Making Sense of the Shapes: What Do We Know About Literacy Learning in Adulthood?

Jenny Aker, James Berry and Melita Sawyer
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Jenny Aker: The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Melita Sawyer: The Fletcher School, Tufts University

No 643, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: Approximately 770 million adults worldwide are classified as illiterate, with women and individuals in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia bearing the heaviest burden of illiteracy. Despite the potential for adult education programs to bridge this gap, as well as decades of investment, such programs are often plagued by low enrollment, high dropout, and limited skills acquisition. While there is a relative paucity of economic research on adult learning as compared with primary and secondary schooling interventions, recent research in educational neuroscience and economics offers some insights into addressing the barriers to adult learning and some potential ways forward.

Keywords: Adult education; returns to education; human capital investment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 O33 Q16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2023-04-28
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Journal Article: Making sense of the shapes: What do we know about literacy learning in adulthood? (2024)
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