Sociocultural concerns have provided the framework for literacy expectations throughout the history of the United States, and have determined the extent to which national emphasis has been placed on adult literacy programs. Early literacy programs have been traced to the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. The next surge of interest in…

Literacy and work force preparedness are two of the most important issues facing education today. Findings of nationwide studies show that reading and writing performance of students is inadequate. One of every eight current workers reads at the fourth-grade level or lower. The nation's economic future will be determined by the quality and…

This blueprint is intended to give employers and organized labor an overview of the issues involved in workplace literacy. The guide is divided into six sections. Section 1 defines and introduces workplace literacy. Section 2 highlights some of the issues employers and organized labor are facing as a result of low literacy levels in the workplace.…

This bulletin for businesses is a step-by-step guide to planning and implementing an effective job-related employee basic skills program. Part 1 provides general principles to guide the effort. It addresses literacy and basic skills, the importance of context, and changing requirements for literacy. A preview of key program principles concludes…

Five pre- and postevaluations were administered to 413 therapy aides who had participated in a workplace literacy program (which 273 had completed) to upgrade their job-specific reading, writing, and oral communication skills in five New York City psychiatric hospitals. Four of the measures showed significant pre-post gain. The data were then…

The globalization of business has influenced the development of customized, job-specific workplace literacy programs. Work-centered participatory literacy receives support from both business and labor and additional impetus from the National Literacy Act of 1991. The worker of the future will be a thinking and communicating problem solver. The…

This report summarizes the 18 programs that have received Governor's Workforce Excellence Awards in Ohio over the past 3 years. The 18 award winning programs (based in companies employing from 75 to 16,000 employees) focus on the basic literacy, thinking, and personal skills that every Ohio worker must possess. They were selected from nearly 100…

PLAN, Inc., a nonprofit, community-based literacy training program, conducted a workplace literacy training program in partnership with the Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center (WHC). During an 18-month period, the program provided workplace literacy training and career development skills to employees in several service departments and…

Four community colleges in North Carolina cooperated to provide workplace literacy education to employees of eight plants in the state. The target population for the program was 710 adults who had not completed high school or who were functioning below high school level who were employed at one of the industry sites. The Comprehensive Adult…

This report discusses evaluation as required under the Department of Education rules and regulations for the National Workplace Literacy Program (NWLP). It is intended to help workplace literacy programs meet the requirements of the rules and regulations governing the NWLP so that the Department of Education can determine the value of programs.…

Technological changes affecting the health care industry spurred the development and implementation of a curriculum to upgrade the skills of Philadelphia health care workers in written communication, mathematics, computer literacy, oral and listening communication, and issues surrounding their union employment in the health care field. The…

This handbook was designed to help adult literacy education teachers to understand the plastics industry, develop a curriculum, and teach basic skills classes in a plastics company. The book contains four main sections. The first section, on the basics of plastics, contains a brief history of the industry, an elementary description of the…

Leaders in business and industry are demanding workers who not only can read and write but can think creatively and critically and solve problems. Federal- and state-funded programs and volunteer organizations are involved with adult literacy. Increasingly, corporations are funding adult literacy projects. Adults read for different reasons than…

The adults who participate in classes, workshops, and other learning opportunities are as diverse as the kinds of programs in which they enroll and the reasons for which they enroll. Adult learners are multifaceted, appreciate flexibility in teaching strategies, and want a say in what they will learn. These purposes for adult education are…

Six workplace literacy programs were evaluated for impact upon learners, learners' families, and learners' productivity. Site 1 was an automotive plant where learners were involved in technical preparation, the General Educational Development program, and English as a Second Language (ESL). Site 2 was a wood-processing plant with a communication…