| Below is a glossary of common terms used in this web site. |
Glossary
|
Description |
| ABE | Adult basic education |
| Academic Literacy | Reading, writing and higher order thinking in school subject areas: health, English as a second language, maths, science, technology, engineering, native language literature, etc. Intended for fluent readers. |
| Accelerated learning | Combining adult learning theory and whole brain learning theory in the learning environment to achieve a faster learning rate |
| Access to education | The right to obtain, make use of, or take advantage of educational opportunities |
| ACCU | Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO |
| Adult basic education | The education of adults in the areas of primary knowledge such as literacy and numeracy, of social and life skills, and of understanding of community life necessary to responsible participation in society |
| Adults | Persons approximately 18 years of age or older; used here to describe projects or research where all adults (as distinct from children, women, and women and girls) are the primary target population |
| Advocacy | Support of an idea and education of others about that idea |
| ALMA | Adult Literacy Media Alliance |
| Assessment | Any activity that measures a learner's ability and/or achievement |
| Assessment tool | Any method or protocol for measuring a learner's ability and/or achievement |
| Audio-visual materials | Audio-visual materials convey information mainly via sound and image instead of by texts |
| Basic literacy | Issues related to learning to read and write in formal and informal settings in both monolingual and bilingual contexts. Intended for beginning readers.
|
| BFI | Bridges to the Future Initiative India |
| Bi-literacy | The ability to read and write in more than one language |
| Books | A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers; used here to describe projects or research that feature the use of books or book distribution |
| BTL | Breakthrough to Literacy |
| CAII | Creative Associates International Inc. |
| Capacity building | Activities that increase an individual's, population's or community's ability for growth, development, or accomplishment |
| Case study | An intensive analysis of an individual unit (as a person or community) stressing development factors in relation to environment |
| CEDPA | Centre for Development and Population Activities |
| Children | Persons under 18 years of age; used here to describe projects or research where both boys and girls (as distinct from adults, women, or girls alone) are the primary target population |
| CIE | Center for International Education |
| Community based literacy program | A program in which most of the initiative and most of the decision-making responsibility for the program resides at the community level |
| Community participation | The creation of opportunities to enable all members of a community to actively participate |
| Computer literacy | Possession of the skills and knowledge necessary for operating a computer |
| Curriculum | A course of study that consists of select bodies of knowledge, organized into a planned sequence, that are conveyed by educational institutions, primarily schools, to facilitate the interaction of educators and learners; a resource type that includes curriculum materials |
| Curriculum development | Producing the course of study, including goals, content, learning materials and activities. |
| DC/SLA | Special Libraries Association Washington D.C. Chapter |
| Decentralization | Transfer of power from central to local authority |
| Early reading | Reading instruction or reading skills for children of pre-school through third grade age |
| EDC | Education Development Center |
| Educational policy | Strategies about the way that educational provision should be implemented, or the functions that it should serve; policy can be formulated at either the national or local level |
| Educational television | The transmission of teaching material by television |
| Educational theory | The body of accepted knowledge about education |
| English as a second language | Teaching English to people who do not speak, read, or write English |
| ESL | English as a second language |
| ESRA | Education Sector Reform Assistance |
| Everyday Life and Work Literacy | Functional reading and writing for personal, civic, and economic purposes in formal and informal settings in both monolingual and bilingual contexts. Intended for post-beginning readers. |
| FACE | Family and Child Education |
| Family literacy | Organized educational programs that combine learning by a parent or other family members alongside that of his/her child |
| FCRR | Florida Center for Reading Research |
| FHI | Family Health International |
| Formal education | Hierarchically structured system which extends inclusively from elementary to postsecondary education |
| Freire model | The Freirean approach to adult literacy education, named for the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, bases the content of language lessons on learners' cultural and personal experiences |
| Functional literacy | Minimal level of reading and writing skills that allows an individual to cope with everyday life and contribute to society in a meaningful way |
| GED | General Educational Development |
| Gender discrimination | Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of socially constructed gender roles and norms which prevents a person from enjoying full human rights |
| General Educational Development (GED) | An examination-based credential that certifies the acquisition of certain levels of knowledge in five areas: mathematics, writing, reading, social studies, and science |
| Girls | Females under the age of 18; used here to describe projects or research where girls, rather than boys and girls together, or women and girls together, are the primary target population |
| HEAL | Health Education and Adult Literacy |
| Health and literacy | The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions |
| ICT | Information and communcations technology |
| IDEA | Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement |
| ILP | Intergenerational Literacy Project |
| Information and communications techology | The technology required for information managing and processing, particularly the use of computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit and retrieve information from anywhere, anytime |
| Information literacy | A set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information |
| Instructional methods | Methods for the delivery of information to enable learning; the process by which knowledge and skills are transferred to students |
| Integrated learning | A planned use of a number of different approaches to learning and modes of delivering teaching in order to achieve specified learning outcomes |
