The funding that does exist may be divided among a variety of agencies, all competing for a share of it. This competition makes it difficult for agencies to coordinate their efforts. Despite their goals, these programs nonetheless tend to define their success in terms of increased literacy, not economic improvement. If the advertised economic benefits fail to develop, these programs can lose the support of external funding sources. Despite these problems, however, rural literacy programs manage to persist and to succeed.
Successful programs share certain common features.
Involving community members in the development, promotion, and evaluation of literacy programs gives rural residents a stake in making these programs work. Education under siege. Reaching the rural reader. Adult education as a force toward social equity. Kansas State University, University for Man.