Investigates various influences and reasons why non-English-speaking women working in a small goods factory in Australia chose not to participate in workplace literacy courses. Presents perceptions of the nonparticipants, the course provider, the teacher, the personnel manager, and the researcher. Discusses barriers, motivation, networks and power…

Reflections of an enterprise-based literacy teacher highlights three focal areas of workplace learning: (1) critical thinking/reflection/problem solving; (2) contextualized learning; and (3) attitudinal. A workplace teacher must have knowledge and understanding of culture gained through action, feedback, reflection, and theorizing. (SK)

Describes the FORECAST readability formula for adults working with job materials, which was developed in the early 1970s. Suggests that it is a better measure of who wants and needs basic skills than the International Adult Literacy Survey. (JOW)

Discusses business and technology trends that affect the need for employees to have more information skills. Highlights include the globalization of commerce; competition; lower-cost digital technology; employment trends; the role of digital systems; the impact of technology; advanced information-related literacy skills; and future education…

Findings from an evaluation of a workplace literacy program funded by the State of Indiana are presented. Working with employers, providers were given considerable latitude to design their own training regimens. The state awarded certificates to workers who achieved certain levels of proficiency in reading, math, critical thinking, problem solving…

The Center of Research for Education of Adults (CREA) in Spain is working to overcome the constrictions of adult education theories through three orientations: it works in a horizontal and communicative way, it attempts to correct common misunderstandings, and its main focus is to develop a new critical theory for adult education. Research…

This guide, which is intended for project directors, coordinators, and other professional staff involved in developing and delivering workplace education programs, explains the process of conducting a job task analysis to create customized curricula to meet the workplace education students' needs. After a brief discussion of the rationale for…

This guide, which is intended for workplace education providers, defines organizational culture, reviews selected techniques for reading a company's culture, and presents examples of ways in which organizations' culture can affect workplace education programs. An organization's culture is determined by: recognizing the company's philosophy…

A study investigated provision of workplace literacy courses available for women in female-dominated industries and women's access to and participation in those courses. A literature review revealed very little research on the required increased literacy skills in Australia and no previous studies on women's access to workplace literacy courses in…

Early in 1991, a partnership project was initiated between the Business/Industry Training Institute of Northwest Iowa Community College and Coilcraft, Inc. The Iowa Coilcraft plant had undergone rapid changes in recent years from a labor-intensive, custom-built, manual, task-oriented process to a highly automated, training-intensive,…

In the summer of 1991, the Worker-Family Education Program held a workshop for two groups of teachers and students. The workshop was designed to explore an economic trend whereby transnational corporations send production and assembly operations to the Third World in search of cheap labor and to begin a collaborative English-as-a-Second-Language…

The Workplace Literacy Curriculum for Custodial Services was developed for English-as-a-Second-Language classes for workers in participating businesses in Arlington County, Virginia, through a national workplace literacy grant with the cooperation of the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce. It is based on an analysis of tasks and interactions at…

A project was conducted at the Northwest Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) Resource Center in northwest Ohio to establish workplace education indicators of program quality with specific measures and standards. Research was conducted through a survey of other states to determine their status in the development of workplace…

In this document, representatives from the four partners involved in a self-directed distance learning program for developmental aides responsible for caring for persons with developmental disabilities and/or mental retardation (the City University of New York, a labor union, an executive employee relations office, and a state agency involved in…

The following major provisions of the National Literacy Act of 1991 are described: increase authorization for literacy programs; establish a National Institute for Literacy; authorize state literacy resource centers; create national work force demonstrations; amend basic state grants; revise the Even Start Family Literacy Programs; and authorize…