Dan's comment about one class being held at the One Stop office makes me
wonder about the involvement of One Stops in general in the certificate
programs.  It seems like such a natural partnering.  From the experience
of our guests and others on the list, do One Stops take the lead in this
adoption of credentialing programs?  Do they at least support it?  How
does that work out in practice?
Donna

________________________________

From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Dan Wann
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 12:44 AM
To: 'The Workplace Literacy Discussion List'
Subject: [Workplace 681] Re: Please share COABE experiences



Donna, 

 

I will try and answer your questions as best as I can.  I have also
asked Timmie Westfall who is the Workforce Literacy Education Project
Director for Division of Adult Education, IDOE to join in this
discussion.  She was originally going to be on the panel with Melissa
and myself but her schedule did not allow her to attend COABE this year.


 

1.	Industry Driven-there are several factors that make this project
industry driven.  The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has a
Strategic Skills Initiative and many of the industry sectors mentioned
in the IN presentation are the same.  Also, the company must ask for the
class, and yes, we do market our services to business and industry.  But
the starting point and first customer is the business itself.  They must
be full partners in the class and have a representative that helps set
goals for the class, participates in an advisory committee, and further
all companies are expected to make a financial commitment to support the
class and the employees who attend.  A third and major factor that makes
this project industry led is the emphasis on local needs and demands.
As in all states there is a huge variety in business and industry from
size of the company, product or services offered, and the make up the
local workforce.  The needs of northwest Indiana near Chicago are vastly
different from the more rural southeastern corner of the state that
border Ohio and Kentucky.  
2.	Dislocated workers-the workers referred to on that slide
represent those served in our program last year.  We have been
delivering Workplace Literacy Education since 2000 and usually have a
similar proportion of dislocated workers.  Most of these workers are
receiving both state and company assistance in re-training efforts.  In
South Bend, IN the Workforce Literacy class was held at the WorkOne (One
Stop) office with the goal of assisting the worker to bring skills up to
a level to enter one of the more formal credentialing or training
programs.  At another location in Connersville, IN the class was held at
the company with multiple partners providing a variety of training
programs.  Again the Adult Education class' primary goal is to help
raise the basic skill level of the worker so they can meet entry
criteria of the various training classes.  
3.	Funding-there is a variety of funding sources.  The Workforce
Literacy Project is a major initiative for the Division of Adult
Education which supports the project with training and state staff as
well as programming dollars.  The companies also contribute to a degree.
There are three regional Workforce Educational Specialists who assist
business and local adult education programs in applying for grants from
other state agencies for workforce development training funds when
appropriate.  It takes a lot of creativity and a combination of
resources.  At time the Workforce Education project is exploring a Fee
for Service model.  
4.	Curriculum-while not asked this question here I am adding a
comment.  From the beginning of the Workforce project in 2000 we have
focused on a customized curriculum based on the workplace itself and the
needs of the employees to function effectively on the job.  While we may
use some published materials, all teachers are trained and expected to
go into the worksite, meet with employees and supervisors and then
develop curricula materials and activities that utilize workplace
documents.  While this does lead back to the first question about being
industry driven, it also provides a rich classroom experience for the
working adult student.  

 

Dan 

 

Dan Wann 

Professional Development Consultant 

Indiana Adult Education Professional Development Project 

dlwann at comcast.net 

 

 

 

________________________________

From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Brian, Dr Donna J G
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 12:17 PM
To: The Workplace Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Workplace 673] Re: Please share COABE experiences

 

Thanks for sharing your materials, Melissa and Dan.  Dan, I hope it is
agreeable with you if we address questions to you too this week.

 

I notice in the Indiana portion of your presentation that the Indiana
Workforce Education Project is (was) "industry driven" and that the main
industries served were manufacturing, agriculture, hospitality/tourism,
and transportation/logistics.  How were these sectors targeted?

 

Another question: One of your slides says that "98 classes were held in
60 companies with 1,074 students" and that 232 of these were dislocated
or unemployed workers.  Were these workers being provided these classes
by the companies thay had previously worked for as some sort of a
severance package? If not, where did they come from and were their
classes also held on company premises?

 

And a question for all our discussants:  Where does the funding for
credentialing programs come from?  Are they generally held in workplaces
with cooperation from the company or are they usually pre-employment
ventures?

 

Thanks in advance for helping us understand how this has worked for you.

 

Donna

 

________________________________

From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Dayton, Melissa
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 9:21 AM
To: The Workplace Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Workplace 672] Re: Please share COABE experiences

Greetings,

Connecticut and Indiana are establishing workforce readiness
certificates based on the CASAS Workforce Skills Certification System.
Attached is a copy of the COABE presentation, "Workforce Skills
Certificates: Enhancing Curriculum and Student Outcomes", which Dan Wann
of the Indiana Adult Education Professional Development Project and I
co-presented.  The session generated many good questions, and we look
forward to this week's discussion.

 

Melissa Dayton

Adult Training and Development Network

Capitol Region Education Council

111 Charter Oak Avenue

Hartford, CT  06106

tel:  (860) 524-4057

fax: (860) 524-4050

www.crec.org/cetes/atdn

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/workplace/attachments/20070412/eb14eda4/attachment.html