Tom, Paul and others,

I am convinced that the U.S. National Workplace Literacy Program  
(NWLP) of the 1980's and 1990's was worthwhile.* Thanks to research  
by Jim Parker, we know that it launched nearly half of the states  
into efforts that support workplace education with state funds. One  
might ask: so why do we need another _federal_ workplace education  
program? Why not just let the states, some municipalities, and  
companies pay for this? What is the added value of a federally-funded  
program, and should it again be a demonstration program?  For that  
matter, some would argue that because states can use federal adult  
education funding now for workplace literacy education that we  
already have a federal investment in workplace education.

I think we do need a new federal program focused on workplace and  
workforce basic skills. It should support states that want to develop  
comprehensive, work-related basic skills models. These models should  
include workplace basic skills education, and should require close  
linkages between workplace-focused literacy and English programs and  
general, community-oriented programs (those sponsored by community- 
based organizations, public schools, libraries, community colleges  
and other organizations that serve a general population of adults in  
need of basic skills.) The model should require development of a  
seamless local adult education system so that those introduced to  
literacy, basic skills or English learning at work, who want to  
continue beyond what is available at the workplace, would have these  
next-step education services easily available as face-to-face classes  
and tutorials and/or online or blended learning.

The model should also include workforce preparation programs. It  
should require them to work closely with employers who have job  
openings that they want to fill, and to make basic and English  
language skills part of a continuum of services that would lead to  
entry level jobs (and basic education), jobs for diploma and GED  
holders (and more education, for example college preparation or  
college enrollment) and college learning that leads to certificates  
or degrees, until they have the qualifications to fill jobs that lead  
to family self-sufficiency.  We need a federal initiative that would  
support states that want to do both workplace and workforce education  
well. A new federal demonstration model needs to be a three-to-five  
year investment accompanied by a solid external program evaluation so  
if a state's model works, we have evidence that it works, and so that  
other states might benefit from replicating it.

I wonder if, in the hard economic times ahead, such a federal, work- 
related education program might be part of a larger, New Deal-like  
investment in jobs, education and careers for adults. Maybe, in a new  
Administration, and with a new Congress, we could have two  
replacements for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title II: an  
Adult and Family Literacy Act, and a Workplace and Workforce  
Education Act, each with provisions that required genuine  
partnerships at every level of government tp support learners' desire  
for good jobs and good education.

David J. Rosen
djrosen at theworld.com

* A review of the United States NWLP that I wrote for the New Zealand  
Department of Labour this year will be found at http:// 
www.dol.govt.nz/publication-view.asp?ID=265
It also includes case studies of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts state  
workplace literacy programs.





On Oct 30, 2008, at 12:56 PM, <JURMO at ucc.edu> <JURMO at ucc.edu> wrote:


> Hello, Everyone,

>

> I agree that the US should revive its efforts to develop high quality

> systems for workforce education (for both employed, unemployed, and

> transitioning workers).  However, if we do so, we should build on the

> research and other work that has been done to develop models of

> work-related basic education since the days of the NWLP.

>

> Rather than just duplicate the NWLP as it was back then, we should  

> look

> at the lessons learned in the NWLP itself (which are captured in  

> reports

> housed at the ERIC-ACVE Clearinghouse and in other reports like

> "Reinventing the NWLP" and a recent study by David Rosen) as well as

> other more recent work done in the US and in other countries like

> Canada, the UK, and New Zealand.

>

> The Equipped for the Future standards (and the related National Work

> Readiness Credential), distance education, state-level systems for

> work-related basic education, career pathway projects funded by the

> USDOL and other sources, and program models developed for special

> populations (e.g., immigrants, ex-offenders, etc.):  these are just  

> some

> of the resources that have been developed since the days of the NWLP.

>

> Paul Jurmo, Ed.D.

> Dean, Economic Development and Continuing Education

> Union County College

> New Jersey

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace- 

> bounces at nifl.gov] On

> Behalf Of tsticht at znet.com

> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 2:53 PM

> To: workplace at nifl.gov

> Subject: [Workplace 1647] Revive the NWLP

>

> October 29, 2008

>

> We Need to Revive the National Workplace Literacy Program to Improve

> the Economic Competitiveness of Our Present and Future Workforce

>

> Tom Sticht

> International Consultant in Adult Education

>

> Millions of adults with the lowest literacy skills are found in

> workplaces.

