According to the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey (2014), millions of US adults need basic skills. Current adult education resources serve approximately 10% of these adults annually, leaving 30 million without participation. The deterrents and the solutions are pressing issues for policymakers and adult educators. VALUEUSA believed adults themselves could best answer questions on why they don’t participate and partnered with Research Allies for Lifelong Learning to evaluate deterrents and solutions – including use of technology – to boost participation.
VALUEUSA is a national non-profit organization committed to adult learner involvement and leadership. In 2017 and 2018 the CAPE research team surveyed the motivations of and conducted group interviews with 135 adults. Adults identified and prioritized deterrents, root causes, and solutions with researchers. Four reports with findings from these data, including a new 2020 report on support systems, inform adult educators and stakeholders and provide recommendations for outreach and retention.
CAPE Report 1 Deterrents and Solutions (2018)
CAPE Report 2 Motivation around Adult Education (2018)