Defining best practices is useful to both new and experienced adult educators, to policy makers, to funders and to service providers in a variety of ways. They can:

• Be an ideal or a goal to work towards.
• Be a framework for effective practice.
• Be a guide for program planning and development.
• Be a guide to inform and improve practice.
• Encourage reflection on critical issues by those developing, implementing and evaluating adult literacy and basic education programs.
• Transform practice.
• Be a tool to promote programs to stakeholders and other community members.

Best practice statements are not meant to:

• Be mandatory or definitive.
• Force all programs to be the same.
• Be a means of formally monitoring or evaluating programs.

There is a risk in codifying best practices, however, and simplifying them to a checklist. It is relatively easy for people to say “We’re doing that!” For that reason we are including examples of best practices in action, and specific ways of supporting best practices to try to give a broader view of what best practices might be in reality.