TEXAS Adult & Family Literacy QUARTERLY

Adult Education Responds to Workforce Needs With a Focus on Rider 82

Northeast Texas Community College and Mt. Pleasant Even Start Collaborate for Student Workplace Success

In the fall of 2008 Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) Adult Education program participated in the Rider 82 ESL Workplace Pilot with Mt. Pleasant Even Start. NTCC’s Adult Education program has collaborated with Mt. Pleasant Even Start program for over twelve years in providing the adult education component to their Even Start program. This long term partnership has been successful on many fronts including the Rider 82 workforce readiness pilot.

The rationale for our participation in the pilot was that many of our parents were lacking the skills necessary to be competitive in the workplace, even in entry level positions. We were more than willing to incorporate a curriculum that would provide our students with skills that could empower them to be successful in searching for, obtaining, and retaining a position in the local workforce. The desire for independence and self sustainability was a goal identified in by the students in the orientation process.

The Even Start classes meet four days a week from eight in the morning until twelve noon which was a perfect setting for the Pilot’s curriculum design. One aspect that was somewhat unique to our situation is that we “Team Teach” and each of us teach specific courses in our areas of expertise. It took some creative planning to determine who would teach what, but once that was addressed, we were off and running. And I do mean off and running. Initially, one of our concerns as instructors was, will the students still make the necessary gains and completions when it is time to progress test? We didn’t want to jeopardize the overall success of the program. Fortunately, there was little need for concern; the pilot addresses math skills, written and oral communication, and technology and workplace skills. In fact the more time we spent with the curriculum, the more we felt it was meeting a number of needs: the changing needs of business and industry in the 21^st Century in Texas, basic literacy survival skills, math and technology knowledge, critical thinking, as well as other immediately transferable skills needed by the underemployed in Texas.

What did the students think of the Rider 82 ESL pilot? The students who are participating in our Even Start program want to be successful and want their children to be successful and for that to become a reality you have to have a vision and be results-oriented. Some were very concerned that we might compromise the focus of reaching their personal educational goals and end up wasting time. It didn’t take them long to realize their time was well spent, the only difference being the means to achieving their goals had an employment driven focus. Additional components enjoyed by the students were dressing for a job interview with less that $10.00 with the help of a Goodwill Industries fashion show, mock interviews by professional human resources personnel from local business and industry, time management training, and enhancement of technology skills.

What did we learn? We learned the value of partnering in the community to prepare the students by providing them with basic job skills, behavioral characteristics required for immediate success in the job market while continuing to meet their desire to learn the English language and to improve their quality of life and ability to integrate successfully in the local community. Providing instruction using a workplace focused curriculum did not negatively impact gains or completions required to determine a program's success based on NRS standards of reporting. Last but certainly not the least, it reinforced the value and need for lifelong learning.

About the Author

Jeanni Pruitt has taught in all areas of Adult Education in the Northeast Texas Community College Adult Education program for the past fourteen years, in addition to providing professional development training for the East and North Region GREAT Centers. Jeanni is currently a trainer for the East Region GREAT Center’s Multi-level Instruction ESL Pilot. She holds an M.S. in Education specializing in the area of curriculum, instruction, and assessment graduating with Honors. Jeanni was the 2000-2001 TALAE Full-time Teacher of the Year.