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Backs Against the Wall
higher educational institutions around the country, but that effort is general and not likely to provide the detailed information needed for replication. In addition, no one knows the number of people nationally who need basic skills and other compensatory programs; good basic research is needed to provide this information.
• Studies should be systematically undertaken to identify promising basic skills programs, assess them, and disseminate information about them. Studies are also needed to determine the numbers and kinds of people needing such services.
Although some of these recommendations can be acted on with little or no cost, others will require a major infusion of new funds. The present national economy limits what can be expected from state and federal sources in the near future, but at the very least government agencies should reexamine current patterns of revenue allocation, target their resources more carefully, and develop more creative criteria for funding. To meet the immediate funding need, however, we propose that:
Business and industry, which need an upgraded labor force, should provide more financial support for basic skills programs.
Philanthropic organizations should provide funding of basic skills programs and related services in the institutions called upon to provide them. Funding should also be provided for policy research and analysis.