Introduction

"I wish I had time to fill out this job application today. But I'm in a sort of rush.
How about if I bring it back to you tomorrow?"

"I'm embarrassed that my handwriting is so bad.
Could you give me a minute and fill out this form for me?"

"My friends are lifesavers. They helped me fill out all the school enrollment forms.
I don't know what I'd do without friends."

"I read to my child in Spanish, but I would also like to be able to read to him in English."

These comments are clues to the secret that many adult Georgians hide deep within. Their secret goes with them everywhere and influences much of what they do. Day in, day out, these adults live with the challenge of low literacy.

People with adequate literacy skills can hardly imagine how different the world is when you don't have the reading, writing, speaking, computing, and problem solving skills to function in your job, and to develop your knowledge and potential. Imagine the frustration parents feel when they cannot keep up with the homework assignments of their children as they progress through elementary school. Although they are competent employees, heavily involved in their church, volunteer regularly in their community, and budget the family's monthly income, the literacy demands of parenting are beginning to outrun their current skills.

Low literacy strongly affects many Georgians' economic development and quality of life. Few low-literate adults are now being served by programs designed to help them develop the skills they need. And the research to understand the problems of low-literate adults and to help them in meaningful, cost-effective ways continues to be sparse.

Various programs have been established to help adults in Georgia to gain more control of their lives and their futures by helping them to enhance their literacy skills. At Georgia State University, the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy (CSAL) was initiated in 1988 by the Board of Regents to study and document literacy programs across the state.

The story of CSAL encompasses lengthy struggles and impressive achievements. Begun with modest goals, the Center has expanded its scope to include more segments of Georgia's population and more types of literacy programs. During its life, CSAL has engaged several hundred faculty, staff, and students from Georgia State, as well as dozens of other people from outside the university, in seeking to understand and promote literacy in children and adults.

As time has passed, CSAL's mission and goals have grown. The current goals of CSAL focus on

Developing a broad-based program of interdisciplinary literacy research
Providing information and resources for the adult literacy community
Exploring a focus on women and literacy
Reflecting on the efforts of CSAL.

Ideally, CSAL's efforts would always have been adequately funded. However, from its inception CSAL has sought external financial support for its many projects that affect both children and adults, as well as a range of socioeconomic groups. Over the years, the Center has received funding from a variety of federal, state, and private foundation/company sources, as shown in the figure above.

Successful in supporting numerous outreach efforts, CSAL has evaluated programs that examine literacy in a variety of contexts: the workplace, the family, the home, community, school, and second-language populations. Programs in which CSAL is involved have also focused on the relationship between literacy and health care, and family literacy services. CSAL has encouraged collaboration among faculty and students seeking answers to literacy questions. The Center also supports the development of journal articles, books and book chapters, monographs, reports, manuals, and workshops and speeches at professional conferences.