Rider 82 Curriculum 2007 Pilot Report
Executive Summary

by
Dr. Lesley Tomaszewski and Genny Reid
February 2008

During the fall of 2007, at the request of state leadership, the Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) assisted with the El Paso Community College (EPCC) pilot of the Rider 82 curriculum. This pilot consisted of three industry-related curricula (Sales and Service, Healthcare, and Manufacturing) each consisting of four modules. Each module had five lessons. Each lesson had four components: English as a Second Language ( ESL), math, technology, and employability. It was anticipated that most programs would complete one module (5 lessons) in approximately 50 hours. The overall goal of the industry-related curricula was to assist students with learning job related English for employment sectors that are growth industries in their communities.

The research question guiding this pilot was: By using the industry-related curricula, can students in NRS levels 2 and 3 learn English and obtain background knowledge about certain industry clusters? To answer this question, the TCALL research staff gathered information from administrators, teachers, and students from five pilot sites in Texas. Adult literacy programs in McAllen and El Paso piloted the Healthcare curriculum. The Manufacturing curriculum was piloted in Seguin. Adult literacy programs in Mt. Pleasant and Houston piloted the Sales and Service Curriculum. A total of seven teachers and approximately 80 students participated in this pilot.

To determine the effectiveness of the industry-related curricula on the acquisition of basic skills within a work context (English, math, technology, and employability), the TCALL research staff developed various evaluation instruments and interview questions. The data from this research project included:

• Teacher lesson evaluations
• Teacher overall evaluations
• Student lesson evaluations
• Conference calls with teachers
• Conference calls with program administrators
• Conference calls with students

With the quantitative and qualitative findings from this study, the TCALL research staff was able to answer ‘yes’ to the research question. Students in NRS levels 2 and 3 at these pilot sites learned English and obtained background knowledge on certain industries by participating in the Rider 82 Industry-specific curricula. More data needs to be collected and analyzed to determine if there are any correlations between contact hours and levels gained by the students in the pilot.