Recruitment Issues and Strategies for Adults Who Are Not Currently Participating in Literacy and Adult Basic Education (ABE) Programs.
Adult basic education (ABE) and literacy programs have used many different strategies and tools to recruit new students. A small sampling of Tennessee ABE programs shows the more effective recruitment strategies are word-of-mouth referrals; newspaper advertisements and articles; fliers; brochures; posters, radio messages, and public service announcements; and outdoor signs and billboards. Other issues that influence recruitment of adult learners are motivation (including oblivious, uninvolved, resistant, focused, eclectic, and comprehensive motivations) ; relevance; age-related issues; and sources of referrals, especially from ABE program partners. The best method for recruiting adult learners that do not currently participate in ABE and literacy programs is probably a multiple strategy approach that uses several techniques simultaneously. Identifying a clear target market of adults whom one wishes to recruit is essential to prepare the proper materials for the recruitment process and to train individuals who are recruiters for the program. Studies, research, and practical experience make apparent that the most effective techniques tend to be those that use direct, face-to-face (personal) contacts with potential adult students and describe valuable program services that clearly meet the needs of the adult learner. (Contains 28 references.) (YLB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Recruitment Issues and Strategies for Adults Who Are Not Currently Participating in Literacy and Adult Basic Education (ABE) Programs Aaron Kohring University of Tennessee U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION , X CENTER (ERIC) , This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. 2 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTV BY / /(0 /115'V. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 PES 504 Instructors: Connie White Mary Ziegler May 10, 1999
Reaching the hard‐to‐reach adult through effective marketing
Marketing is a total strategy for program development in which all relevant factors are carefully orchestrated for maximum impact on hard-to-reach target groups.
The Concept of Educational Need: an Analysis of Selected Literature
This study explores the concept of need in adult education literature in view of assessing its usefulness for practitioners and clarifying the issues which remain to be debated by researchers and practitioners alike. Several major uses of the term need are high lighted and McKinley's classification of diagnostic models sum marized. The following key issues are raised and discussed: whether need refers properly to both individuals and systems; who can best perceive need; the problem of shifting needs; and the critical relationship between needs and the operational philosophy of an institution. It is concluded that need assessment literature stresses technological at the expense of philosophical and normative considerations; that need assessment based solely on felt needs or on prescriptive needs is generally ineffective; and that need assess ment procedure generally favors adjustment and not education for transformation.