Adult Learner Participation & Outcome: A Comparison Study Between the Community ABE/GED Program and Family Literacy Program in Two Countries: Do Different Strategies Yield Different Results?
Open Access
- Author:
- Koomson, William Kofi
- Graduate Program:
- Adult Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- March 28, 2006
- Committee Members:
- Eunice May Askov, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Derek Mulenga, Committee Member
Ladislaus M Semali, Committee Member
Jonna Marie Kulikowich, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Comparison Study
Community ABE/GED
Social Capital
Even Start Family Literacy Programs - Abstract:
- One of the major criticisms of adult basic and literacy education programs in the United States is that students from the Even Start family literacy programs as compared to the Community ABE/GED programs are not performing differently. There was no specific empirical study that compared Even Start family literacy programs with the Community ABE/GED programs. It was the purpose of this study, therefore, to investigate the relationship between adult learner participation and outcome, and a comparison study between Community ABE/GED programs and Even Start family literacy programs in Pennsylvania. This study further compared the results from the Even Start family literacy programs to a similar program (family learning) in Lancashire, UK. This study analyzed the effects of human capital investment in conjunction with social capital development. Whereas physical capital refers to physical objects and human capital refers to the properties of individuals, social capital refers to connections among individuals and their social networks. The intent of this study was to provide empirical evidence that outcomes from standardized achievement tests (like the TABE, CASAS, and GED) reflect the impacts of social capital acquired through participating in family literacy programs. Family literacy programs emphasize active learning through social interaction, which promotes bonding and bridging social capital and that participating in the Even Start family literacy programs enhance learners’ achievement scores. The sample for this study was taken from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Adult Basic Education (ABLE). The sample consisted of 7,397 adult basic education students from both the Community ABE/GED and family literacy programs. More than half of the student population from the sample were female and ethnic background of students were majority Caucasian, followed by African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific islanders. Overall, students’ performance according to this study was within the acceptable norm of the National Reporting System benchmarks. This study confirmed previous analyses (using Hierarchical Linear Modeling) that communities make a difference in student achievements in adult basic and literacy educations. Initial hypothesis tested in this study indicated that there was association between persistence and duration of instruction in the adult basic and literacy education programs and that the strength of the association was significant. Further hypothesis tested in this study also affirmed the major research question and the theoretical frame that family literacy programs with high bonding and bridging social capital also have higher leaner achievement test scores than Community ABE/GED programs. Finally, the study indicated that though differences existed between the U.S. and the UK programs, both programs made similar progress towards social capital acquisition.