Three areas of research are particularly important for educators concerned with literacy in the workplace. The areas are the following: (1) the National Adult Literacy Survey results that show that for many workers there are gaps between tested literacy abilities and the new literacy demands present in the most promising jobs; (2) 2 decades of…

A workplace literacy project was conducted at the Nabisco Richmond Facility for the following purposes: to determine what academic skills are necessary to perform 10 selected jobs, to develop a validated assessment to evaluate an employee's literacy skills, to develop a job-specific curriculum to improve skill deficits, and to provide an…

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…

The Colorado Workplace Learning Initiative was organized for the following purposes: (1) to design and implement a process for public/private partnerships to address workplace literacy; (2) to establish an effective method for curriculum adaptation and development based on specific workplace needs; (3) to provide accessible, relevant, and…

A workplace literacy project was conducted cooperatively through the Minnesota Teamsters Service Bureau and Northeast Metro Technical College. Project objectives, which were met, included the following: (1) establishing a project steering committee; (2) developing workplace literacy curriculum materials and resources specific to commercial vehicle…

This monograph examines the issue of task analysis as used in workplace literacy programs, debating the need for it and how to perform it in a rapidly changing environment. Based on experiences of community colleges in Texas, the report analyzes ways that task analysis can be done and how to implement work force education programs more quickly.…

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…

This manual provides a detailed description of the components of Bridging the Gap (BTG), a unique model of workplace training and support for developmentally disabled adults. It discusses how it was implemented and presents a curriculum outline with sample learning activities. The first section describes the interagency cooperation that made the…

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…

The Rural Adventures in Workplace Literacy project at the College of Eastern Utah (San Juan Campus) assessed the literacy and basic needs of employees, developed curriculum materials, and provided training to employees in six industries in southeastern Utah and northern Arizona. Nine industries were contacted; six participated and were firmly…

This guide is designed to help program developers establish a literacy program geared to specific occupations. It uses examples from English second-language literacy education for the hotel housekeeper. The guide consists of seven sections addressing the following aspects of program development: getting started and overall planning; selecting a…

This curriculum guide resulted from a project conducted to: (1) improve the productivity and efficiency of 21 companies by providing workplace literacy instruction to workers lacking basic skills required for their jobs; and (2) to improve the capability of educational providers to meet the basic skill needs of the manufacturing and financial…

For nearly 3 years, the Massachusetts Career Development Institute provided a workplace literacy program for 201 persons employed by the Geriatric Authority of Holyoke, Massachusetts, a major nonprofit nursing home and rehabilitation facility. The literacy program included adult basic education, English as a second language, and high school…

A 3-year workplace literacy project combined the resources and efforts of a junior and a technical college, literacy education providers, and businesses to implement an assessment and education program for textile workers. The program included four components: (1) reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics skills; (2) creative…

A workplace basic skills project for the metal casting industry was established jointly by Central Alabama Community College and Robinson Foundry, Inc. Evaluation of the project was made through a commercial test of hourly workers' general literacy level gains, instructor-developed pre- and posttests of mastery of the industrial process and…