Claire Aldenhuysen - History of Adult Education, 1990s

    The demand for adult learning increased in the 1990s due to a market shift from a manufacturing economy to a service- and information-based economy (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). The 1990s also saw a growth in globalization due to the liberalization of trade laws, resulting in individuals not only having to compete for jobs with other candidates locally, but worldwide (Bills, 2000). Additionally, the 1990s was a time of technological advancement. Though the internet had its origins in the early 1970s (Dennis & Kahn, 2020), it wasn’t until the early 1990s that widespread use of the World Wide Web became commonplace.

    The internet introduced the world to a completely new way of communicating, working, and learning. All of these factors combined resulted in a shift in importance from “natural resources and physical capital to human resources and human capital - that is, to the skills and abilities of the population” (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Furthermore, the 1990s saw the Baby Boomer generation reach middle age, resulting in a large workforce composed of individuals who were better educated than the generation before them and more open to lifelong learning opportunities (Valentine, 1997).

    Lastly, the 1990s saw an increase in opportunity for and benefits from continued adult education. Not only was there a marked economic return on obtaining higher education degrees (U.S. Department of Education, 2000), but the number of businesses providing on-the-job training opportunities increased (National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce, 1995). 

The decade of the 1990’s also saw an increased effort to improve adult literacy. The US Congress, US Department of Education, and adult education leaders saw a need to combine adult literacy programs with other forms of adult education (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). In September 1989, President George H. W. Bush and the 50 state governors convened at an Education Summit with the intention of setting educational goals for the nation (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). The National Goals were announced five months later in February 1990, including, for the first time, adult education: “By the year 2000, every adult in America will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship” (National Education Goals Panel, 1999). The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey was developed to satisfy the requirements set by the Adult Education Amendments of 1988. This survey was designed to assess the literacy skills of adults 16 years and older. The survey revealed a shocking 47% of the 13,600 adults surveyed scored at or below levels needed to function at a minimum standard of proficiency (Jenkins, L., & Baldi, S., 1999).   

The U.S. government continued to pursue a greater level of adult literacy for the American people. The National Literacy Act (P.L. 102-73) was signed by President George H.W. Bush on July 25, 1991. Its purpose was to “enhance the literacy and basic skills of adults, to ensure that all adults in the United States acquire the basic skills necessary to function effectively and achieve the greatest possible opportunity in their work and in their lives, and to strengthen and coordinate adult literacy programs” (National Literacy Act of 1991). The National Literacy Act called for the development of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL), which would be charged with “maintaining a national clearinghouse for literacy, providing technical assistance and training to adult education providers, fostering research-based activities that would identify and validate effective instructional practices, and disseminating information regarding those practices” (National Literacy Act, §102, §384, 1991).

Furthermore, the National Literacy Act provided grants to states to improve their capacity of literacy and service providers through either the improvement or establishment of State Literacy Resource Centers (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). These literacy and service providers would have the responsibility to serve adults with less than a high school education in their communities. In addition to literacy programs, the National Literacy Act provided funding for National Workforce Demonstration Programs for the first time (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). The funding for this program were designated to support “effective partnerships between education organization, business and industry, labor organizations, and private industry councils” and were intended to serve adults who sought improvement not only in literacy, but also adult basic skills, ESL programs, ABE preparation, and general support services, such as childcare and transportation (National Literacy Act, §202, §371, 1991). The Act also required states to allot 10% of their state funding specifically for corrections education, which would be utilized in programming designed to assist incarcerated individuals in basic literacy skills, ABE preparation, and transition into the community upon release (U.S. Department of Education, 2013).

All of the initiatives in the National Literacy Act were designed to improve adult educational opportunities throughout the United States. These programs were intended to not only resolve the issue of widespread illiteracy among adults, but to educate a workforce that sorely needed the professional development that was otherwise inaccessible or unavailable to them.  

