Charting A Course:
Responding to the Industry-Related
Instructional Needs of the Limited
English Proficient

1. Sed de Saber

(Thirst for Knowledge)
Retention Education, LLC

www.retentioned.com
(949) 631-6663
A collaborative effort of Retention Education, LeapFrog Enterprises, Coca Cola, and food service operators. 7 minute video online at website provides information about history and design.

Food service and hospitality industries; specifically designed for Hispanic workers in these industries.

Currently used by Dallas-based Wyndham hotels; endorsed by Coca Cola and the Multicultural Food Service and Hospitality Alliance.

Some members of national restaurant and hospitality group already pairing this with Rosetta stone and computer literacy.

Innovative and affordable ESL program designed specifically for Hispanic workers in food service and hospitality to help address workplace issues (retention, customer services, safety, and operations); lifeskills integrated into instruction.

Uses LeapFrog Quantum Pad Learning System and Six Leap Frog books; interactive format; self paced and cost effective.

Both employers and employees appear to benefit from program; elevates users’ English skills to a functional third grade level. Multi-sensory learning in a portable, take home format.

Interactive voice response system monitors learner progress; toll free number for learner assistance.

Selling points: portable, self-paced, and can potentially get entire family involved in the learning process, increasing literacy in the community; includes pre and post testing for each book.

Employer benefits reported: reduced turnover; improved customer service, employee commitment and morale; improved safety and store operations; improved quality assurance; speed and accuracy in communications.

Reported employee benefits: improved job performance, especially speed and accuracy in communications; career advancement opportunities; improved self-esteem; stronger commitment to employer; increased household income and improved life skills; passion for continued learning and increased ability to help children in school.

• Language and grammar skills

• Phonetics and pronunciation

• Conversational & workplace interaction (being a prep cook, taking orders, handling money, responding to requests, talking on the phone, solving problems, being a server, changing shifts, being a shift manager, receiving feedback, participating in team meetings)

• Language comprehension

• Common phrases and vocabulary

• Speed & accuracy

• Life skills

2. Adelante!

Developed by UT Pan American, Office of Center Operations and Community Services;
Michael Uhrbrock, Associate Director of Community Development
(956) 381-3361
uhrbrock@utpa.edu

Funded by TWC to train adults for entry level mfg. jobs in Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy Counties

Training course and completion credential endorsed by South Texas Manufacturers Association

Manufacturing in Lower Rio Grande Valley

Note: the needs of the mfg sector have reportedly changed: now requiring H.S diploma / GED and higher academic proficiency but still paying low wages.

High/low production patterns = seasonal, temporary jobs vs. full time employment

Three student workbooks and three English/Spanish DVDs:

• Workforce Skills Courseware for Success Skills (30 hrs)

• Workforce Skills Courseware for Manufacturing Essentials (40 hrs)

• Workforce Skills Courseware for Machining Technology (20 hours)

Also includes teachers’ guides, an e-learning management system, and a mobile learning lab

Evaluation of initiative (June 2005) indicates:

• TANF participants unable to enroll due to TANF participation requirements

• 8th grade equivalent requirement on TABE changed to 6th grade; too few could meet criteria

• Few referrals from WorkForce Solutions

• Minimal case management and lack of coordination were obstacles

• Grant period too short for comprehensive development

• Participants would have benefited from hands-on training with plastics injection moulding industry

• Group computer work successful; individualized, self-paced not effective with targeted population

• Mismatch between employers’ and participants’ expectations

• On going communication with employers is critical

• Could be used with incumbent workers to upgrade skills

• Lessons in success skills module applicable to any industry

• Personal responsibility

• Goals setting

• Getting help

• Personal tools

• Stress

• Communication

• Workplace success

• Shared success

• Mfg. and career pathways

• Safety on the job

• Using math in the plant

• Workplace literacy

• Quality control

• Machining technology

• Work environment

• Wages/salary

• Measurement tools and procedures

• Manufacturing process planning

• Machining tools

• Machines and materials

3. Entertech, IC2 Institute, UT Austin

512-475-8964 or
512- 475-8900

No longer a UT initiative. Now owner by Enterability, a for-profit corporation

Contact: Andrea Angelo, 512-261-3803

For purchase; costs to fit customer need

Entry level jobs in high tech industries (warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing)

Although not originally designed for English language learners, a Spanish version has since been developed with Universidad del Bravo, Reynosa, MX, for release in October 2005

CD-ROM based; 45 hour, instructor-lead, web-based learning for entry level jobs in high tech manufacturing sector; simulates on-the-job experiences and addresses crucial personal growth and development skills. Narrative story line with decision points giving learners choices and related outcomes. 10 hours of additional classroom work (group projects, personal, and time management planning). Real-time performance measures.