> The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) of 2003 indicated  

> that

> 29

> percent of adults who scored below basic on the prose scale on the

> National

> Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) of 1993 were employed full-time. In 2003

> the

> percentage of adults with below basic prose literacy scores who were

> employed full-time rose to 35 percent, a statistically significant

> increase

> in full-time employed adults with literacy skills at the lowest level.

> This

> means that some 10.8 million adults with the lowest level of literacy

> skills can be found working full-time in workplaces in the United

> States.

> An additional 10 percent of adults, over 3 million,  in the lowest  

> level

> of

> literacy in 2003 were working part-time. This was a two percentage  

> point

> increase from 1993.

>

> The fact that the percentage of low literacy adults in the  

> workplaces of

> the

> United States increased in the decade from 1993 to 2003, resulting in

> over

> 13 million adults with below basic levels of literacy, suggests a need

> to

> revive the federal government's National Workplace Literacy Program

> (NWLP)

> of the late 1980s through the mid-1990s.  The NWLP provided grants for

> developing and delivering adult literacy, numeracy, and English  

> language

> education programs directly in or in close proximity to the places  

> where

> low literacy adults work.

>

> Research from before the NWLP, during the NWLP, and up to the present

> has

> indicated that workplace literacy program generally produce outcomes

> that

> are especially important during hard economic times. First, employers

> are

> more likely to implement workplace programs that focus directly on

> improving some aspect(s) of the functions that the employer must

> perform,

> such as recruiting from a larger pool of available workers, making job

> training more effective, increasing productivity, decreasing waste,  

> sick

> leaves, and providing opportunities to promote good workers to higher

> levels of responsibility.

>

> Second, employees are more likely to value education that will  

> directly

> help

> them enter into a specific line of work, or to increase their  

> chances of

> keeping a job, or making more money, or making them more generally

> employable in the world of work.

>

> Third, a number of workplace literacy programs have indicated that  

> even

> though the program was focused directly on their jobs, employees often

> reported other important outcomes beyond improved work performance,

> including things like improved confidence outside the workplace in the

> community, continuation of education outside the workplace program,  

> and

> improvements in their educational activities with their children or

> grandchildren (e.g., reading more with them; helping them with their

> homework).

>

> These "multiplier effects" of even brief workplace literacy programs

> provide

> returns on investment beyond improved working ability. They provide  

> for

> what

> I call "double duty dollars" meaning that a dollar spent on adult  

> basic

> education may also provide increases in parenting, grand-parenting,

> health

> care, and social behaviors in the community. Many dollars are often

> spent

> in special programs to get these various outcomes, only here one gets

> these

> outcomes for free--as a "spin-off" from the dollar spent on adult  

> basic

> education.

>

> Adult educators are sometimes leery of workplace literacy programs  

> that

> focus on improving job-related literacy because they think that this

> results in just a narrow band of improved literacy. But a number of

> research projects from before, during, and after the NWLP have now

> indicated that work-focused literacy or English language programs can

> produce not just gains in job-related literacy, but also general

> literacy

> as measured by standardized tests such as the Tests of Adult Basic

> Education (TABE) or Adult Basic Learning Exam (ABLE).

>

> Other research on literacy for job training indicates that the more

> focused

> literacy or English language programs are on a specific occupational

> field,

> the more likely the program is to retain students to completion and

> result

> in the achievement of a job qualification certificate and a job.  

> General

> workforce employability programs do not achieve these types of  

> outcomes

> to

> the extent as more specifically focused programs.

>

> When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton reportedly replied,

> "Because

> that is where the money is." That is why we need to revive the  

> National

> Workplace Literacy Program, because that is where some 13 million  

> adults

> with the lowest literacy skills are. If we invest in the education of

> working adults, we can increase the competitiveness of America's

> workforce,

> while in many cases improving the educability of America's  

> children, the

> workforce of the future. In hard economic times, we need to get  

> "double

> duty dollars" from our investments in adult education.

>

> Thomas G. Sticht

> International Consultant in Adult Education

> 2062 Valley View Blvd.

> El Cajon, CA 92019-2059

> Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133

> Email: tsticht at aznet.net

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Workplace Literacy mailing list

> Workplace at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/workplace

> Email delivered to jurmo at ucc.edu

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Workplace Literacy mailing list

> Workplace at nifl.gov

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to  

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/workplace

> Email delivered to djrosen at theworld.com


David J. Rosen
DJRosen at theworld.com