"This ... resource book will help GED test preparation instructors get ready for the new test. It offers detailed descriptions of the new Reasoning through language arts, Mathematical reasoning, Science, and Social studies tests ... [and] will also give instructors techniques for motivating adult students, adding interdisciplinary topics to lessons, and facing the challenges of a computerized test"--Page 4 of cover.

Reading is the most basic of skills. Reading provides access to other skills andknowledge, facilitates life-long learning, and opens doors to opportunity. The NationalInstitute for Literacy is authorized by the U.S. Congress to collect and disseminateinformation on the components of reading and the findings from scientific research. TheNational Center for Family Literacy fully endorses the national emphasis on reading andthe efforts to promote scientifically based reading instruction for children and adults. Weoffer this resource for adult education teachers who want to build and strengthen adults'reading skills. We hope that adult education instructors in family literacy, Adult BasicEducation, and other basic skills programs will find it useful. We know that large numbers of adult learners need to improve their reading skills.And yet, many instructors in adult education programs do not teach reading explicitly forseveral reasons: The assessments used in most programs don't reveal the complexities of adults' reading needs. Teachers often have only fragmentary knowledge about reading instruction. Many have not had specific preparation in this area. Most classes include adults with extremely varied skills, making specifically targeted, individualized instruction difficult, if not impossible. Teachers are challenged to find ways to incorporate reading instruction into their regular classroom schedules, routines, and lessons. This book was written with these realities in mind. It aims first to build backgroundknowledge about reading and scientifically based reading instruction. The language andformat are "teacher friendly," using student and classroom illustrations and sampleinstructional activities to make research principles concrete for readers. The focus inapplying the research is on modeling thinking, planning, and problem solving in thecontext of fictional adult education settings. The student and class profiles in theseillustrations are based on actual assessment data from adult literacy research studies-a reminder to readers of this book that it is a practical resource for use with realadult learners. We titled this book "First Steps" because we know that no single resource canprovide all the answers-everything that's required to change practice. But we believethis is a valuable resource for a teacher's professional development journey. By buildinga basic understanding of research-based reading instruction and offering suggestionsfor starting off in the right direction, we hope to whet teachers' appetites forfurther learning. As teachers and programs become more capable of applying research-basedprinciples for reading assessment and instruction, the real winners should be adultlearners and their families. Improved literacy skills may allow these adults to takegiant steps in the journey of lifelong learning. We are privileged to play a part inthis important effort.

This is the first book to focus exclusively on an examination of early 21st-century adult reading aloud. The dominant contemporary image of reading in much of the world is that of a silent, solitary activity. This book challenges this dominant discourse, acknowledging the diversity of reading practices that adults perform or experience in different communities, languages, contexts and phases of our lives, outlining potential educational implications and next steps for literacy teaching and research. By documenting and analysing the diversity of oral reading practices that adults take part in (on- and offline), this book explores contemporary reading aloud as hugely varied, often invisible and yet quietly ubiquitous. Duncan discusses questions such as: What, where, how and why do adults read aloud, or listen to others reading? How do couples, families and groups use oral reading as a way of being together? When and why do adults read aloud at work? And why do some people read aloud in languages they may not speak or understand? This book is key reading for advanced students, researchers and scholars of literacy practices and literacy education within education, applied linguistics and related areas.

This is a research report on the findings of the Partnership in Reading project. Its aim was to identify and evaluate existing research in adult literacy reading instruction and provide a summary if scientifically based principles and practices. Topics covered include: * Emerging principles, trends, ideas and comments * Reading assessment profiles * Phonemic awareness and word analysis * Fluency * Vocabulary * Reading comprehension * Computer technology and ABE reading instruction.