This study examined how poverty and residential mobility influence low-income adults' persistence in family literacy programs in Pennsylvania. Twelve out of 20 program directors reported that learners typically moved at least once a year. In five of these high-mobility programs moving was reported to significantly hinder persistence. Geographic location and the availability of inexpensive and subsidized housing increased mobility. The 17 learners the authors interviewed moved 78 times in the previous five years, for an average of once per year. One-half of the moves were within 15 miles, yet even short distance moves often delayed progress and disrupted program participation. Although residential mobility did not hinder persistence in all programs, it is part of a constellation of poverty-related problems (e.g., poor health, lack of child care and transportation) that pose challenges for learners to attend classes regularly and meet their educational goals. (Contains 2 tables and 2 endnotes.).

Although there has recently been a relative abundance of material produced on adult education in rural areas outside the United States, little work has been done that focuses on the changing nature of rural adult learning and instruction in the States. Such neglect, however, does not suggest that rural issues and rural places lack relevance in contemporary U.S. society. This volume seeks to expand our concept of the rural United States as it explores the role that adult educators might play in this complex context. Indeed, complexity is the hallmark of this volume. Although rural areas are still composed of large expanses of open space, a continuing process of suburbanization is resulting in demographic, economic, and cultural changes that challenge those teaching and learning in rural places. This is the 117th volume in the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, an indispensable series that explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of adult and continuing education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.