A cooperative effort was made by the Chamber of Commerce and the Adult and Community Education Program to encourage and facilitate work force literacy in small and medium-sized businesses, industries, and government agencies in Gadsden County, Florida. Businesses that could benefit were identified through a business/industry questionnaire. Six…

This interview guide can be used to determine whether a workplace literacy provider has the skills to develop and deliver a successful workplace literacy program that will meet the needs of a business and build the productive capacity of its employees. It can be used to assess the capabilities of a wide variety of literacy providers, including…

This product checklist can be used to determine whether a particular workplace literacy product (such as a series of instructional workbooks, curriculum guides, or computerized instructional systems), follows best practice and will meet the needs of a particular business firm and build the productive capacity of its employees. The checklist was…

A project examined five case studies of workplace literacy initiatives. The research sought to understand better what happens within workplace literacy programs--what are their premises and claims, their curricular stances, and their approach to teaching and learning--with the intent of resolving the basic question of whether vocational…

PLAN, Inc., a nonprofit, community-based literacy training program, conducted a workplace literacy training program in partnership with the Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center (WHC). During an 18-month period, the program provided workplace literacy training and career development skills to employees in several service departments and…

Project Learning T.I.P. (To Improve Productivity) was conducted at three hospitals by the Dade County Public Schools to increase the literacy skills of the approximately 4,000 lower-level hospital employees who were deemed by their supervisors to be limited English proficient or to lack basic skills. Because of recruiting efforts limited by lack…

A 2-year project was conducted to improve the productivity of the work force through improvement of literacy skills in the workplace by providing instruction to employees in the printing industry in the Baltimore (Maryland) metropolitan area; Carroll County and Charles County, Maryland; and York, Pennsylvania. The project was organized with input…

The Casco Bay (Maine) Partnership for Workplace Education was a federally funded workplace literacy program that provided customized basic skills education at seven business sites in the Portland area. The partnership served more than 2,000 employees from 1993-96. Program characteristics included the following: ongoing and self-directed learning;…

Directed at persons who are not experts in program evaluation or workplace literacy, this handbook provides various options and processes that can be used for formal evaluation of workplace literacy programs. The handbook is organized in six sections. An introductory section acknowledges the weaknesses of any evaluation attempt. In the second…

A two-pronged project model aimed to reduce the volume and increase the usefulness of health care materials and improve the literacy, verbal communication, and problem-solving skills of hospital employees. Regular meetings with hospital staff led project personnel to begin training with the cleaning staff in the areas of fire safety, back care,…

A collaborative project involved Collins and Aikman, Inc., Pitt Community College, and the U.S. Department of Education in an effort to improve the literacy level of the company's work force in order to increase productivity. A pretest of about 400 of the company's 513 workers in 1 division uncovered educational needs in reading and mathematics…

Literacy Foundation Memphis, Inc., Memphis City Schools Adult Education, and the Regional Medical Center at Memphis cooperatively implemented an intensive skills enhancement program for employees. The program used an industry immersion model, located on site, with 80 hours of instruction delivered 4 hours per day for 4 weeks on work-release time.…

Through a federal grant, Salt Lake Community College (Utah), in conjunction with two area industries, implemented a workplace literacy project to serve 225 employees. The training included work-related curriculum and instruction in reading, English as a Second Language, oral communication skills, written communication skills, mathematics, and…

A general increase in the demand for workplace basic skills mirrors the general increase in societal basic skills demands. As a result, many adults are participating in second-chance basic skills education. Second-chance basic skills programs are offered by a wide variety of providers, but populations actually served by programs rarely amount to…

The Anchorage Workplace Literacy (AWL) program was designed to train adult workers who have inadequate basic skills. The "Skill Books Go to Work" model developed in a previous National Workplace Literacy Program was used and modified as needed for the job-specific environments of nine business partners. Job task analyses were done at the…