As part of its fight against adult illiteracy, a University institute plans to release a program aimed at helping truck and bus drivers pass a federally mandated commercial driver's license test.

According to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 all commercial drivers must have passed written and practical exams by April 1, 1992 to retain or obtain a commercial driver's license. States who do not implement this licensing program will lose federal highway funds.

Ginger Baker, an instructional designer at the University's Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, said the exam is based on a 125-page manual written at a 6-9 grade reading level.

An initial study by the Institute showed more than 50 percent of the affected drivers could not pass a sample exam written on the same level as the manual, Baker said.

"Lots of competent drivers may lose their jobs because they can't pass this test," Baker added.

In response to this possible crisis situation the Institute developed the ROAD (Real Opportunities for Advancement in Development) to Success program, a tutorial computer program that will help otherwise competent drivers, who read below this grade level, pass the exam and retain their jobs. The program may be sold at cost as early as April.

ROAD is only one of many programs the Institute has developed to help illiterate adults function more effectively.

"What are the competencies people need to live their lives" What kinds of reading and writing do you have to do on a job? What kind of reading and writing do you have to do as a consumer, voter or, public citizen?" These are the types of problems that we analyze and try to solve, said Lori Forlizzi, a project associate at the Institute.

"We don't directly provide instruction to adult students here," Forlizzi added. "The people in this office are more likely to work with the teachers of adult students, tutors and trainers and they, in turn, work with the students."

She said the institute has grown quickly since 1985, when current director Eunice Askov developed a program to increase the word recognition of beginning adult readers. The Institute has outgrown two offices in the last year alone, she added.

The Institute has three goals: research and development, improvement of practice, and advocacy for adult literacy, Forlizzi explained. Projects combine developing software and field testing, and making adjustments based on the feedback, she said.

Past Institute projects include the Adult Literacy Word Processor, a simplified word processor designed for use with low-literate adults, and the Adult Literacy Word Quest, an adventure game reinforcing literary instruction.

Another project, Developing Workforce Basic Skills: Computer-Assisted Assessment and Instruction, is now being pilot-tested throughout Pennsylvania.

This program assesses the training and retraining potential of the Appalachian workforce.

ROAD includes an evaluation reference test to identify those workers needing assistance preparing for the exam, a computer software instruction program and a printed learning assistance packet.

The program uses information about air brakes, tankers, school buses and other driving skills, written at a 4-7 grade reading level, to increase the vocabulary and reading skills of the illiterate workers.

This is the first program of its kind to be developed in the country, said Baker, who is in charge of ROAD. The Institute has been receiving numerous inquiries about it from other states that realize the potential crisis the federal mandate may cause, she added.

Drivers participating in pilot tests of ROAD feel like they are in control again, Baker said.

"If you can convince an adult that what they're learning in a literacy class is going to help them in real life, they're much more likely to stick with it," Forlizzi said.