The first part of this document describes the formation of the Education Steering Committee for Basic Skills Coordination by the Education Department, consisting of representatives from six staff offices and "Head Start." The Committee's goals and accomplishments are summarized, including compilation and distribution of a legislative…

Attempts to assess the effectiveness of basic skills programs have been difficult. There is disagreement on the factors which underlie the reported gains. The Urban Education Studies program, through on-site studies, is uncovering programs and procedures which appear to be working well. Efforts are being made to gain a better understanding of the…

A project was conducted to develop an integrated basic skills instructional program in an education service cooperative to serve grades 7-12 vocational students in 13 rural school districts in Arkansas (Grant and Jefferson counties) as a follow-up to the vocational assessment process. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) chose the Arkansas…

The first of two papers that comprise this document introduces Australia's response to 1990 as the United Nations (UN) International Literacy Year (ILY). The second paper sets policy directions for Australia's Literacy Year program. The first paper contains the six UN objectives for the year (to increase government action to combat illiteracy,…

This program operates on the assumption that exposure of 3- and 4-year-old children to a structured basic skills oriented program with continuity will substantially increase the contributions of school-related factors to educational achievement and adjustments, and to a large extent erase the gap between less advantaged children and their more…

This report describes a joint labor-management workplace literacy program called SET (Skills Enhancement Training) that targeted the more than 2,000 unionized employees of food service contractors at U.S. government institutions in Washington, D.C. Nineteen classes were offered and a total of 191 people self-selected themselves into the program.…

The Norfolk (England) Local Education Authority (LEA) undertook successful collaborations with employers, voluntary organizations, and the health service. Many employers were willing to invest in basic skills training for their employees in work time and in the workplace. They were more receptive if a need had been identified or employees had…

Seven voluntary organizations in Canada looked at the literacy needs of the people who used their services. The Canadian Home and School and Parent-Teacher Federation began an 18-month pilot project focusing on "Literacy in the Information Age." It sponsored literacy exchanges in neighborhoods across Canada. The Canadian Child Welfare…

This document reports how the Council of State Policy and Planning Agencies (CSPA) Academy process helped nine states develop workplace literacy initiatives involving their governors' offices, the Job Training Partnership Act system, and the educational system. The states were Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee,…

This publication contains a final report and curriculum materials for a workplace literacy partnership program. The final project report includes the following: a project overview, goal analysis, statistical data on learners served, summaries on instruction, recommendations, dissemination and evaluation activities, and instruments with results.…

Compiled from information contained in the Program Year 1994-95 Annual Narrative Performance Reports submitted by states to the U.S. Department of Education, this paper shares selected information on recent developments in workplace education programs for adults. Section 1 describes programs that exhibited strong partnerships and collaboration in…

Successful workplace literacy programs involve unions. Support for education and training has long been a part of organized labor's history. Current initiatives are an expansion of union interest and activity in this area. Many unions have negotiated significant financial resources for workplace education as a part of collective bargaining…

This Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Update provides a quick primer of some of the key areas where states have flexibility to develop their own programs and processes in the new Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program. This guide is organized in seven sections that cover the following topics: (1) introduction; (2) why local areas…

A program was developed to provide adult basic education (ABE) to kidney patients while they are receiving dialysis treatment. The program, which relies on an individualized learning approach, involved the coordinated efforts of the following parties: West Virginia Dialysis Facilities, Inc.; the Charleston Renal Group; and the Kanawha County Adult…

The Ohio State University, Inland Fisher Guide Division of General Motors, and United Auto Workers Local 969 formed a collaborative partnership in 1990 to train employees whose inadequate literacy skills made them unable to respond to the requirements of "synchronous manufacturing" (or "just in time" production). One of the…