New light on literacy and numeracy: summary report

This report is the latest in a series drawing on data from the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort studies, which have followed up individuals throughout their lives. The authors suggest that policy-makers should: find even more ways of raising adults’ awareness of their skills problems and the need for improvement (without such awareness, meeting Skills for Life [indexed at TD/IRD 88.171] targets for take-up of courses is likely to remain difficult, if not impossible, to achieve, the researchers believe); focus their attention on Entry Level groups, especially those at Entry Level 2 or below (this should not only involve encouraging participation in courses but acknowledging the highly disadvantaged contexts in which many of these adults live); [and] continue to support initiatives for young children and parents such as Sure Start and the various provisions advocated in Every Child Matters, such as family learning.

Published summary reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

An earlier report is indexed at TD/TNC 83.467. Show less