(3) An information processing view of learning that emphasizes the active, constructive nature of cognitive development (including literacy) in social contexts .

Part I: Assessing Adult Literacy Skills. Part I of the Compendium summarizes major military and civilian assessments of adult "intelligence," "aptitude," and "literacy." Numerous items are presented, many with commentary to clarify the item's meaning or to relate the item to other information. Assessments reviewed include the following.

1. The World War I Army Alpha test for literates and the Army Beta test for illiterates.
   
   
2. The World War II Army General Classification Test (AGCT).
   
   
3. The Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) from the 1950's up to the present.
   
   
4. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) including sub-tests in job- related areas such as automotive, shop, electronics, and mechanical information.
   
   
5. The 1937 studies of adult reading in Chicago by Guy Buswell using "functional, real world" materials like those in the current National Adult Literacy Survey.
   
   
6. The 1971 NAEP assessment of adults with a special analysis of some 21 items that were performed by 9,13, 17 year olds & adults.
   
   
7. The 1971 Harris surveys of adults' skills in completing various government forms.
   
   
8. The Adult Performance Literacy (APL) study of the early 1970's with data for the various items in the survey.
   
   
9. The 1986 young adult literacy survey (YALS) that developed the Prose, Document and Quantitative scales used in the 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS).
   
   
10. The 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS).
    
    

Part II: Special Topics. This part of the Compendium summarizes studies of the assessment of listening and reading skills of adults, the intergenerational transfer of literacy from adults to their children, and relationships of literacy to occupations and to job performance.

Part III: Testing of Adult Literacy Development in Education Programs. Data on changes in literacy skills in adult literacy programs in California, Illinois, and New York are presented. Reading gain score data are also presented for a variety of adult literacy programs from around the nation. Finally, rare data are presented on the longitudinal changes in adults' literacy skills as a function of participation in literacy programs for up to three years.