This evaluation guide resulted from a 2-year project that conducted literacy audits at 10 manufacturing companies, assessed 3,291 workers, developed customized assessments and curricula, and provided 104 courses to 948 participants in the Chicago area. The guide is a hands-on resource to assist companies, unions, or educational agencies in setting…

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) programs, characterized by the special needs of the language learners, are described and a review of the literature on a functional-notional approach to the syllabus design of ESP programs is presented. It is suggested that effective ESP programs should teach the language skills necessary to function and perform…

This is an evaluation report of the California Human Development Corporation (CHDC) Rural Workplace Literacy Project targeting migrant farmworkers. The program provided bilingual instruction in 15 worksites tailored to job-related literacy needs. Evaluation data were gathered through interviews, test results, observation, and an in-class…

This report describes the outcomes of a project designed to aid agricultural workers in their transition to hotel jobs. Displaced workers (predominantly Filipino) from a Dole plantation were forced to seek employment in new resorts on Lanai. The goals of the project were to: (1) qualify former Dole employees for jobs in the newly-developed resort…

Based on a series of clear lines workshops, this guide about clear language in the workplace was written for people concerned about literacy and clear communication at work. The materials and activities help not only people with reading problems to design documents, memos, letters, and bulletins, but help, also, people who read well. The guide's…

This index of workplace and adult basic skills computer software includes 108 listings. Each listing is described according to the following classifications: (1) teacher/tutor tools (customizable or mini-authoring systems); (2) assessment and skills; (3) content; (4) instruction method; (5) system requirements; and (6) name, address, and phone…

This document is the final report of the first year's operation of a project designed to train literacy and adult education providers and organizations in business, industry, and labor to develop and implement effective workplace literacy programs. The program, which operates in Pennsylvania on the state and regional levels, initiates the…

This article is devoted to explaining the use and misuse of standardized tests in adult literacy programs. Among the topics covered on that subject are why the tests are of such interest among adult educators: because the authority vested in these tests can determine the way programs are developed, what is taught, the climate of teaching and…

From August 12, 1987 to June 30, 1988, Rock Valley College, in cooperation with the Rockford Area Literacy Council and the college's English Language Study Center, administered a state grant entitled "Private Sector Partnerships for English Literacy." The goal of this project was to recruit and provide tutoring and classes for students…

The student learning profile consists of a cover sheet for including basic student information and checklists that focus on language and job-related skills. The cover sheet contains spaces for pre- and post-test scores, student expressed learning goals, and the proposed teaching and learning plan. The checklists, one for each of three…

This interim report describes the first few months' work of a task force that developed a set of procedures for conducting a literacy task analysis. A literacy task analysis could be used by employers, union delegates, human resource personnel, trainers, and adult educators to understand better the specific workplace training needs of employees,…

Reporting recent and significant studies across the spectrum of the literacy movement to help plan the United States' literacy future, this book discusses the history of the adult literacy movement, especially in the United States, and the emergent definitions of adult literacy. The book also reports on the scholarship about, practice of, and…

This summary reports on the proceedings of a conference that was convened to focus attention on the implications of inadequate literacy levels among present and future employees of small businesses and to share successful approaches to the task of helping these employees develop the literacy skills required to meet ever-changing job requirements.…

This booklet provides guidelines for setting up workplace programs to strengthen employee basic skills. It is intended to help employers who are contemplating the establishment of basic skills training programs and those with programs already in place who seek to improve their current designs. Part I addresses the basic skills problem in the…

A study was conducted that addressed job literacy in a cross-section of occupations. The Diehl-Mikulecky Job Literacy Survey was administered to 107 subjects who represented a full range of occupational types and levels and who comprised a sample similar to the adult working population on the demographic variables of sex, race, income earned, and…