An organizational needs assessment (ONA) process was developed to gather information about the basic skills upgrading needs and issues in the Division of Residence Operations of a state university. Forty-four participants from management, union leadership, and all job levels in the university's custodial and maintenance departments participated in…

A curriculum designed by the Maury, Tennessee, Literacy Council to address deficiencies in English-language skills is presented. Maury County, Tennessee, is a rural area south of Nashville whose automotive industries and ethnic restaurants have immigrant populations in need of English instruction. A state 353 teacher training grant was obtained to…

A study identified and conducted onsite case studies of 18 different education programs conducted by small companies. Two-thirds of them were conducted by manufacturing companies; the remainder were in health services, construction, or transportation companies. Most of the programs served fewer than 25 workers and had been in operation for less…

An ethnographic study of five clerk-typists and five applications clerks in a large federal agency included observations, interviews, and a 3-week job literacy program. Both in their performance on job tasks and in the tests and exercises in the literacy program, the clerks demonstrated a number of strategies by which they quickly locate…

These instructor's materials consist of a handbook directed to the teacher and 33 worksheets teachers can use with adult students in order to use the cloze procedure to assess how readily they can read materials of differing complexity. The handbook introduces the materials by considering such questions as What is meant by reading?, How could…

This workbook accompanies a videotape (available from the same source) developed as part of a workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy project. The project was an effort to integrate workplace rights and union issues into a literacy curriculum, and is intended primarily for intermediate to advanced ESL students. The curriculum…

This report pinpoints the need to upgrade workers' skills and the means for accomplishing this goal through the development of workplace learning programs (WPLPs). Labor supply and demographic trends that affect the nation's workplace are explored. An examination of training programs follows. General guidelines for establishing WPLPs, derived from…

This packet of materials from the Los Angeles Herald Examiner's English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) workplace literacy program, defunct since the newspaper's closing, contains the following items: an overview of the program; a list of units and subunits; two sample lesson plans; teacher guidelines about evaluation and progress; lists of specific…

The need for workplace skills upgrading has never been more acute. In Canada, many awareness-building initiatives for literacy have been started. The most successful efforts will probably be those based on a partnership model that links companies and unions with educators who understand adult learning styles. Before a workplace literacy program…

The literacy demands encountered in schools are considerably different from those encountered in the workplace. Existing measures used to analyze literacy demands and abilities in the workplace are not suitable for analyzing the same demands and abilities in schools. Methods that are effective for general job analysis can be specifically applied…

Intended for teachers of adult basic education as well as teachers in job retraining programs, this book focuses on the development of written and oral language competencies required in occupational and training settings. The first four chapters offer a concise synthesis of recent research on adult learning and on workplace literacy for ten…

This bulletin for businesses is a step-by-step guide to planning and implementing an effective job-related employee basic skills program. Part 1 provides general principles to guide the effort. It addresses literacy and basic skills, the importance of context, and changing requirements for literacy. A preview of key program principles concludes…

For almost half a century the United States military services have incorporated formal literacy programs into job training for those enlistees who are less than fully qualified. Over the years, several successful job-specific reading programs have evolved. In 1975, the Army began the Functional Literacy (FLIT) Program, a program based on a…

This manual contains guidelines for implementing and maintaining Workplace Skills Enhancement programs. These guidelines are intended to be a resource to adult education directors and their staffs as they work with local businesses, industries, and organizations in combating adult illiteracy. The manual is divided into the key steps in…

A reading activity inventory was administered to approximately 13% of the employees at one division of a high technology company in order to (1) assess the amount of time spent reading different content or topic areas, (2) assess the amount of time spent reading different types of materials, and (3) determine the prevailing uses for reading in…