Teaching Literacy and Mathematics Skills to Adult Psychiatric Inpatients: An Evaluation of the Adult Literacy Program at Hawaii State Hospital

The Adult Literacy Program at Hawaii State Hospital utilized techniques drawn from the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction. In a study involving psychiatric inpatients, participants were taught reading, mathematics, or both over a 6- to 8-month time span. Using the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised, it was determined that nearly half of the participants demonstrated academic gains during the study period. Further, a behavioral observation system indicated that participants were on-task 80% of the observation time and staff engaged in positive interactions nearly 20% of the observation time. This study is the first of its kind to document any efficacy for academic instruction with a psychiatric inpatient population.