ABSTRACT
Federal funding for adult education has grown slowly over the last decade, but a handful of states have expanded their adult education services at a faster rate through state funding. This chapter describes what appear to be the most important elements contributing to the development of the adult education system in Massachusetts. This focus on successful reform efforts provides useful insights to educators embarking on, or engaged in, the process of strengthening their adult education systems. Adult education services were supported through the 1970s solely with federal funds, through the AEA and programs such as Model Cities and the Community Education and Training Act (CETA). Adult education programs in Massachusetts provide instruction in adult basic education (ABE), adult secondary education (ASE), and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). Massachusetts now has an effective system of adult education that provides a wide variety of services for a modest number of students.