In order to better understand the motivation behind adult education activities in the 1990s, the National Center for Education Statistics conducted three Adult Education surveys through the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Program (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). These surveys, conducted in 1991, 1995, and 1999, asked participants about six types of formal learning activities. The activities included: English as a Second Language (ESL), Adult Basic Education (GED classes), credential programs, apprenticeship programs, job- or career-related courses, and personal development courses. Respondents were asked to provide one main reason for their participation in the aforementioned activities, which were then coded into two categories: work-related (to improve, advance, or keep up to date on current job or train for a new job or career) and nonwork related (to improve basic literacy, math, or writing skills, or for a personal reason). 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that the percentage of surveyed adults participating in adult education increased from 33% to 46% from 1991 to 1999 (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). The NCES also collected data on participation based on sex, ethnicity, education level, labor force status, and occupation group of the participants, finding that both men and women participated in adult educational activities at a rate of 33% in 1991, but the end of the decade saw participation by women increase to 48% (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). 

For the purposes of these surveys, the NCES defined race in the following manner: non-Hispanic Blacks, non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, and All Other Race/Ethnic Groups. It was found that in 1991, 26% of non-Hispanic Blacks participated in adult educational activities, compared to 34% of non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, and All Other Race/Ethnic Groups. From  1991 to 1999, participation in adult education increased among non-Hispanic Whites (34 to 46 percent), non-Hispanic Blacks (26% to 48%), Hispanics (32% to 43%), and for the category comprising all other race/ethnic groups (34% to 51%).

The three NHES studies found a positive relationship between education level and participation in adult education, supporting evidence found in previous, similar studies (Kim et al., 1995; Valentine, 1997, as cited in Creighton & Hudson, 2002). For those with less than a high school diploma, participation rates increased from 13% to 22% over the course of the decade; from 24% to 36% for those with a high school diploma, from 42% to 54% for those with some college education, and from 54% to 64% for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher (Creighton & Hudson, 2002).  

The researchers also discovered a significantly higher participation rate in adult educational programs by those employed full time (45%) at the beginning of the decade. By comparison, part time workers (34%), the unemployed (27%), retirees (9%), and those otherwise not in the labor force (22%) were all participating at a much lower rate. However, by 1999, the rates increased for each category anywhere from 9% to 22% (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). 

Lastly, the researchers found an initially higher percentage of those in professional and managerial jobs (65%) participating in adult education, followed by those in sales, service, and support positions (36%), and finally those in trade occupations (29%). From 1991 to 1999, those in professional and managerial jobs saw only a small increase of 1%, but the other two categories saw a much more significant increase in participation (50% for sales, service, and support and 38% for those in trade occupations). 

This data shows that during the 1990s, there was significant growth and an overall increase in participation in adult education for every almost category surveyed. This was most likely due to the proliferation of options available to adult learners, including formal educational programs, ESL courses, ABE preparation, apprentice programs, and more.

Unfortunately, the trio of surveys conducted by the NCES were not identical throughout the decade, with the 1991 survey instrument neglecting to allow comparisons for the patterns of participation in specific types of adult education activities (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). However, the NCES was able to collect and compare data for 1995 and 1999 regarding participation patterns and trends amongst those surveyed.

   The NCES surveys for 1995 and 1999 found that the most popular adult education activities were work-related courses and nonwork-related courses (20%), followed by credential programs (10%), and lastly by the three remaining categories of ESL, ABE, and apprenticeship programs (1-2%) (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). According to Creighton and Hudson (2002), the low participation rate for the latter three categories was due to the fact that these types of educational opportunities are targeted to a more restricted group of adults than other forms of adult education.  

Over the course of the latter half of the decade, participation in all adult education activities increased from 42% to 46%, reflecting growth in most types of adult education, except for ESL programs and work-related courses (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Creighton and Hudson (2002) posit that there are at least two reasons ESL programs did not see an increase in participation rates. First is due to the limited time period surveyed; four years may not be enough time to see the formation of a trend. Secondly, the NHES Adult Education Surveys were only conducted in Spanish and English, thereby excluding any adults who did not speak either language from participating.    

