This paper gathers descriptions on the use of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and essential skills cross Canada. IALS was developed as a population measure to lay out the distribution of skills and their relationship to other social and economic attributes. The information was taken from federal, provincial, and territorial…

This brief describes national technical assistance organizations. Thirteen organizations are included: Essential Skills Resource Center; Center for Applied Linguistics; Center on Education and Training for Employment; Language Training Designs; Center for Remediation Design; Matrices Consultants, Inc.; Performance Plus Literacy Consultants; HRD…

The fifth National Education Goal--every adult will be literate and possess the necessary skills for competing in a global economy and to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship--is being implemented in part through workplace literacy programs. To reach the goal of universal literacy in the United States, five objectives were…

This companion booklet to "The Bottom Line" (a publication of the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education that highlighted changes in the work force and the population and cited some business efforts to improve employees' literacy skills) contains descriptions of 23 successful workplace literacy efforts in the Mid-Atlantic states. The…

Describes an effective literacy program in two hospitals, which benefited both the employer and employee by empowering participants to solve problems, think critically and creatively, and make decisions. Discusses criteria for effective workplace literacy programs, the program's framework, and program evaluation. (RS)

Describes how a language experience approach was used in a workplace literacy program for adult immigrant railroad workers in Australia. Describes how the workshop built on participants' developed oral skills and life experience to create texts that were relevant, interesting, and comprehensible to these learners. (SR)

Describes a workplace literacy project implemented at a hospital with help from a university and a literacy organization. Finds significant changes in all basic skill areas and improvement in job performance, attitude, and self-esteem. Argues that well-designed programs improve employee job performance when program success is closely linked to…

This ERIC FAST Bib presents annotations concerning four major areas related to workplace literacy: (1) the definition and design of curriculum; (2) trends, issues, and challenges in workplace literacy; (3) model programs and projects; and (4) reference materials for practitioners. Contents include annotations of 45 journal articles, conference…

Two literacy programs based at the State University of New York, College at Brockport (SUNY-Brockport) universities have achieved some success, but both programs have changed, for various reasons. University students have much to gain from their involvement in literacy programs, including the satisfaction of helping others, the opportunity to…

Discusses the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s: the context of the time, its educational programs, instruction, teachers, and how it handled the problem of illiteracy. Examines whether this kind of program would work in the 1990s, concluding that many of the programs components would transfer well to the present. (SR)

The major purposes of the project were to determine the nature of the literacy problem in the Army by studying the literacy demands of Army jobs together with the literacy skills of Army personnel, and to develop a literacy training program to provide job-related-functional, literacy skills. Literacy research and development performed by HumRRO…

Varied approaches to providing adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy programs are described, including those connected to community-based organizations and welfare offices. Funding factors for workplace literacy and family literacy programs are noted. (one reference) (LB)

In a concerted effort to head off a situation in which almost half of the nation's young adults may conceivably be judged as having restricted literacy skills, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) has made a major commitment of human and financial resources to the area of adult literacy. ETS is directing a team of researchers and measurement…

Illiterate workers in industrial jobs can endanger themselves and fellow workers by misreading warning signs and can cost companies millions by misreading instructions. The problem of literacy is also apparent in offices, where often dictated correspondence must be retyped at least once because of errors. Of 800 companies surveyed, 35% felt they…

This publication presents the abstracts of the 57 National Workplace Literacy Program 1993 projects. Each abstract provides the following information: project title; award number; project director; awardee; address; telephone and fax numbers; funds by fiscal year (federal and nonfederal); award period; federal project officer; objectives;…