The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) technique was used with 1,550 women and 420 men in more than 100 villages in Uganda, El Salvador, and Bangladesh over a 2-year period to develop and pilot test an approach to literacy education called REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques). The REFLECT approach, which is based on the theoretical framework developed by Paulo Freire, draws on PRA techniques to promote active dialogue and empowerment as literacy circle participants develop their own materials and thereby take ownership of the issues that arise as their skills develop. In each country, the changes observed in individuals receiving literacy instruction based on the REFLECT approach were compared to those observed in control groups taught by traditional teaching methods. Of those adults who initially enrolled in REFLECT circles, 65% in El Salvador, 60% in Bangladesh, and 68% in Uganda achieved basic literacy over a 1-year period compared to only 43%, 26%, and 22% of individuals in the control groups in the respective countries. The REFLECT circle participants remained motivated and dropped out in much lower numbers than did their control group counterparts. Contains 59 tables/figures/photographs and 31 references. (MN)