    The data collected in regard to participation in work-related and nonwork-related courses found that participation rates for work-related courses were the highest among middle-aged adults, while nonwork-related courses were generally constant except for the oldest group of adults (Creighton & Hudson, 2002). Participation rates were found in increase with both education level and occupational status for both categories, supporting evidence found by other studies that “employers are more likely to provide training to better educated and professional workers than to other workers” (Creighton & Hudson, 2002; Lynch and Black, 1996; Training Magazine, 1997; Frazis et al, 1998). 

The 1990s was a decade of change. Not only was globalization the rise, but the advent of new technologies, like the Internet, necessitated the development of new adult educational opportunities. Not only that, but demand for adult education increased among workers across the board, from individuals in professional roles to those holding trade occupations. People saw the need for improving their on-the-job skills, whether it was to compete in a global market, to make themselves more marketable for internal promotions, or to fulfill personal aspirations. Fortunately, the U.S. government saw this desire for self improvement and acted upon it, passing legislation to enable workers to access adult education resources more easily than ever before. Research conducted over the following decade showed that individuals maintained their interest in professional development as more and more opportunities presented themselves. 

Area	Summary
Social Background	globalization, World Wide Web, Baby Boomers, emphasis on human capital vs. natural resources, widespread illiteracy among adults, desire for self improvement (professional, academic, and personal)
Highlights	new opportunities for adult education, distance learning, upward mobility, establishment of State Literacy Resource Centers
Influential Factors	Education Summit (1989), National Goals (1990), 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey, National Household Education Surveys Program, The National Literacy Act (P.L. 102-73), National Workforce Demonstration Programs, funding for corrections education
Implications	Preparation for globalization, self-improvement, upward mobility, mastery of new skills (particularly in technology), government support of nonformal and formal adult education

Table 1: Summary of Adult Education in America (1990 – 1999)

References: 

Bills, D. (2000). Social, Demographic, Economic, and Technological Trends Affecting Lifelong Learning. Lifelong Learning NCES Task Force: Final Report, Volume II (NCES 2000–16b).

 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C. 

Creighton, Sean & Hudson, Lisa (2002). Participation Trends and Patterns in Adult Education: 1991 to 1999. NCES 2002-119. 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002119.pdf

Dennis, Michael Aaron and Kahn, Robert. Internet. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/Internet. 

Frazis, H., Gittleman, M., Horrigan, M., and Joyce, M. 1998. Results from the 1995 Survey of Employer Provided Training. Monthly Labor Review, June, 121(6): 3–13.

Jenkins, L., & Baldi, S. (1999). The National Adult Literacy Survey: An overview. Washington,

DC: National Center for Health Statistics. p. 10. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001457_1.pdf   

Lynch, L.M. and Black, S.E. 1996. Beyond the Incidence of Training: Evidence from a National Employer Survey (EQW WP35). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.

National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce. 1995. First Findings from the EQW National Employer Survey (EQW RE01). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.

National Education Goals Panel. (1999). The National Education Goals report: Building a nation

of learners, 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/reports/99rpt.pdf 

National Literacy Act of 1991, H.R. 751 https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/house-bill/751 

Training Magazine. 1997. Industry Report 1997. Training Magazine, 34(10): 33–75.

U.S. Department of Education. 2000. The Condition of Education 2000 (NCES 2000–062). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, An American Heritage—Federal Adult Education: A Legislative History 1964-2013, Washington, DC, 2013. 

Valentine, T. (1997). United States of America: The Current Predominance of Learning for the Job. In P. Belanger and S. Valdivielso (Eds.), The Emergence of Learning Societies: Who Participates in Adult Learning. New York: Elsevier.