• Employer-validated, shaped by experienced educators and social services personnel

• Simulation-based apprenticeships

• Focus on employability skills

• Helps learners explore career ladder opportunities

• Real life contextual learning w/ engaging story line

• Continuous assessment and feedback

• Just-in-time remediation

• Life and work duties management intersection

• Modular programming, 50 minute units

• Accommodates diverse learner groups

• Written at approximately 6th grade equivalency level

• Includes two day teacher training and technical support

Piloted some years ago at Austin Community College; positive results reported

New product: customer service training for CVS Pharmacies; uses PBS Workplace Essential Skills; senior citizens targeted for training.

• Three primary work areas:

Warehousing
Assembly
Materials Handling

• 44 entry level job skills in 8 target learning areas:

job skills
people skills
organizational
communication
reading/writing
number skills
strategy skills
personal and professional growth

4. Family Dollar
MUST Curriculum

Major urban sourcing and training initiative out of South Carolina for distribution across Southeast U.S.

Currently being implemented in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas

Texas contacts:
Anson Green, TWC
512-936-0642
Gayle Fagan, HCDE
713-692-6216
Nancy Bentley Dunlap, Northside ISD
210-397-8138

Retail career opportunities with Family Dollar with 800 stores in U.S.

Company committed to building “social capital”

Currently being revised to omit proprietary references (by TWC, with permission of Family Dollar); will be available free

Curriculum development was preceded by comprehensive job task profiling and input from associates, assistant and store managers, district managers in South Carolina and Georgia. The curriculum focuses on four strands:

• Customer service

• Asset protection

• Merchandising

• Career development

Skill instruction is reinforced with direct application to Family Dollar store processes to ensure transfer of skill training to job performance.

An online version of the curriculum (developed by Texas State Technical College, Waco) is available for associates not enrolled in classes and for supplemental instruction.

Corporation’s critical rationale:

• A large percentage of American workers enter the workforce via the retail industry

• Skills required for success in entry level positions apply to workers’ personal and professional lives, in retail and other fields

• Retail is highly competitive and needs to attract and retain a competent workforce

Note: Harris County Department of Education is using MUST successfully and supplements the curriculum for use with other employers whose employees have similar needs. Some modules are easily adaptable for use across industries.

Four Strands:

• Customer service (building customer relations; working as a customer service team; communicating with customers; barriers to communication; telephone courtesy; information mgmt)

• Asset protection (observation and perception; loss prevention; troubled employees; work-place safety)

• Merchandising (inventory receiving and processing; ordering and schematics; pricing and signage)

• Career develop. (team and individual goal setting; time mgmt; workplace ethics; leadership

5. Gearing Up, Ruth Crawford, author.

An effort between Houston Metro Transit Authority and Houston Community College, David Joost, Director of Community and Adult Education (713) 718-8379 david.joost@hccs.edu

Untimely hiring freeze put instruction on hold in spring 2004. Freeze only recently lifted, so curriculum not yet fully implemented.

Bus transit system (bus operators)

Curriculum was developed to increase the number of acceptable applicants seeking to enter Metro Bus Operator Trng.

Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED plus the necessary academic skills and English communication skills to successfully enter bus operator training.

Company provided environmental print, terminology, manuals, and information regarding the customer service test employers must take. Developer also had the opportunity to meet with bus operators and to ride along on routes.

Goals very specific: to focus on bus operations and safety practices, and to increase ethnic diversity among operators (Hispanic operators currently represent only 14%). Another goal: to improve employees’ access to other employment opportunities within the company and the community.

