Virtually everyone needs a high level of literacy in both print and digital media to negotiate most aspects of 21st century life-succeeding in a competitive job market, supporting a family, navigating health information, and participating in civic activities. Yet, according to a recent survey estimate, more than 90 million adults in the United…

More than an estimated 90 million adults in the United States lack the literacy skills needed for fully productive and secure lives. The effects of this shortfall are many: Adults with low literacy have lower rates of participation in the labor force and lower earnings when they do have jobs, for example. They are less able to understand and use…

The guidelines in this paper were developed to assist Massachusetts Private Industry Councils, social agencies, unions, businesses, and education providers in designing educational programs appropriate to the workplace. The focus is on literacy education. The paper is organized in four sections. The first section briefly examines the background of…

This report includes two sections: (1) an overview of the issues involved in joint labor/management workplace education programs and (2) a description of such a program partnering two union locals, nine hospitals, and Bunker Hill Community College to implement a workplace-based career ladder program. The first section explains that unions and…

The Attleboro (Massachusetts) Workplace Education Program, a partnership of four area companies and Bristol Community College, is intended to provide workers with education that will improve the quality of their lives and their work. Housed in a corporate office building in the Attleboro Industrial Park, the program offers classes in English as a…

This task analysis for positions at the ENRO shirt and tie manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky, was developed to help teach English as a second language in order to improve communication in the workplace and prepare all employees for a total quality management model. The task analysis includes information about workers in the Raw…

This task analysis for positions at the Claretian Medical Center in southeast Chicago was developed to improve communication and customer service in the workplace. The task analysis was prepared through clinic tours, employee interviews, and supervisor questionnaires. It is used for the purpose of curriculum development for onsite instruction in…

This module, which may be used as the basis for a workshop or as a special topic unit in an adult basic education or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course, focuses on the Unemployment Insurance (UI) system. The following items are included: module overview; list of basic, thinking, interpersonal, information utilization, and other skills…

A minicourse pilot project was designed by the Massachusetts Department of Education to meet the staff training and development needs of workplace educators in the National Workplace Literacy Program. During the course, various activities and group configurations were used to help teachers apply modeled approaches to their own teaching contexts,…

An evaluation of the fifth cycle of operation of the Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative had several purposes: (1) to identify the indicators of quality in workplace education; (2) to begin to design an evaluation system for each program; and (3) to assess the indicators of quality for workplace education programs against the national…

This guide contains materials for a course in mathematical applications used by garment workers at the Apparel Group, Ltd. (ENRO). The course is designed to help employees understand the meaning of mathematical concepts, symbols, and functions; to acquire better mathematical skills, including fractions, percentages, and decimals; to develop…

This document includes a final report and curriculum guide developed by a project to improve the basic skills of adults enrolled in a union-based, preallied health, adult basic education program. Its objective was to prepare learners to become more effective workers and union members by incorporating worker-centered materials into the curriculum.…

This guide, part of a series of workplace-developed materials for retraining factory workers, provides teaching materials for a workplace course in writing memos. The course covers recognizing the audience for a memo, identifying the topic, organizing the writing using four steps (think, write, review, correct) writing complete sentences, using…

This guide, part of a series of workplace-developed materials for retraining factory workers, provides teaching materials for a workplace course in writing accurate, sequential, and clear instructions. The course covers identifying the goal and purpose of the instructions, deciding the best method for presenting the instructions, using clear and…

This guide, part of a series of workplace-developed materials for retraining factory workers, provides teaching materials for a workplace course in report writing skills for technical staff. The course has been designed to help new engineers with all aspects of report writing. It covers the outline and structure of reports, brainstorming,…