Jayne Rohlfing – History of Adult Education: 1970s

Name	Commented
Jayne Rohlfing	Ashten Lail, Josie Campbell, La Tanya Robinson, Claire Aldenhuysen

History of Adult Education in the 1970s: Social Background

To first understand adult education in the 1970s one must first have an overview of the social background of that decade. However, it would be hard to talk about the 1970s without first mentioning the social and political climate of the 1960s. Throughout the 1960s, grass-roots organizers staged protests, marches, and sit-ins bringing light to racial inequality in the United States. The modern-day civil rights movement began in the 1950s but gained momentum throughout the 1960s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the beginning of federal legislation that “guaranteed equal employment for all, limited the use of voter literacy tests and allowed federal authorities to ensure public facilities were integrated” (History.com Editors, 2020). Unfortunately, this did not immediately solve the social dichotomy at the time. What would often begin as a peaceful protest in recognizing racial inequality would often turn violent and deadly due to racism, discrimination, and bigotry. Protests also took shape in the form of opposition to the Vietnam War. As the war raged on throughout the 1960s, the American public became increasingly frustrated and distrusted the government and its continued involvement with the war (History.com Editors, 2019). 

The 1970s, in many ways, was a continuation of the 1960s. The turbulence increased in the form of riots and protests as Americans continued their fight for equality for all people regardless of race, gender, and sexual orientation. As the war in Vietnam dragged on into the 1970s, more Americans joined the opposition staging anti-war protests that sometimes turned deadly as in the case of the Kent State police shootings against protesters. Women sought greater representation for equal rights in the constitution with the Equal Rights Amendment. What looked to be a landslide vote in favor of the amendment in 1972 turned into a disappointing defeat. “Disappointments like these encouraged many women’s rights activists to turn away from politics. They began to build feminist communities and organizations of their own: art galleries and bookstores, consciousness-raising groups, daycare, and women’s health collectives” (History.com Editors, 2019). It was another way that a grass-roots movement could help champion a cause for those who felt disenfranchised from their government. With President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, the oil embargo, high unemployment rates, and inflation, many people’s faith in the federal government was undermined. “By the end of the decade, these divisions and disappointments had set a tone for public life that many would argue is still with us today” (History.com Editors, 2019). 

History of Adult Education in the 1970s: Highlights

Just as it would be hard to discuss the social and political climate of the 1970s without first consulting the 1960s, the same is true about adult education. One aspect that led legislative responses “to previously neglected educational and training needs of poor, unemployed, unskilled, and undereducated adults” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013, p.7) was the civil rights movement as it brought light to social, political and economic discrimination along with highlighting racial and gender inequality (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013). Millions of dollars for adult education became available in a series of legislative acts in the 1960s.   

These acts, Manpower and Development Act of 1962, Vocational Education Act of 1963, Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Adult Education Act of 1966, greatly animated adult education as a field of practice and as a field of study (Agyekum & Long, 1974, p. 99-100).

President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced legislation to help stop what he termed during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964, the War on Poverty. Johnson stated, "Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it" (2007/1964). From that speech, the United States Congress would then go on to pass the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA). The EOA set aside federal funding to establish “a variety of social programs aimed at facilitating education, health, employment, and general welfare for impoverished Americans” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020). The EOA was the catalyst in highlighting the need for adult education programs with the addition of the Adult Basic Education (ABE) program passed as Title IIB which recognized education as a component to improving employment and general welfare (Rose, 1991). 

This program sought to remedy the inequities of educational disadvantage by offering persons 18 years of age and older the opportunity to develop reading, writing, language, and arithmetic skills to enable them to obtain or retain employment and otherwise participate more fully as productive and responsible citizens (Ulin, 1976, p.11).

By 1966, Title IIB became part of Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), also known as the Adult Education Act (AEA) of 1966. The revised AEA would solidify federal support for continuing adult education (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013). “The passage of this act has been hailed as a landmark piece of legislation. For adult educators, it marked the first time that the federal government became involved in adult education for other than training” (Rose, 1992). Community leaders from the National Association for Public School Adult Education hoped the AEA would allow for more mainstream education services within adult education (ERIC Clearinghouse, 1991).

Throughout the 1970s, the AEA was amended multiple times. In 1972 sections were added “authorizing grants for pilot demonstration projects, programs for high school equivalency, and programs to improve employment and educational opportunities for adult Native Americans (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013, p.14). Later amendments included sections on grant funding for bilingual adult education, teacher training, institutionalized adults, and the elderly.

