A test of job-specific literacy, called the McCoy Assessment of Worksite Literacy Abilities (MAWSLA), could not predict the job success of the 100 employees who took it. The 108-item test was based on literary tasks encountered by employees in the course of a routine day at McCoy Electronics Company, a 560-employee firm in Pennsylvania. The…

As part of a project that identified the specific literacy skills required in ten occupations, this report provides two levels of instructional information about auto mechanics. Factual data are presented in Parts I and II for use in decision making by program developers, administrators, teachers, and counselors. These sections note the specific…

The Basic Occupational Literacy Test (BOLT) measures basic skills of educationally disadvantaged adults in four content areas: reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, arithmetic computation, and arithmetic reasoning. Alternate forms of each subtest are available at each of three or four levels of difficulty. The Wide Range Scale is used to…

A response to United States Senator George McGovern's call for congressional legislation to establish an independent national commission on literacy is necessary. Two considerations that must be taken into account by any individual, group, or commission addressing issues of criteria for competency in literacy are: (1) literacy competence is a…

Fully on-the-job training, the majority of which is conducted in the workplace as part of the normal experience of the employee, is perceived to offer benefits to apprentices/ trainees, employers and registered training organisations. This report finds fully on-the-job training is viewed by learners and registered training organisations as a good…

Based on a research project that sought to train instructors to conduct action research in a real-life context, this handbook was created to help literacy instructors to use action research in workplace education programs. The handbook is organized in three parts. The first part describes action research as a type of practice-based research. It…

This paper presents an overview and suggestions about the development of occupational and skill clusters by the Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States (V-TECS), based on the observations of the executive director of the organization. Aspects reviewed include the following: development of occupational and skill clusters; classification…

This collection of writings is the culmination of students' study in the Worker Education Program's (WEP) workplace literacy classes. The WEP is a joint labor/management project of the Service Employees International Union Local 285 and unionized health care employers in Massachusetts that offers a range of education, job training, and career…

This teaching guide contains materials for 24 2-hour lessons for people with limited English proficiency who are seeking a job in the cosmetology industry or seeking enrollment in cosmetology courses. The course is intended to improve students' abilities to communicate orally with customers in a cosmetology setting and to improve job seeking and…

These two volumes contain research papers and personal reflections developed as culminating projects by adult students involved in workplace literacy classes in nursing homes, hospitals, and home care agencies. The first volume contains 18 papers: "What You Need to Know about Cancer" (Grace Bopst); "What Nursing Assistants Need to Know about Heart…

The Adult Literacy Program at the Alameda County Library provided employment oriented programs. The project served a community of over 200,000 people, and targeted workforce/workplace learners. The project served 578 adult learners and provided 35,904 hours of direct tutoring service. The report provides a comparison of actual accomplishments to…

An evaluation was conducted of three adult literacy and basic skills programs in Ontario (Canada) to identify the type and nature of clients served and services provided by the programs. Research methodology included mailed questionnaires (n=150, 78 percent returned), 92 personal and telephone interviews with instructors and administrators of…

This workbook is a guide for work teams focused on one part of the hiring process--interviewing potential employees. The following sections are included: (1) an overview--what can be learned from interviews; (2) constructing effective interviews--identifying the skills and qualities needed; developing appropriate questions; and gathering useful…

This volume consists of four issues. Issue 1 looks at some recent research on practice and is composed of these articles: "Reflection on Literacy," a summary of the World Conference on Literacy; "How Effective Is Adult Literacy Education?" that reports outcomes of Ontario Literacy Coalition studies; "UK Trends: Assessing…

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…