The Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE) has received a $12.5 million federal grant to establish a national adult literacy research center, according to a press release from the school.

"By bringing together an ambitious program of scholarship with a focused, practical action agenda, the Adult Literacy Center will offer immediate assistance to education programs that serve adults," GSE Dean Jerome T. Murphy said in the release.

The new research and development center, which will be based at GSE, will study programs designed to improve adult learning and literacy.

The new center will be a collaborative effort between GSE and World Education, a Boston-based nonprofit economic and social development organization that helps to administer Commonwealth adult literacy programs.

The center will examine methods of teaching literacy skills by researching the motivation of adult learners, classroom practices and staff development, and assessing the impact of the programs on participants' lives.

John Comings, an international expert in adult education, will head the new center.

"Most U.S. adults could benefit from more education," Comings said in a statement. "This new center will conduct research and examine successful programs in order to improve adult learning and literacy efforts."

The 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey found that 21 percent of all American adults have limited reading and writing skills.