[NIFL-4EFF:2073] EFF and the workforce

From: akohring (akohring@utk.edu)
Date: Wed Mar 13 2002 - 17:16:54 EST


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Subject: [NIFL-4EFF:2073] EFF and the workforce
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Greetings all:

While I was taking a break from the EFF Field Research data collection 
process, I received an email notice about a survey from the National 
Association of Manufacturers (NAM) called “The Skills Gap: 2001”. 
[You can obtain a copy of this document from:  
http://www.nam.org/Docs/CenterforWorkforceSuccess/23975_NAMSkillsGapforPress.pdf
 ]

What caught my interest was that the top reported skill deficiencies for both 
current employees as well as potential employees in manufacturing were called 
basic employability skills: attendance, timeliness, work ethic, etc.  Yet, my 
first thoughts were: don’t the EFF Worker Role Map and the 16 Standards 
address this?

The Skills Gap report seems to miss the connection between what adult 
educators do -including what EFF brings to the adult education field- and how 
this addresses the variety of needs expressed by the report (beyond the 
employability skills mentioned above).

Are policy makers, employers, or workplace programs in your states/regions 
making these connections?  If not, how do we as a field communicate this 
message?

In light of current economic trends, this seems like an important message for 
people to understand.  Perhaps that's the big “gap” coming out of this report.

Best to you all,
Aaron Kohring
Member of the EFF Assessment Consortium Team

Aaron Kohring
Research Associate
University of Tennessee, Center for Literacy Studies
Phone:(865)974-4109
Fax:(865)974-3857
e-mail: akohring@utk.edu



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