stained deliberate efforts to learn" (1988, p. 52). Additionally, however, she refers to a study sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) , which anchors such efforts directed toward persons who would in the ordinary course of existence not be students, in a structured setting of some kind. The designation of adult education, as one NCES survey states, "consists of courses and other educational activities, organized by a teacher or sponsoring agency, and taken by persons beyond compulsory school age. Excluded is full time attendance in a program leading toward a high school diploma or an academic degree" (p. 51). Elsewhere, Cross offers a definition that defines the character, not so much of the students but of the structure of the curriculum involved:
Organized learning involves a student teacher relationship
in which the learner is supervised or directed in learning
experiences over a specified period of time for a recognized
purpose. The teacher may be remote, such as on a recording
or tape, or in a correspondence school headquarters. Short
term workshops and seminars are considered adult ecucation
Cross develops the idea that defining once for all what constitutes the extent of adult education is problematic because a definition may vary directly with the study design involved. Whereas one study cites figures showing a decrease in registration by adults for part time college credit courses, another cites an increase in such registration for the same period. She laments the absence of a uniform data bank that tracks trends and shifts in patterns and content of adult education, although she tends toward accepting data that show increased participation in education by adults. Her analysis, in sum, suggests that the single most consistent characteristic of the phenomenon in the twentieth century is that it is marked by change and expansion in scope. St...