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

Targeted Industry Sectors

A number of industry sectors traditionally employ many English language learners. Improving their English language skills can help them move out of entry-level positions and advance in these industries or others where they can succeed and prosper. The lack of basic English language and literacy skills, however, hinders their ability to perform all job functions, work effectively with other employees, and move up the career ladder.

Texas employment projections for the 2002-2012 timeframe provide considerable detail about the changes in employment for nearly 800 occupations and 300 industries. Texas is expected to add over 1.8 million jobs over the 2002-2012 period. Compared to the national job growth rate of 14.8 percent, Texas is expected to grow by 17.6 percent. In addition to newly created jobs, another 2.4 million existing jobs will need to be filled as experienced workers leave their jobs (Interlink Informer, July 2005).

Texas will continue to need people with a wide variety of skills, interests, and educational backgrounds. Employment increases in health and social assistance services, educational services, and accommodation and food services are in keeping with the continuing movement towards a service-based economy and the demands of the diverse population in Texas.

While it is certainly encouraging to hear that high tech, high skill, high wage employment is on the rise, for the population served by adult education programs across the state, another fact is even more important: each of those high tech, high skilled, high wage jobs is dependent upon secondary and tertiary jobs that supply and/or support industry. While some of these jobs have proven to be exportable, there are others with potential career path opportunities that adult learners can pursue (Lindsay, 2005).

In 2003, Senate Bill 280 required TWC to target up to five industry sectors that were likely to benefit from the development of industry-related curricula. This report utilizes and adds to the criteria TWC staff considered in identifying industry sectors / occupations in 2003:

1. They must present an appropriate fit for the skills of adult basic education and limited English proficient individuals.
2. They are current or emerging sectors with projected growth statewide or regionally.
3. They have well defined and varied career paths.
4. Training outcomes for these sectors are attainable in one year or less.

The industry sectors identified by TWC as a result of this analysis were:

• Heath care services (e.g., phlebotomist, nurse aide, medical assistant, medical interpreter)
• Sales and service (e.g., retail sales associate, customer service representative, middle management)
• Manufacturing (e.g., general assembly, transportation equipment, non-metallic mineral products, perishable goods)
• Legal and protective services (e.g., security, asset protection)
• Logistics, transportation, and distribution services (e.g., materials handlers, heavy or light truck/equipment operators)
• General employability skills (applicable to all sectors)

Based on familiarity with existing curricular resources and research, TWC narrowed the list even further to focus on three industry clusters: healthcare, sales and service, and manufacturing. A review of the local labor market information developed by each of the state’s local workforce development regions (28) provides additional information about the industry sectors being targeted and the many occupations included. Obviously, targeted occupations vary from region to region and are directly tied to jobs available within each workforce area.

The resources used to inform this report suggest that Texas LEARNS provide adult education programs with curricular, instructional, and technical support to assist limited English proficient adult learners in accessing employment in three of these same industry sectors:

• Healthcare
• Sales and Service
• Manufacturing / Construction Trades

Each of these sectors includes occupations for which English language learners may qualify, given the opportunities to acquire employment-related language and literacy skills, work readiness skills, introductions to the vocational concepts critical to these occupations, and finally, access to postsecondary education and training. Following are occupations in each of the industrial clusters for which the targeted population may prepare and qualify:

Health care employment opportunities for English language learners

• certified nurse’s assistant
• phlebotomist
• beginning radiography
• laboratory assistant
• electrocardiogram assistant
• home healthcare assistant
• occupational therapist / physical therapist aide
• physician’s office assistant
• medical records clerk (billing, coding, data entry)
• medical interpreter
• emergency medical technician
• licensed practical and vocational nurses

Labor market research shows labor shortages in virtually every category of healthcare employment, and trends suggest that the demand for healthcare professionals is likely to increase in the decades ahead. While most research and training efforts have focused on the higher professional levels of health care professionals (registered nurses and specialized technicians), it is at the entry levels that turnover and quality issues are the greatest (Miner, 2005).

This is also where career ladder challenges are the toughest – on the bottom rung. A 2005 study by the Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy entitled, To Reach the First Rung and Higher, takes an in-depth look at six promising career ladder programs offered in various institutional settings: a union, a hospital, a community-based organization (CBO), and three community colleges, in partnership with an array of medical centers. Several of the programs examined in the study have been able to document success in helping newly trained recruits and incumbent workers advance at least one step up the career ladder beyond entry-level. But to date, most programs are successful in achieving this goal only for individuals with fairly high levels of basic skills and/or a high school diploma or GED.

Several of the programs reviewed have begun to work with both healthcare educators and employers to develop “headroom,” or promotion potential. They have created intermediate-skilled job classifications that will allow low-skilled workers to progress beyond entry-level positions to jobs that require somewhat higher levels of skills. In two of the programs, an important element is helping employees make lateral moves from job tracks that have little headroom to those that have more (e.g., from medical facility housekeeping to the less-skilled forms of patient care with career ladder potential).

One of the programs studied has made an effort to create intermediate-skilled training programs that are first steps toward allied health training (e.g., radiology assistant leading to radiology technician). But the disconnect between entry-level health care jobs and the rest of the profession persists for a number of reasons:

1. High opportunity careers in healthcare require at least a high school diploma or the equivalent, basic skills – reading, writing, and math – at a high school level, and a fairly good command of English.
2. None of the programs included in the study has devised instructional strategies that allow those with very low skill levels to persist and improve their skills quickly and in a reasonable amount of time.
3. Individuals needing GED prep or ESL instruction are often “referred” to adult education providers for instruction unrelated to specific industries or occupations; these providers are often not viewed as critical partners by the institution providing the vocational training and making the referrals.
4. The career structure of the healthcare industry contains few job opportunities for those with intermediate level skills as they improve their language and basic skills. Postsecondary education and/or training is almost always necessary but treated as a separate component.

