Adult Education

Learn more about programs that serve adults who do not yet have a high school degree
Families & the Community Lessons for Life
The Mesa, Ariz., school district opened Parent University 18 years ago as a place where adults could discuss and hone parenting skills.
Mary Ann Zehr, November 9, 2004
10 min read
Families & the Community Turf Battle Flares in Fla. Over Control Of Adult Education
Bills pending in the Florida legislature that would essentially transfer control of adult education from school districts to community colleges are being described as a power grab by district officials and a much-needed reform by the bill's proponents.
John Gehring, May 10, 2000
3 min read
Families & the Community Sylvan's Acquisition of Firm Bolsters Place in Market
Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. last week acquired the National Education Corp., bolstering Sylvan's leading position in the fast-growing market for supplemental education services such as distance learning and tutoring.
Mark Walsh, March 19, 1997
2 min read
Families & the Community Opinion Welfare Reform and the Schools
Will it throw more than a million people into poverty, or will it increase family self-sufficiency? Whatever position you hold on welfare reform, one thing is clear: It will have profound, if indirect, effects on public education. Some of the major changes and their likely impact on families and children are highlighted below, along with legislative provisions that potentially offer schools a role in welfare reform.
Candace J. Sullivan, January 29, 1997
8 min read
Education School Opens With Mixed Picture for Adult Ed.
There were no school bells to announce the beginning of the school year for the nation's roughly 4 million adult-education students.
Robert C. Johnston, September 11, 1996
4 min read
Reading & Literacy Opinion To Read or Not To Read
In 1990, America's governors approved national goals including that " ... every adult American shall be literate."
Daniel A. Wagner, October 25, 1995
6 min read
Reading & Literacy Opinion 'Literacy Is The Key'
Every time I think of walking in the school door, I get sick to my stomach.
Sharon Darling, October 5, 1994
2 min read
Education Half of Adults Lack Skills, Literacy Study Finds
Nearly half of all adult Americans cannot read, write, and calculate well enough to function fully in today's society, and people in their early 20's have poorer literacy skills than did those in a 1985 survey, according to a federal study.
Debra Viadero, September 15, 1993
3 min read
Education Educators Urged To Absorb Adult-Training Programs
Education and training programs for adult workers are a quickly growing enterprise that, despite their roots in private industry, should be absorbed into the nation's general education system, a new report argues.
Lonnie Harp, January 30, 1991
2 min read
Education Southern States Join Forces To Upgrade Adults' Basic Skills
Saying the South is "the nation's least educated region," 13 Southern states and Puerto Rico last week announced plans to form a partnership to upgrade the basic skills of adults in the region.
Debra Viadero, October 31, 1990
3 min read
Families & the Community English-Literacy Classes Help Avert Family Rifts
Gail Weinstein-Shr, a professor of education at Temple University, was working with Southeast Asian refugees in the Philadelphia area when she made a discovery: Educators were creating a rift between parents and their children by teaching the youngsters English-literacy skills the parents did not possess.
Peter Schmidt, August 1, 1990
6 min read
Education E.T.S. Awarded Adult-Literacy Study Contract
The Education Department has awarded a $7.8-million contract to the Educational Testing Service to conduct the most extensive U.S. survey of adult literacy undertaken since the early 1970's, e.t.s. officials announced last week.
October 18, 1989
1 min read
Education Adult-Education Classes Flooded By Immigrants Seeking Amnesty
Copyright 1988 The stream of new immigrants asking the public schools to help them learn English is swelling into an overwhelming flood this fall, as the federal immigration-amnesty program enters its second phase.
October 16, 1988
6 min read
Education Federal Study Overstated Scope of Adult-Literacy Efforts
A federal interagency study released last year contains "gross misinformation'' on federal efforts to combat adult illiteracy, a report by a key House education panel alleges.
Blake Rodman, April 8, 1987
3 min read