Amidst diminishing federal investment in Adult Basic Education (ABE), there is growing interest in return on investment (ROI) as an economic rationale to support ABE funding. Against this backdrop, we provide an overview of the ROI concept and methods and the empirical evidence on ABE program impacts to broaden the discourse among practitioners and advocates. We point out that the most crucial building blocks necessary for ROI estimations are missing in the literature. We contextualize the current status of the literature by discussing challenges in ABE program evaluations and limitations in ROI methods. We then further our discussions by offering a recommendation for ROI estimation and alternative approaches to ROI. We conclude by calling for an expanded public discourse, beyond ROI, on the social benefits of funding ABE.

在联邦对成人基础教育（ABE）的投资减少的同时，对投资回报（ROI）作为支持ABE资金的经济原理的兴趣日益浓厚。在此背景下，我们提供了ROI概念和方法的概述，以及有关ABE计划影响的经验证据，以扩大从业者和倡导者之间的讨论。我们指出，文献中缺少进行ROI估算所需的最关键的构建基块。通过讨论ABE计划评估中的挑战和ROI方法的局限性，我们将文献的现状与背景联系起来。然后，我们通过提供有关ROI估算和ROI替代方法的建议来进一步讨论。最后，我们呼吁扩大公众对ABE资助的社会效益的讨论，而不仅仅是ROI。