Planning A Workplace Literacy Program

The Planning Steps Step 2: Lay the Groundwork Four key individuals or groups need to participate on the planning team that lays the groundwork for the program: the literacy program administrator, the workplace literacy coordinator, the instructional experts/teachers, and the tutor training team. Not all the actions described below will necessarily be taken in the order presented. Select a Workplace Literacy Coordinator The program administrator writes a job description and hires or appoints a workplace literacy coordinator. Your program might have a current staff member who could be assigned to develop the first stages of the workplace program as part of his or her other responsibilities. If so, when the workplace literacy services expand, the workplace literacy coordinator may need to become a full-time staff position. The workplace literacy coordinator must have a good understanding of adult literacy programming. This person must also have managerial and public relations skills, as well as the interpersonal skills for working effectively with business and industry personnel, labor representatives volunteers, workers, and education providers. The workplace literacy coordinator's job responsibilities will include networking with the business community and other education providers, working with the training team, marketing the program, preparing proposals, negotiating contracts, communicating with company representatives, conducting literacy audits, and designing the program structure and evaluation. The workplace literacy coordinator may also be responsible for on going program management, which will include company awareness and sensitivity, tutor and student recruitment, student assessment, tutor supervision and support, and recordkeeping and reporting. Or this person might consult with a company liaison assigned to some or all of these tasks. Begin to Build a Learning and Support Network The workplace literacy coordinator must begin by identifying people in the local area who understand local economic and workforce issues. By establishing a broad-based network of contacts in business, labor organizations, the media, and employment-related agencies the coordinator and the literacy organization will develop a better understanding of workforce literacy issues in the community. Consider Instructional Models The literacy program administrator, workplace literacy coordinator, instructional consultant, and training team work together to determine what type of workplace literacy program to offer. This step involves decisions about curriculum and instructional models. The curriculum for volunteer-based literacy programs in the workplace will probably be and adaptation of the reading, writing, ESL, and math instruction that your community program already offers. Instructional models range from the more traditional models of one-to-one tutoring and small group instruction to a worker-centered program, in which workers are active decision makers in program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Determine Your Budget and Fees The administrator and workplace literacy coordinator must determine fair and adequate fees for workplace services. As you do this, keep in mind that providing those services requires time, effort, and resources. Your organization needs to receive fair and realistic reimbursement for these specialized services. When figuring a budget, consider the factors below. Determine what part of these expenses you will need to cover and what part will be covered in work done by an on-site company liaison. Administrative time: Contract negotiation, program design, planning, attending meetings, telephone consultation, staff training, reports, communication with the board, recordkeeping. Clerical time: typing correspondence, proposals, budgets, and curriculum materials, and tasks like photocopying and binding. Staff time: program development, tutor training, curriculum adaptation, learner assessment, tutor support and supervision, program coordination, program evaluation (also teacher time if using teachers). Paid employee benefits. Outside services: bookkeeping, audits, evaluations. Cost of materials per student. Tutor transportation costs (if tutors are volunteers from the community rather than company employees). Costs for tutoring time. (If tutors are company employees, you could consider pro-rating this cost and indicating it as the company's in-kind monetary contribution to the program.). Many programs build in an additional amount (often about 20%) for overhead. Develop Tutor Training The workplace coordinator and the training team must develop a model for a tutor training workshop that results in quality instruction and a solid understanding of how to work with adults. In the workshop sections that deal with goal setting, lesson planning, and techniques such as language experience, you should plan to use examples geared to the workplace setting. Once you are connected with a company, be sure to get input from the human resources department that will make your training occupation-specific to that company. When designing training for workplace literacy volunteers you will also need to allow time to address the following topics. You will not be able to decide exactly what to include in each section until you have a better idea about the needs of the company and the employees you will be working with. Overview of the workplace literacy program Describe its place within the overall services your organization offers to the community; how it is organized; the literacy organization's relationship with the company in which tutors will be working; the responsibilities of the workplace literacy coordinator; and the company's expectations for the program. The workplace environment It tutors are not company employees, you will need to describe the company's culture, the personnel in general and those with whom tutors may interact. If possible, arrange a tour of the facility for tutors. You will need to make certain the volunteers understand their role within the workplace. Discuss acceptable standards of performance, dress, line of authority and freedom to make decisions. Explain the relationships among literacy staff, volunteer, workers, union representatives and management. Sensitivity to workplace students You will need to discuss answers to the following questions so that tutor will have a realistic picture of who the learners are. Are workers learning on their own time or on company time? What pressures are workers facing on the job and how does the literacy program relate to those pressures? Do workers have the support of their immediate supervisors? Is worker participation confidential or open knowledge, with identification of workers? Is participation voluntary or mandatory? The basic skills needs identified by the employer You will need to discuss the types of listening, speaking, reading, writing, and math skills that employees of the company you are working with should have to do their jobs effectively. Show samples of signs, forms, assignment sheets, manuals and other similar items that are used in this workplace. Recordkeeping and reporting requirements Include time to explain what these requirements will be. Emphasize the importance of submitting required reports to help both the company and the literacy organization determine the effectiveness of the workplace program. If you are adapting your standard curriculum to meet workplace literacy needs, volunteers will also need training in how to plan lessons with workers; how to incorporate workplace materials into instruction (vocabulary, work-related terms and definitions, charts, diagrams, signs and symbols, instructions, memos); and how to adapt the curriculum to meet workers' job-related learning goals. next page