Course of study was designed specifically with occupation in mind. Candidates were to be recruited from existing HCC adult education classes who could apply upon completion of ESL, ABE/GED preparation.

ESL students were to participate in generic English communication skills classes, followed by customized occupation-specific ESL instruction.

Includes an instructor’s guide with suggested instructional strategies for each lesson. Each section includes a focus activity, student activities, evaluation information, and extension activities.

80 hours of classroom instruction, with project for independent practice by students, and addresses intermediate and advanced level ESL standards.

• Math & map skills

• Legends/symbols

• Districts/landmarks

• Understanding & reading tables

• Reading for meaning, using context clues

• Recognizing details & facts

• Recalling and sequencing info

• Using table of contents, index in Metro training materials

• Writing paragraphs and summaries

• Notetaking

• Completing, editing paperwork, reports

• Communication: active listening, comprehension, paraphrasing, using correct grammar, syntax

• Communicating to clarify meaning & ask questions

6. Aztec Learning System, Aztec Software Associates

www.aztecsoftware.com

Currently being used in adult education programs in Amarillo ESC Region 16, College of the Mainland, Trinity Valley Community College

60 workforce workbooks under titles such as Reading at Work, Performing at Work, Computing at Work, and Writing at Work

A competency-based, computer-based series that uses graphics and sound to teach both employability, academic basic and life skills in writing, reading math, science, and social studies.

Reading level content ranges from 1.5 to 12.9.

Includes Spanish audio instructions to assist new ESL/LEP learners beginning at 1.5 level; however, Spanish does not match English on screen; some learners find this confusing.

Available for single work stations, LANS, Intranet, or Internet access.

Includes diagnostics and remediation prescriptions.

Grouped vocabulary and math activities for demand occupations such as food services, carpentry, clerical, medical, plumbing, etc.

Relatively new to adult education programs; reported to be easy to navigate; some programs using Aztec feel it is most effective with intermediate to advanced English language learners. Good support material for entry level positions in health-related jobs (food services, maintenance, sanitation).

Can be customized for specific industries and occupations

Unlimited duplication of workbooks, per site.

• Reading signs

• Reading for information and understanding

• Reading schedules and tables

• Health, sanitation, and safety

• Job applications

• Purchasing and ordering

• Completing forms

• Handling emotions at work

• Relating to customers and co- workers

• Making change, measuring, weighing

• Figuring take home pay

• Valuing benefits

• Overtime

• Sales tax, interest, pricing by unit

• Calculators and cash registers

• Handling checks

7. EFF Retail Sales Curriculum (adapted and piloted for use with ELLs by the Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville) Diane Gardner, 865-974-9949

Piloted in Brownsville, Laredo, Eagle Pass / Del Rio, and San Marcos.

Recommendations made by participating providers have been reviewed and revisions to the curriculum made as appropriate.

Also under development: Preparing for Careers in Health Care.

Retail sales and customer service. Adaptation for ELLs functioning at level 4 (intermediate) on NRS

Note: some participating programs did not adhere to required levels of ESL proficiency; teachers then tended to teach to the middle range of students; those with very limited English language skills were overwhelmed and tended to drop out.

Note: no follow up by TEA due to closing of AE office at TEA

Originally developed with input from the National Retail Federation and based upon the Sales and Service Voluntary Partnership Skill Standards.

Three phases to pilot: preparation, training (2 days for AE providers participating) and implementation, and evaluation/follow up. Includes curriculum, participant book, and mentoring support guide.

Designed to run for 11 weeks, 25 hours/wk, for a total of 275 hours, including class-based instruction and store-based internships. Weeks 1-6 are foundation instruction; weeks 7-11 are the support phase, with learners beginning an internship and gradually increasing internship time and decreasing time spent in ESL class.

Addresses six of EFF standards (speak so others understand; listen actively; plan; solve problems & make decisions; use math to solve problems; communicate, reflect, and evaluate) Language difficult for students. Simplified by instructors and learners.

Instructors expressed concerns about vocabulary level of difficulty; lack of sufficient drill and worksheet activities and retail-related dialogues; some teachers developed additional and alternative activities.

Students expressed concerns that English skills were still not strong enough to succeed in retail, although they felt well prepared for retail sales.

