This document contains a final report, evaluation, and curriculum materials from a project conducted at the RJR Nabisco plant in Indianapolis to upgrade the literacy and numeracy skills of the workers to facilitate technological changes to production lines. As the final report explains, although the goal of the project was to recruit and test 150…

This document describes the AFL-CIO's Upgrading and Career Ladder Program (UCLP), which creates a system of structured, work-based learning integrating on-the-job training with related theoretical instruction. The UCLP has the following objectives: to meet workers' skill upgrading and occupational mobility needs; to encourage unions and employers…

Directed at persons who are not experts in program evaluation or workplace literacy, this handbook provides various options and processes that can be used for formal evaluation of workplace literacy programs. The handbook is organized in six sections. An introductory section acknowledges the weaknesses of any evaluation attempt. In the second…

The Colorado workplace program completed an open-ended program evaluation that examined the following: how people involved in workplace learning change, what the shape of that change is, and what impact that change may have. It explored the perspectives of two groups closely involved in the workplace learning process: participants and their…

Workplace literacy programs have been viewed as the way to raise workers' basic skills so they could perform more effectively in increasingly complex work environments. As these programs have proliferated, so have the number of issues associated with workplace literacy. Some issues are related to assumptions underlying the need for workplace…

The generic workplace curricula in this document were developed in a workplace education project conducted in Pima County, Arizona, which served 524 workers (58 percent from minority groups) at 14 worksites. Generic curriculum and competencies were developed for each subject area rather than each specific worksite. Of 374 workers who completed the…

A study sought to determine how and why small businesses invest or do not invest in basic skills instruction for their workers. Data were gathered through a national mail and telephone survey of a random sampling of 11,000 small (50 or fewer employees) and medium-sized (51-400 employees) firms, a targeted mail survey of 4,317 manufacturers, a…

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…

A reflective self-assessment process was used to evaluate Project RISE, a 1-year, federally funded workplace literacy project. The goal of the evaluation was to help staff understand their collective experience in a way that might help them to serve their clients more effectively in the future. A list of the most critical problems faced by staff…

A demonstration project was conducted in Alabama to create a basic skills workplace curriculum that would assist a local corporation in improving work force productivity. During the 3-year project, a job-specific curriculum was written for Russell Corporation's Skills Training at Russell (STAR) program. The curriculum covered four topics: safety,…

The 18-month Skills Today for Advancement Tomorrow (STAT) program, a partnership among St. Louis Community College, the St. Louis Public Schools' Adult Basic Education Program, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, had the following objectives: (1) provide counseling and training for 370 current Blue Cross and Blue Shield workers; (2)…

The Continuing Education Institute's Workplace ESL (English-as-a-Second Language) and ABE (Adult Basic Education) programs improved the job experience for employees with language and literacy problems in Boston (Massachusetts) by teaching them language strategies that had direct application to their jobs. Health care administrators, supervisors,…

This volume, Interim Report No. 1 in a 3-year study, recommends that employers who want to enlarge the pool of applicants for entry-level career-oriented jobs give serious attention to "vestibule training." The volume is divided into two parts: report and case studies. The report suggests that vestibule training programs can provide job candidates…

This book analyzes the response of employees at a southern hospital to a functional context literacy program. It uses ethnographic techniques, storytelling, and observations of workplace relations to illustrate how classism, racism, and sexism continue to be part of the workplace environment and how these factors contribute to employees'…

The Star Team Acquiring Rewards in Literacy and Insights Through Education (STARLITE) program was implemented to improve the job proficiency of employees at the Pacific Star Hotel, Guam. Its goal was to provide employees with both workplace literacy skills and employability skills. An audit was completed in each department of the hotel. Modules…