Adult Education

According to a recent national survey, nearly 90 million adults in the United States have difficulty writing a letter explaining an error on a credit card bill, using a bus schedule, or calculating the difference between the regular and sale price of an item. To address these deficient literary skills, Congress passed the Adult Education Act, which funds state programs to help adults acquire the basic skills needed for literate functioning, benefit from job training, and continue their education at least through high school. The most common types of instruction funded under the act's largest program--the State Grant Program--are basic education (for adults functioning below the eighth grade level), secondary education, and English as a second language. Because many clients of federal employment training programs need instruction provided by the State Grant Program, coordination among these programs is essential. Although the State Grant Program funds programs that address the educational needs of millions of adults, it has had difficulty ensuring accountability for results because of a lack of clearly defined program objectives, questionable validity of adult student assessments, and poor student data.

GAO found that: (1) AEA goals are broad so that people with diverse backgrounds can have access to various types of educational instruction; (2) the most common programs funded under the State Grant Program include basic education, secondary education, and english as a second language programs; (3) the State Grant Program has had difficulty ensuring accountability for program results due to a lack of clearly defined program objectives, questionable adult student assessments, and poor student data; (4) coordination among the State Grant Program and federal employment training programs is essential, since many individuals need instruction provided by both of these programs; and (5) some experts disagree whether developing model indicators of program quality will help states define measurable program objectives, evaluate local programs, and collect more accurate data.