• Goal setting

• Observing the customer

• Three ways to buy

• Ideas for gift giving

• Using the telephone

• Greeting the customer

• Learning about products and features

• Using percents

• Counting backward

• Balancing a cash register

• Creating ads

• Handling customer complaints

• Fitting the customer to the product

• When credit is denied

• Writing and reading checks

8. Communication for Leadership, developed by Johns Hopkins University with a grant from TWC and in partnership with El Paso Community College and the Upper Rio Grande Workforce Development Board (Taggart, 2003)

Contact:
Sara Martinez, Workplace Literacy
saram@epcc.edu

A set of flexible modules designed to be delivered in conjunction with leadership instruction for workers who are learning English as a second language. Interactive modules can be selected/adapted based on worker/employer needs. Can be customized for any industry.

Designed for incumbent workers wishing to advance; materials may pose some difficulty for individuals with very minimal literacy skills in their native language.

Lessons built on a three-step model which includes:
Critical inquiry Learning activity Debriefing

Needs assessments with companies involved provide rationale for each section.

Resources also drawn from Adult Bilingual Curriculum Institute Core Instructor Training (Johns Hopkins Univ.)

Promotes use of students’ native language (Spanish) to build conceptual knowledge while English language skills for communication are developing. Materials can be adapted for use with other native languages.

Hard copy and CD (Part 2: Writing at Work). Soon available for distribution.

Includes a Safety Alphabet; students learn safety vocab while developing understanding of English letter sounds

• Some industry-specific handouts that can be further adapted

• Workplace-related dialogues and scenarios

• Incorporates some EFF standards (reflect and evaluate, listen actively, read with understanding, observe critically, speak so others can understand) and the worker role map

9. Thomson Delmar Learning, part of the Thomson group, as is Heinle Thomson

www.delmarlearning.com.

• Agriscience

• Allied health

• Automotive

• Building trades

• Cad / drafting / GIS

• Communication sciences

• Cosmetology

• Electrical trades

• Electronics

• Emergency medical services

• Engineering tech

• Fire rescue

• Hospitality, travel, and tourism

• HVAC –R

• Nursing

• Trades and technology

• Trucking

• Welding

Although its industry and occupation related materials were not initially developed with the English language learner in mind, they have caught on in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and are being used to develop employment-related skills among English language learners.

Used by some adult education programs to augment instruction and provide introduction to occupation related skills but considered to require relatively high reading levels which would mean extensive adaptation for use with English language learners.

Print, video, CD-ROM, DVD, online courses, and e-products. Company seems to understand varying needs of business and industry as well as government customers.

Hundreds of courses; an excellent resource; written at sixth to eighth grade equivalent and beyond.

Flesch-Kincaid readability test suggests that health careers / nursing texts are written at 9th through 11th grade level; somewhat skewed by heavy medical terminology present in some text.

• Career success

• See individual courses for details

• 25 Allied health occupations

• Survival guides for hotel/motel and restaurant professionals

• Technical math (for plumbers, pipefitters, HVAC, carpenters, etc.

• Plumbing

• Safety training

• Mechanical technology

• Industrial maintenance

• Blueprint reading

10. VESL Workplace Clearinghouse Catalogue, 2005. VESL / Workplace Clearinghouse, San Diego.

www.veslwkpl@otan.us.

Landscaping and nursery
Appliance repair
Auto body
Auto mechanics
Child care
Construction
Cosmetology
Electronics
Farm equipment operation
Food service
Hospitality and restaurant
Machine shop
Maintenance
Medical
Office skills
Retailing
Upholstery
Welding
World of Work

Catalogue of materials developed with public funds by adult education agencies throughout the country. Catalogue also available online at http://www.otan.us. Order form included to request one master for unlimited duplication. Costs are minimal to cover reproduction, handling, and shipping. Good review and reference for creating new programs.

300 entries Include:

• a brief annotative description of each entry

• recommended level of ESL proficiency, type of material, and setting

• identification of skills addressed

• cost

Excellent resource for development / adaptation of industry-specific ESL instructional materials. Could expedite process significantly. Appears that almost all materials would require format updating.

Topics specific to each industry or occupation.