do (1998) possessed secondary or university degrees (and some held advanced degrees), the majority of Hispanic adult learners do not (Holman, 1997). Portes and MacLeod (1996) have commented that in many cases, immigrants arriving in the United States as either children or adults are disadvantaged with respect to socioeconomic status, prior educational experience, and English proficiency. Consequently, regardless of age, these individuals may need and benefit from education and training programs which assist them in acquiring English language skills and other content-centered knowledge or job-related training.
Assessing the efficacy of such programs is important in that such programs are expensive to provide and likely to be a major point of contact for non-English speaking immigrants in mainstream American society (Fitzgerald, 2000). There is a growing body of information which supports the view that the literacy needs of bilingual/ESL learners are best met in the most inclusive types of programs in terms of students, languages, and literacy (Jimenez & Barrera, 2000).
The purpose of the study is to determine if the English language skills of Spanish-speaking adult learners in the G.R.E.A.T. program has improved over time and to compare the economic status of program participants with a matched sample of Spanish-speaking immigrants who did not participate in the program. The independent variable is the program, while the dependent variable is economic success operationalized as personal income.
Significance to the Institution or Organization
The G.R.E.A.T. program, offered under the aegis of the Miami Dade Community Colleges, serves a significant number of Spanish-speaking and other bilingual adult learners. Consequently, this program serves as a gateway or point of entry to employment for many such students and fulfills an important educational and economic function within the community. Assessing the longitudinal...