A NEW report from ETS (Educational Testing Service) provides a comprehensive picture of federally supported adult education activities in the United States.
ETS’s Centre for Global Assessment produced the report: “Adult Education in America: A First Look at Results from the Adult Education Programme and Learner Surveys”.
Authors Irwin Kirsch, Marylou Lennon and Kentaro Yamamoto of ETS and Claudia Tamassia of the University of Illinois present data from the Adult Education Programme Survey (AEPS), which includes data from more than 6,000 adult learners at 1,200 adult education programmes nationwide.
The ETS report pointed out that English language learning plays a central role in adult education. The data from AEPS show that English as a Second Language (ESL) represents the largest type of instructional programme in adult education.
In fact, about half of all participants in adult education programmes reported that English was not their native language.
“Not surprisingly, the results showed that Spanish-speaking Hispanic learners demonstrated somewhat higher-than-average literacy skills in Spanish than in English,” Kirsch explains, “ESL classes and the learners they serve face the dual challenge of improving not just English language skills, but literacy skills as well.”
“It was also clear that allowing for language differences did not eradicate differences in literacy performance. The skill levels of learners who were tested in Spanish were similar to the levels of literacy shown by English-speaking adults enrolled in adult education programmes. Those skills levels, in general, fell well below those of the general adult population,” Kirsch adds.
