Elizabeth Tighe

In this project, the researchers will explore the prevalence and nature of the challenges adults with low foundational skills (reading, numeracy) may face when engaging with digital assessments relative to adults with higher foundational skills. Adults with low foundational skills account for a sizable and non-ignorable proportion of the U.S. population, and the percent of adults who also have low digital skills is also significant. According to a 2019 NCES report, roughly 64 percent of U.S....

This research team will refine and pilot test a curriculum for use in adult education U.S. history/civics and integrated English courses. Many adult education centers offer integrated English literacy and civics education classes to help adults develop English proficiency, build their knowledge of U.S. history and civics, and work towards accomplishing their goals, such as participating more fully in their communities and citizenship. However, adult education programs do not have theory- or ...

The purpose of this project is to understand how adults with low basic skills (literacy and numeracy) interact with digital assessments to tease apart the roles of low basic skills, fluency with digital tools, and assessment design. What the research team learns will inform the development and use of digital assessments with these adults. According to a recent NCES report, roughly 19 percent of U.S. adults perform at or below basic literacy skills, and 29 percent perform at or below basic nu...

The focus of this training program is to prepare postdoctoral fellows to conduct education research in adult literacy.

The purpose of this project was to explore a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults with low reading skills to identify factors that may predict literacy performance. According to the 2017 PIAAC report, roughly 1 in 5 (19 percent) of U.S. adults read at or below basic levels. This group has inherent heterogeneity, but there may also be commonalities that practitioners or policymakers could leveraged to help improve instruction or other interventions. In this study, the researchers e...