The implications for practice drawn from this study emphasize that low-literate adults should not be treated as a homogeneous group. Differentiated approaches to recruitment and program planning are required. The authors conclude that ABE "which has traditionally tried to serve the entire spectrum of individuals in the low-literate population, has met with limited success in reaching the most disadvantaged;" (p. 9). They then suggest that the most effective way to address barriers may be to tailor entire programs to the needs of specific groups. Community-based organizations that have made it a focus to serve such groups appear to reach a greater proportion of this population.

The importance of differentiation

Fitzgerald (1984), in her survey of 100 people housed in a mid-western slum area, found that 52 desired a community-based program and of these, 39 rejected a professional teacher in favour of community leadership. There were two free adult programs within walking distance of the area surveyed, yet 40 of the respondents said either that they would not register or that they did not need to register. As a community-based program was not available it was difficult to predict whether the adults would actually register if such did exist. Fitzgerald cites Kreitlow et al (1981) who found that intention to participate does not translate into actual participation for the least educated and most in need" (Fitzgerald, p. 27), From the results of her own study, she then stresses that "ABE programs focus almost exclusively on educational needs whereas the hard-core illiterate's most pressing needs are primarily of an economic, social and psychological nature" (p. 27).

Fitzgerald (1984) challenged a finding in the Kreitlow (1981) study that high school noncompleters were functioning satisfactorily without a high school diploma. Martin (1987) pointed out that the contradictory findings could perhaps be explained by the differences in lifestyle classifications in the two samples. In his work (1984, 1987) he developed and further refined a typology of adult high school noncompleters. He did a qualitative study based on 79 two to three hour interviews over a fifteen month period. He drew his sample from three very different geographic/economic settings in the U.S.A.