In 1970, the legislative mandate expanded from proficiency in basic skills to high school completion, reflecting the need for Federal support of GED programs in states. Throughout the 1970s, states expanded their basic education efforts. Some developed significant political and financial support. At the national level, the Adult Performance Level (APL) Project, conducted from 1971 to 1976, identified levels of adult functional competence as an alternative to school-based measures of literacy and recommended competency-based approaches to assessment and programming. In 1978, the Adult Education Act amendments added, as the program’s goal, to enable "all adults to acquire basic skills necessary to function in society" (ERIC Clearinghouse, 1991).

History of Adult Education in the 1970s: Influential Factors

The focus of lifting adults out of poverty by teaching them to be literate was a path devoted to basic adult education programs and a motivator for many adult educators. However, the practicality of effectively teaching adult learners was discussed among federal and state directors and communities of professional adult educators and thinkers. Under section 309 of the AEA, provision was given for the 309 projects which allowed for teacher training and promoted innovation with special projects. According to Eugene Radwin, “The 309 program played an important role in innovations, recruitment, instructional materials, and teaching strategies, and it demonstrated how active Federal officials could boost state and local practices and policies” (1984). One of those officials instrumental in influencing and molding the 309 programs was Paul Delkner, the Director of the US Department of Education Division of Adult Education from 1967-1986 (Rose, 1991). In Delkner’s eyes, adult basic education was "a powerful tool for social change" and offered a means for helping people "become more self-reliant, more fully human, and better equipped for [. . .] participation in a rapidly changing society" (Radwin, 1984, p.8). Because of Delkner’s views on social change, the division took on more of an activist role in their decision making for funding proposals. According to Radwin, as reported by Rose, 

This was especially clear in decisions concerning the South, where black institutions and communities were often not included in proposals or (because of local stipulations) were prevented from submitting their own proposals, Delker sought ways to make exceptions to local restrictions, such as state regulations on local matching funds (Rose, 1991, p. 20-21). 

Another influential adult educator in the 1970s was Columbia University Teachers College professor, Jack Mezirow. In 1975 Mezirow, along with Gordon Darkenwald Alan Knox, wrote Last Gamble on Education, which pointed out evidence that community organizations were an essential factor in successful adult education programs. This lead to legislative change that allowed nonpublic school institutions to receive grant money (Radwin, 1984). In 1978 Mezirow wrote an academic paper titled Education for Perspective Transformation: Women's Re-Entry Programs in Community Colleges discussing the experience of mid-life women returning to college, which was rare in the 1970s. This study would become the basis for his transformative learning theory, which was influential in teaching adult learners. Joe Levine notes in an article about Mezirow that Mezirow himself described transformative learning as “a critical dimension of learning in adulthood that enables us to recognize and reassess the structure of assumptions and expectations which frame our thinking, feeling and acting” (2014). Levine states, “The theory has helped trigger sweeping changes and ongoing debate on fronts ranging from social activism to graduate and adult education, to human resources development” (2014).   

American adult educator Malcolm S. Knowles influenced adult education by adopting the theory of andragogy (the study of adult learning) and making four assumptions about adult learners’ characteristics in his 1973 book, The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species. These characteristics were:

1. Changes in self-concept: This assumption is that as a person grows and matures his self-concept moves from one of total dependency (as is the reality of the infant) to one of increasing self-directedness.
2. The role of experience: This assumption is that as an individual matures he accumulates an expanding reservoir of experience that causes him to become an increasingly rich resource for learning, and at the same time provides him with a broadening base to which to relate new learnings. 
3. Readiness to learn: This assumption is that as an individual matures, his readiness to learn is decreasingly the product of his biological development and academic pressure and is increasingly the product of the developmental tasks required for the performance of his evolving social roles. 
4. Orientation to learning: This assumption is that children have been conditioned to have a subject-centered orientation to most learning, whereas adults tend to have a problem-centered orientation to learning. (p.45-47)

Knowles’s 1973 book also gave adult educators resources for teaching adults. In Table 4.1 of his book, Knowles lists the “Role of the Teacher” and provides examples of “Conditions for Learning” and “Principles of Teaching” in relation to those conditions (p. 70-72). Knowles would go on to write more than 200 books and articles that would continue to influence adult educators in the study of adult learning. Some popular points of impact were his adult learning principles, Humanist Learning Theory, and his emphasis on self-directed learners. 

