Key Findings:
- Research suggests that adults in need of additional support learn and develop foundational literacy skills in different ways than children do. Although phonological skills are important, especially in early reading development, adults may benefit more from instruction that emphasizes morphology—using prefixes, suffixes, and morphological families of words to build vocabulary and support comprehension.
- Many of the ways we have been assessing adult literacy skills could use improvement. For instance, adults may have acquired vocabulary in areas relevant to their day-to-day lives that aren’t captured by traditional assessments.
- Digital literacy remains a major challenge for U.S. adults, with the country ranking near the bottom in international comparisons of digital problem-solving skills.
“The ultimate goal at the end of this is to develop more equitable assessments and improve instructional practices for these learners.”
Current estimates are that one in five adults living in the U.S. struggle with basic reading skills. In other words, roughly 20 percent of the adult population has difficulty interpreting, understanding, and effectively applying written information. From instructions on medication bottles to important legal documents, difficulties with literacy can have serious impacts on wellbeing.
For her invaluable contributions to the science of adult literacy, FABBS is delighted to award Dr. Elizabeth Tighe with the Early Career Impact Award. In a recent conversation, FABBS had the opportunity to discuss Dr. Tighe’s journey as a researcher, including her current topics of interest and future directions.
An associate professor of psychology and assistant director of the Adult Literacy Research Center at Georgia State University, Dr. Tighe began researching literacy very early in her career. “Believe it or not, I started this research as an undergraduate,” she stated. “I was a psychology major, and as part of that, I took a community-based learning class. We were required to become adult education tutors.” In this role, Dr. Tighe observed first-hand the issue that would drive her research career. While pursuing her graduate degree at Florida State University, she frequently collaborated with researchers across fields of education and communication sciences and disorders. As an associate professor, her work spans randomized control trials of novel interventions, developing and evaluating reading assessments, and secondary analysis of large, international datasets on adult literacy.
“The ultimate goal at the end of this is to develop more equitable assessments and improve instructional practices for these learners,” Dr. Tighe states. “We don’t yet know a lot about how different assessments and instructional materials work for the diverse population of adult learners we see in adult literacy classes. A lot of it is derived from K-12, which can be very different.” Dr. Tighe’s research highlights the potential benefits of incorporating morphological awareness into adult literacy instruction. While phonics-based methods remain foundational, particularly in early reading development, adults may draw more effectively on their knowledge of familiar word parts—such as prefixes, suffixes, and base words—to make sense of unfamiliar vocabulary. This approach builds on their existing linguistic experience and may support more efficient vocabulary growth and comprehension. Though many adults use adaptive, compensatory strategies to offset the impacts of low literacy, this remains an important issue in current American life, and the need for effective adult interventions is great.
Indeed, when the definition of adult literacy is expanded to include digital literacy—how an individual navigates common digital problem-solving scenarios, like finding information in a spreadsheet and sharing that information over email—this statistic is even lower. “Something like 62 percent of adults are in need of support [with digital literacy],” Dr. Tighe explains. “If we look at this from an international lens, we’re the middle of the pack compared to other countries in literacy, a little lower in numeracy, and mostly near the bottom of digital problem-solving.”
Across the course of our discussion, it became increasingly evident that Dr. Tighe’s work could be directly applied to many areas, all addressing the issue of adult literacy. The first concerns assessment. There are many reasons why adults may need literacy support. Some adults are English as a second language learners, while others may have cognitive factors that make reading and writing challenging. More accurate assessment can help ensure that adults seeking support are connected to the appropriate outlets. Beyond this, Dr. Tighe’s work determines the effectiveness of literacy interventions and makes improvements that may be specifically suited for adult learners.
“I also think my work could be used to advocate for the need for more funding for state [literacy] programs,” she adds. By providing lawmakers with hard data that underscore both the need for literacy programs and the proven effectiveness of interventions, there is a stronger argument for future investment in this area. Dr. Tighe regularly collaborates and advocates with the Georgia Office of Adult Education and is interested in nationwide advocacy.
However, this is not without its challenges. Among the largest hurdles facing researchers hoping to apply science to policy updates is the quality of the data available to scientists. “The state data are messy, so it’s very hard to get a clear picture to then advocate for better funding or better instructional models,” Dr. Tighe commented. In addition, conducting randomized control trials is challenging as adults attend classes for fewer hours per week than children and attendance is often sporadic. To best act as a bridge between science, policy, and practice, Dr. Tighe regularly attends conferences for adult literacy educators. She explains how this helps ground her research in practicality and helps her incorporate the specific input and needs of target populations.
In addition to her already impressive contributions, Dr. Tighe hopes to apply her findings about how adults learn best to conduct randomized control trials of a morphological and spelling intervention she is currently developing. She is also interested in applying novel assessment tools, like think-aloud techniques, and using process data to develop more well-informed assessments. Additionally, she hopes to conduct research that improves practices for training instructors. FABBS is excited to highlight Dr. Tighe and her outstanding research.
Potential Future Impacts:
- Improving adult literacy has a host of practical impacts on the wellbeing and productivity of communities across the U.S. Being able to effectively communicate information—both in vivo and digitally—can improve efficiency.
- Effective assessment and instructional tools can ensure that adults receive the most appropriate guidance to aid in their education.
- Grounding research in the real-world needs of adult learners can lead to more tailored interventions, better instructor training, and stronger advocacy for funding at both state and national levels.
