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A SUMMARY OF GAINS
IN SIXTEEN PROGRAMS
Data on pre-and post-tests for sixteen programs
from different parts of the United States are summarized in Figure 98. More
extensive information on the various programs is available in the sources cited
below. The programs depicted were not chosen for any particular reason, they
simply represent an odd lot of programs in reports ranging from 1982 to 1992.
They measured reading skills using five different tests, though most used the
Tests of Adult Basic Education ( TABE).
Programs in the sources numbered 8, 9, 12, 14,
and 16 below were designated as "exemplary" by the U.S. Department of
Education's Joint Dissemination Review Panel. Programs 6 and 11 used computer
based instruction. Program 1 summarized date from several hundred sites across
the nation that used the Comprehensive Competencies Program (CCP). Programs 5
and 7 were offered in Job Corps centers.
Programs 3, 4, and 13 were offered in penal
institutions. It is apparent from Figure 98 that there is little relationship
among entry level scores and gain or hours of instruction and gain. The 82
hours of instruction in program 9 produced more gain than the 185 hours of
instruction in program 16, but about the same gain as the 49 hours of
instruction in program 6. Gain in the 1979 JCARP (program 14) was about 1
"year," while the JCARP of 1981 (program 9) reported 1.5 "years" gain. However,
the JCARP did not follow the standardized procedures for the Tests of Adult
Basic Education (TABE) and hence the accuracy of pre- and post-test scores and
the reliability of the gain is suspect.
Across the sixteen programs, improvements in
adult literacy skills ranged from about 0.5 to 1.5 "years" of gain in anywhere
from 20 to 229 hours of instruction using a variety of measures. In general,
these gains are in the same range as those summarized earlier for California,
Illinois, and New York City.
| TABLE 6 |
Sources For Achievement
Gains - Figure 98 |
|
| 1. |
CCP |
R. Taggart (1986, July). The
Comprehensive Competencies Program: A summary. Alexandria VA: Mean entry
reading grade level of 7.9 extracted from Summary Table 20, p. 37; N is sum of
enrollees from 1984 through the first quarter of 1986, Summary Table 6, p.28;
post-test score obtained by adding 1.0 reading gain for all terminees in
Summary Table 25, p. 42 to entry mean score of 7.9. |
| 2. |
TFLP |
National Center for Family
Literacy (1994). The Power of Family Literacy: Louisville. KY,
p.14. |
| 3,4 |
Meyer |
L. Meyer, J.Ory and R.
Hinckley. (1983, December). Evaluation research in basic skills with
incarcerated adults. Technical Report No. 303. Center for the Study of Reading.
Urbana, IL: University of Illinois. Table 2. |
| 5. |
Job Corps |
Job Corps in Brief: Program
Year 1991 (1 July 1991 - 30 June 1992). Washington, DC: U. S. Department of
Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Job Corps. Entry score of grade
7.0 from p. 15; gain of 1.4 grade equivalents from p. 21 added to 7.0 to derive
post-test score of 8.4 |
| 6,7 |
Geller |
D. Geller and M. Shugall
(1983, April). The impact of computer-assisted instruction on disadvantaged
young adults in a non traditional educational environment. Reston, VA: Advanced
Technology, Inc. p. 16, Table 3: students with ls post-test. |
| 8,9,14 |
JCARP |
S. Darling (1982, September).
Adult education projects that work: Jefferson County (Kentucky) Adult Reading
Program, Louisville, KY: Jefferson County Board of Education, Paper submitted
to the U. S. Department of Education, Joint Dissemination Review Panel, p. 8,
Table 6. |
| 10,12 |
F.I.S.T. |
I. Saltiel (1983, March).
Adult education projects that work: Project F.I.S.T. Edison, NJ: Project
F.I.S.T. Paper submitted to the U. S. Department of Education, Joint
Dissemination Review Panel p. 7, Table 3. |
| 11 |
Askov |
E. Askov, C. Maclay, and B.
Bixler (1992). An intergenerational study of the impact of computer-assisted
instruction with low-literate parents. In: T. Sticht, M. Beeler, and B.
McDonald (Eds.) The Intergenerational Transfer of Cognitive Skills. Volume 1:
Programs, Policy, and Research Issues. Norwood, NJ: ABLEX Publishing
Corporation, p. 153, Table 12.1. |
| 13 |
Gold |
P. Gold and P. Horn (1982).
Achievement in reading, verbal language, auding, locus of control of adult
illiterates in a volunteer tutorial project Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins
University, p. 14, Table 2. |
| 15 |
HF |
H. Fingeret and S. Danin
(1991, January). "They really put a hurtin' on my brain": Learning in Literacy
Volunteers of New York City: Executive Summary. Durham, NC: Literacy South,
p.30. |
| 16 |
BES |
J. Deveraux (1985, February).
BES adult literacy project. New York: Bronx Educational Services, Inc. Paper
submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, Joint Dissemination Review
Panel, p. 7. |
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