new Adult Reading Research Network was
unveiled. With $18.5 million over a five year period, in grants from the
National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), Office of Adult and Vocational
Education of the US Department of Education, and the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of
Health, the new Adult Reading Research Network will study the most
effective methods and approaches for teaching reading skills to
low-literate adults.

4. Additionally in 2002, in a partnership with the National Center for
Family Literacy (NCFL) the NIFL established the Equipped for the Future
(EFF) Reading Project. This project will develop a train-the-trainer model
to support family literacy programs in integrating scientifically based
reading instruction and EFF’s constructivist approach to teaching and
learning.

Though I suppose this new policy and research focus upon teaching adult
reading is to be welcomed, I still wonder why there is all this new
attention to adult reading instruction. Especially when on the 1992
National Adult Literacy Survey 93 percent of adults said they read well or
very well.

Does anyone want to venture a guess or two?

Tom Sticht



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