| Job skills | Skills required to cope successfully in the workplace |
| Laubach method | The Laubach model of literacy, originated by Frank C. Laubach, is a method of teaching adults to read and write in their own language, primarily using a "bottom-up" reading model, based on phonics and on an emphasis on part-to-whole processing of a text |
| LCEP | Literacy and Community Empowerment Program |
| LD | Learning disabilities |
| Learning disabilities | Heterogeneous group of disorders due to identifiable or inferred central nervous system dysfunction which impede the process of learning |
| LFA | Learning First Alliance |
| LfL | Learning for Life |
| Life skills | Skills necessary to life, and that help people interact successfully in the context of social living: self, family, use of leisure time, and work |
| Literacy and economic growth | The relationship between the literacy skill level of a country's population and its economic growth |
| Literacy statistics | Data about the literacy rate or about literacy levels in a particular area, country, or the world |
| Livelihood | Means of living or sustenance |
| Materials design and development | The process of conceiving, planning, and producing materials used in the teaching and learning process |
| MEPI | ab Middle East Partnership Initiative |
| Microenterprises | A very small-scale, informally organized business activity undertaken by poor people; excludes crop production by convention |
| Motivation | Stimulus, inducement, incentive, cause, or reason for why a person would join or stay in a literacy program; used here to describe a resource that specifically addresses or resolves issues of student motivation |
| NAAL | National Assessment of Adult Literacy |
| NCAL/ILI | National Center on Adult Literacy/International Literacy Institute |
| NCES | National Center for Education Statistics |
| NCFL | National Center for Family Literacy |
| NCLD | National Center for Learning Disabilities |
| NCSALL | National Center for Adult Literacy |
| NFE | ab Nonformal education |
| NGO | Nongovernmental organization |
| NIFL | National Institute for Literacy |
| Nonformal education | Learning activities typically organized outside the formal education system; in different contexts, non-formal education covers educational activities aimed at imparting adult literacy, basic education for out-of-school children and youth, life skills, work skills, and general culture |
| Numeracy | Ability and skills to understand and use numbers as a means of communication |
| Outcomes | Results or consequences; used to describe resources indicating actual results obtained |
| PALS | Peer-assisted Learning Strategies |
| PALS | Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening |
| Parent education | Training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children; parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency; a part of family literacy programs |
| Participatory learning | Programs designed on the basis of the learner's experiences, background, interests, etc. |
| PCVs | ab Peace Corps volunteers |
| PFR | Partnership for Reading |
| Post-literacy | Programs designed for new readers and aiming at increasing literacy retention while facilitating skill transfer |
| Preliteracy | Referring to a culture not having or leaving a written record; or, referring to a child, usually before entering school or in kindergarten, who has not yet learned to read |
| Preschool | Programmes at the initial stage of organized instruction, primarily designed to introduce very young children, aged at least 3 years, to a school-type environment and provide a bridge between home and school |
| Program administration | The processes by which a program is managed, including its staff, physical plant, supplies and materials, budget, reporting, funding, partnerships, management structure, etc. |
| Program evaluation | Process of identifying the effects and judging the effectiveness of a learning experience (e.g., a lesson) or context (e.g., a program or an institution) |
| Program planning and design | The study and practice of designing, implementing, and evaluation of programs |
| REACH | ab Rural Extension of Afghanistan's Community-Based Health care system |
| REFLECT | ab ab Regenerated Freirean literacy through empowering community techniques |
| REFLECT | An approach to adult learning and social change, based on Freirean principles, developed by ActionAid, a British NGO |
| Research | Systemic investigation into and study of materials, sources, etc., in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions |
| Research based practices | Practices that research evidence has shown are effective in improving student performance |
| RIF | Reading is Fundamental |
| RIFLI | Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative |
| ROR | Reach Out and Read |
| RTI | Research Triangle Institute |
| Rural populations | People who live in agricultural villages |
| SBEP | Sudan Basic Education Program |
| Scientific and technical literacy | The skills and knowledge needed to perform scientific and technical tasks and use technology tools |
| Self-directed learning | Learning initiated and directed by the learner, either for leisure learning, or as a result of being informed that additional knowledge is needed for a job or for school |
| SIM | Strategic Instruction Model |
| Social change | The structural change in society |
| Standards | An established norm against which measurements are compared; describes the criterion or standards of performance which must be attained |
| Sustainable development | Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs |
| Teacher training | The systematic process of developing knowledge, skills, and attitudes for current or future jobs |
| Teaching and instructional materials | All materials used in the teaching and learning process that aid in the transmission or acquisition of knowledge and skills |
| Teaching methods | Ways of presenting instructional materials or conducting instructional activities |
| Theoretical models | A representation, in words or graphic images, that sets out a cause and effect relationship |
| WEP | ab ab Women's empowerment program |
| Women | Females approximately 18 years of age or older; used here to describe projects or research where women as a group, distinct from other adults and from children, are the primary target population |
| Women and girls | All females of any age; used here to describe projects or research where women and girls collectively are the primary target population |
| Women's empowerment program | A program that is focused on the provision of skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to help women overcome their feelings of helplessness, and enable them to act effectively within mainstream society |
| YALLE | Yemen Adult Life-skills Literacy Education Project |
