Evaluating Broad-Aimed Programs of Adult Education.

Overview & Synopsis

The document examines the need to develop and implement more adequate evaluation methods for broad-aimed adult education programs, and presents some suggestions. Broad-aimed adult education programs are described as those which seek to affect the quality of the learners' lives through education and to help learners cope more effectively with their problems. This type of program is generally funded under the Smith Lever Act, 1914, the Manpower Development and Training Act, 1962, Title I of the Higher Education Act, 1965, and the Adult Education Act, 1966. The paper's four sections include: (1) broad-aimed adult education defined and differentiated from other types of adult education, with three program types examined; (2) need for more adequate evaluation of broad-aimed adult education programs, examining current evaluation techniques; (3) false assumptions to be avoided when evaluating broad-aimed programs, giving examples of inappropriate evaluation methods; and, (4) toward more adequate evaluation of broad-aimed adult education programs, describing one approach and presenting various opinions. (LH)