Most successful healthcare training programs operate on two tracks, indicating gaps within the industry itself:

• For very low-skilled adults wanting to find employment in the field of healthcare, programs can provide access to entry-level jobs in the field; for low-skilled incumbent workers, they can bolster work attachment and promotion potential.
• For higher skilled adults – particularly those with a high school credential – programs can provide access to training for positions above low skills entry-level and/or access to career ladders.

Limited English language speakers who also lack the basic skills needed to attain a GED and/or qualify for post secondary healthcare training are almost always limited to the very lowest entry-level jobs in the field. Fortunately, some communities are finding ways to bridge the gap and help incumbent, lower-classified health care workers move up the career ladder and into nursing. Those investing in such initiatives are hopeful that incumbent workers familiar with the working conditions and culture of the industry will be more likely to remain in the profession once their skills and qualifications are upgraded (Chisman, Spangenberg, 2005).

Successful efforts of this sort attract the attention of both employers and the emerging workforce as they begin to understand that an entry level position need not necessarily remain an entry-level position:

• Individuals interested in pursuing a career in healthcare need to be able to see, in very concrete terms, how they can move from an entry level job along a pathway eventually leading to a higher wage job.
• Health care organizations in Texas know they cannot continue to grow and prosper without developing Hispanic supervisory and management candidates (Miner, 2005).

Similar to those included in the CAAL report are efforts currently underway in two of our adult education programs in East Texas at Trinity Valley Community College (TVVC) and in the Tri-County Cooperative partnership with the Central Texas Technology Center (CTTC). Health professionals are looking for educational partners to assist in getting more Hispanics into health careers, earning a living wage, and exploring options for further education. Most of the efforts described in the CAAL study are still evolving, as are the programs at TVCC and CTTC, but the hope is that they will eventually yield viable prototypes leading toward comprehensive career pathways in healthcare for low skilled English language learners. While both incumbent workers in support positions at medical facilities and disadvantaged entry-level workers often test as low as fifth or sixth grade levels in reading and math, a surprising number in both categories possess basic skills high enough to make the attainment of a GED and/or job certificate an achievable goal in the near term.

Noteworthy is CAAL’s observation that incumbent healthcare workers have two advantages over those who want to enter the field. First, many incumbent workers, even in low wage positions, identify with the healthcare field and have some understanding of its culture. Second, incumbent workers have incomes that stabilize their lives somewhat, along with benefits such as tuition reimbursement and healthcare.

Employment Opportunities in Sales and Service

Occupations within the sales and service sector are varied, with many entry-level options and opportunities for advancement, including the following:

• retail sales personnel
• customer service representatives
• hospitality services (in hotels, restaurants, and tourism)
• restaurants (middle management)
• frontline supervisors in food production / processing
• guards (asset protection and traffic control in and around industrial establishments)
• wholesale food and beverage suppliers
• distribution services
• computer applications and support

Looking at occupational training for English language learners through a sectoral lens requires that we pay attention to the changes in the labor market. For example, the hospitality industry has changed significantly and can no longer be considered a “safe haven” for the limited English proficient. The increasing competition in the hotel industry, the economic downturn of the new millennium, and the recession in the hospitality industry following 9/11 have all contributed to the changes (Landis, 2005).

Competition in the industry revolves around quality customer service, and so even “back of the house” jobs are requiring workers to interact more with customers. Work-related English language instruction can provide incumbent workers in these jobs opportunities for job mobility and access to further training, a living wage, and linkages to career ladders within the industry.

A recent report from one restaurant operator who adopted the commercial, technology-based Sed de Saber English language training product only six months ago includes some impressive results. Sed de Saber was implemented at 18 locations; six months after implementation, the operator reported a remarkably low turnover rate of only 10%. Then, using the NRA’s estimated cost of $2,300 to replace an hourly worker, the operator calculated that he could indeed justify the purchase of the Sed de Saber systems at a cost of $250 each and the assessments at $65 per employee. The hard dollar return on investment (a savings of $1985 per employee) was what convinced the operator that effective ESL solutions were a good business investment (Dallas Morning News, 2004).

Leaders in the national restaurant and hospitality sector are looking at a continuum of contextualized learning opportunities that includes Sed de Saber, the Rosetta Stone, and basic computer applications. They are convinced that English language learners must be introduced to the digital world or they will never move up the career ladder (Arnold, 2005). It is hoped that a continuum of services will teach learners how to access information, use the information, and understand which information is relevant to their work.

Many employers will tell you that the absence of English language skills will keep potentially productive workers from rising above low paying, dead end jobs. Without English language skills, they will remain “the working poor” – the thousands of citizens relegated to anonymity as cooks in our restaurant kitchens, cleaning our hotels and office buildings, and landscaping our neighborhoods and commercial buildings.

Food service, hospitality, and healthcare industries employ more of the working poor than any other industry sectors in Texas cities. For example, Dallas has more corporate headquarters for restaurant chains than any other city in America. Because Hispanics comprise close to 80 percent of the Dallas – Fort Worth area’s food service and hospitality employee populations, these industry sectors desperately need to develop the skills of their workers for purely business reasons (Bill Priest Institute, July 2005).

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