This report comes from a three-year program of research, "Securing Their Future: Older Workers and the Role of VET." Previous work from the program looked at how well workers were matched to their jobs, based on their literacy and numeracy skills and the use of these skills in the workplace. In a continuation of that work, the research…

Governments and other stakeholders have become increasingly interested in assessing the skills of their adult populations in order to monitor how well prepared they are to meet the challenges of the new information world. The current paper provides an overview of the conceptual framework for the assessment of numeracy developed for the OECD's…

This brief describes national technical assistance organizations. Thirteen organizations are included: Essential Skills Resource Center; Center for Applied Linguistics; Center on Education and Training for Employment; Language Training Designs; Center for Remediation Design; Matrices Consultants, Inc.; Performance Plus Literacy Consultants; HRD…

The functional literacy movement has emphasized the ability to read job-related materials as a major occupational/functional skill. Various studies, by the Educational Testing Service and others, have supported the contention that the ability to read is a fundamental vocational skill in American society. (CH)

A project reviewed and classified adult literacy skills needed in industry and described nine industry-based literacy programs. The typology of such programs (direct/indirect; individual/group) provides a framework for analyzing industry perceptions of literacy needs. (SK)

After reiterating the findings of an earlier examination of job literacy, this paper discusses the results of a job literacy survey involving interviews with 107 individuals representing 100 occupations ranging from short-order cooks and assembly-line workers to lawyers and corporation vice-presidents. Other aspects of the research findings…

This brief contains selected references on work force and workplace literacy. The references are divided under the following headings: 10 how-to guides and assessment tools, 15 policy and research reports, and 4 surveys. Each listing may include the following: title, author(s), product description, cost, and publishing source. (NLA)

The fifth National Education Goal--every adult will be literate and possess the necessary skills for competing in a global economy and to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship--is being implemented in part through workplace literacy programs. To reach the goal of universal literacy in the United States, five objectives were…

Evaluative information is provided on 18 completed workplace literacy classes conducted in the Seattle-King County, Washington, area for 218 limited English proficient workers. The programs were operated by the Employment Opportunities Center and the Refugee Service Federation. Participants were members of the following ethnic groups: Vietnamese,…

Discusses the gap between the basic skills of many workers and the more complex skills required by many jobs. Points out that many employers offer basic skills training because they cannot find qualified entry-level workers and find glaring deficiencies in their existing workers. (JOW)

Documents a literacy problem in an electronics factory in which workers failed to read or follow written instructions. Suggests that to be truly literate, employees need access to a wider range of information about companies and their work and that work should be organized to allow, even require, workers to take responsibility for reading and…

The issue of illiteracy in the workplace and the implications for restructuring, multiskilling, and training are discussed. Findings of a national survey, Literacy for Productivity: A Study of Adult Literacy in the Workplace, are also reported. A response supports the argument for implementation of literacy programs. (Contains five references.)…

Presents highlights of a panel discussion on workplace literacy at the Literacy in the 21st Century Research Conference (Edmonton, Alberta, October 1997). Participants from business, government, and university discussed Syncrude Canada's Workplace Literacy Program, implications of the International Adult Literacy Survey for the labor market, and…

In a response to the Mikulecky and Diehl examination of work-related literacy, this paper points out the need for data based on ethnographic approaches to research and more realistic assessments of text difficulty. Also suggested are questions to which future research might respond: How much of functional literacy is really functional competency?…

Argues that on-the-job reading makes special demands upon readers. Presents a technical reading strategy that involves a five-step prereading checklist and four postreading analyses. (FL)