The experience of a number of specific local workplace programs indicates a definite connection between the provision of employee basic skills programs and increased worker productivity. One Tennessee company, for example, reports a 95 percent drop in costs resulting from worker mistakes and a doubling of worker productivity since the company…

Project ALERT, a 3-year Wayne State University workplace education program in partnership with 5 varied worksites in metropolitan Detroit, developed replicable workplace literacy models. A review of literature provided information on how and why adults learn. A needs assessment and on-site observations were conducted to determine which sets of…

This report describes the following components of the Nestle Workplace Literacy Project: six job task analyses, curricula for six workplace basic skills training programs, delivery of courses using these curricula, and evaluation of the process. These six job categories were targeted for training: forklift loader/checker, BB's processing systems…

A study investigated key aspects of New York City's Workplace Education Program of the Central Labor Council for Worker Education in 15 union workplace literacy programs. The program enrolled 3,775 students and offered 215 classes in English as a Second Language (ESL), basic education (BED), and union-specific or skills programs. Within each type,…

Manitoba, Canada, workplace stakeholder groups were interviewed to determine the issues they faced and their awareness of, and ability to deal with, workplace basic skills issues. Interviews collected the opinions of 78 employer representatives, 121 employees, and 5 union representatives in the 6 emerging economic sectors of health care products,…

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 Northeast Texas Workplace Partnership Program developed curriculum and training materials based on the literacy requirements of the workplace for two different industries in northeast Texas--Lone Star Steel Company and Pilgrim's Pride Industries. Three advisory committees were established to involve the community, education, and business and…

A collaborative project involved Collins and Aikman, Inc., Pitt Community College, and the U.S. Department of Education in an effort to improve the literacy level of the company's work force in order to increase productivity. A pretest of about 400 of the company's 513 workers in 1 division uncovered educational needs in reading and mathematics…

Literacy Foundation Memphis, Inc., Memphis City Schools Adult Education, and the Regional Medical Center at Memphis cooperatively implemented an intensive skills enhancement program for employees. The program used an industry immersion model, located on site, with 80 hours of instruction delivered 4 hours per day for 4 weeks on work-release time.…

Literacy Foundation Memphis, Memphis City Schools Adult Education, and Kimberly Clark engaged in a cooperative venture to implement an intensive industry skills enhancement program for employees of Kimberly Clark. The effort continued to develop, refine, and expand the industry immersion model located on site, with 80 hours of instruction…

The River East Alliance for Developmental Studies (READS) provided occupationally based literacy and numeracy instruction, over 18 months, for 451 entry-level workers, supervisors, and floor managers. The participants were employees from four diverse Connecticut manufacturing companies. During the project, 47 classes in reading, mathematics, and…

A workplace literacy program for garment workers is described and evaluated. The program, a partnership between El Paso Community College (Texas) and Levi Strauss & Company, consisted of a three-level, job-specific, video-based curriculum for limited-English-speaking employees implemented at seven plants in El Paso. The 18-month model…

In December 1987, Motorola's MOS 5 Microprocessor Manufacturing Facility and Merex Corporation began a joint workplace literacy training project. MOS 5 had three basic objectives: to assess the level of the work materials, to assess the skill level of the work force, and to close the gap between the two. Merex designed an educational program to…

The Anchorage Workplace Literacy (AWL) program was designed to train adult workers who have inadequate basic skills. The "Skill Books Go to Work" model developed in a previous National Workplace Literacy Program was used and modified as needed for the job-specific environments of nine business partners. Job task analyses were done at the…

Essex Community College (ECC) implemented an onsite workplace literacy program for Martin Marietta (MM) employees with the cooperation of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 738. Assisted by the working committees with representatives from all phases of the project, ECC and MM staff cooperated to develop a recruitment video, brochures, and…