History of Adult Education in the 1970s: Implications

This first decade of the Adult Education Act was a time when people conducted impactful work. From the White House to Congress to federal officials to adult educators to the state and local learning environments, lives were changed through a common passion for adult education (U.S. Department of Education, 2013, p.15).

 Thanks to the civil rights movement and the dedication of civic leaders in the 1960s and 1970s, adult education saw a boost in awareness. The Adult Education Act of 1966 would be influential in appropriating funds to state-level adult education programs. This act would go on to highlight the need to bring education to underprivileged adults in hopes of drawing them out of poverty. One of the significant impacts of the AEA can be seen in enrollment statistics. According to Ulin, enrollment in adult education programs increased from close to 38,000 in 1965 to nearly one million students in 1974 (1976). Programs such as ABE, English as a Second Language, and ASE saw total enrollments of 11 million students throughout the 1970s. The value of education in the government’s eyes was visible by the 24 percent increase in the 1979 education budget from the following year, which earmarked over $90,000,000 for adult education. President Jimmy Carter also established the Department of Education in 1979 (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). Awareness and grant money meant that education was no longer just for the rich, and 11 million more students during the 1970s were better off because of that raised awareness. Adult education professors and theorists such as Mezirow and Knowles gave educators a framework to study adult learners and how best to teach them. These are theories that are still discussed and put into practice by educators almost 50 years later. As teachers and scholars continue to study the history of adult education and learn from its roots, Ulin points out, “The writing of the history of a political and cultural movement such as public adult education can never be finished. It is an ongoing process of explaining our past and ourselves” (1976, p.40).

Area	Summary
Social Background	Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, War on Poverty, government distrust, grass-roots organizations, unemployment and high inflation
Highlights	Adult Education Act of 1966 and following amendments in the 1970s raised awareness and funding for adult education
Influential Factors	Civil Rights Movement, Section 309 of the AEA, Paul Delkner, Jack Mezirow, Malcolm Knowles
Implications	Government funding increases, student enrollment increases, support for adult education programs

References

Agyekum, S. K., & Long, H. B. (1974). Adult education 1964-1973: Reflections of a changing discipline. Adult Education Quarterly, 24(2), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/074171367402400202 

ERIC Clearinghouse. (1991, July 25). History of the adult education act: An overview. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/anniv40/silver-a.pdf

History.com Editors. (2019, October 11). The 1970s. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/1970s/1970s-1

History.com Editors. (2020, June 23). Civil rights movement. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement

Johnson, L. B. (2007). Annual message to the congress on the state of the union. [Speech transcript]. LBJ Presidential Library. Retrieved from http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/selected-speeches/november-1963-1964/01-08-1964.html (Original work published 1964)

Levine, J. (2014, October 11). Jack Mezirow, who transformed the field of adult learning, dies at 91. Teachers College, Columbia University. https://www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2014/october/jack-mezirow-who-transformed-the-field-of-adult-learning-d/

Radwin, E. (1984). Promoting innovation and controvemy in adult basic education: Section 309 of the adult education act. San Francisco: National Adult Literacy Project, Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development; Andover, MA: Network of Innovative Schools, Inc. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 253 774). 

Rose, A. D. (1991). Ends or means: An overview of the history of the adult education act (346). ERIC. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.627.914&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Rose, A. D. (1992). 25 years: The adult education act. Adult Learning, 3(4), 21-23. doi:10.1177/104515959200300409

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020, August 14). The economic opportunity act. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Economic-Opportunity-Act

Ulin, J. K. (1976). The adult education act, 1964-1974 : An historical perspective. District of Columbia: National Advisory Council on Adult Education, 1976.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (2013). An American heritage—federal adult education: A legislative history 1964-2013. Retrieved from https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/Adult_Ed_History_Report.pdf