Adult Education Responds to Workforce Needs

A chronological summary of the Texas Education Agency / Texas LEARNS response to legislation requiring development of demand-driven workplace literacy and basic skills curricula for adult learners:

May 2005: Texas LEARNS initiates study to identify Texas industries that provide entry level as well as career advancement opportunities for adult learners. Industries must have been identified as part of a sector of market growth in at least one major region of the state. Dialogue with the Texas Workforce Commission continues as data and reports are reviewed.

August 2005: Report to Texas LEARNS summarizes study findings, including recommendations for responding to Rider 82. After review by and additional input from the Texas Workforce Commission of the study’s findings and recommendations, Texas LEARNS releases the summary report, Charting a Course: Responding to the Industry-Related Adult Basic Education Needs of the Limited English Proficient (actual release February 2005).

October 2005: Texas LEARNS prepares to facilitate adaptation and/or development of demand-driven, industry-related curricula appropriate for use with Texas’ adult English language learners. Development of staff training modules for adult education program administrators and instructional staff also begins.

November 2005 – February 2006: Discussion/negotiations/planning with El Paso Community College, Seguin ISD, and Trinity Valley Community College to develop modular responses to workforce-related instructional needs of adult learners with limited English proficiency for three industry clusters – healthcare, manufacturing, and sales and service. Preliminary development activities begin.

February 2006: Regular meetings of the Workforce Literacy Resource Team (WLRT) are scheduled to include representation by the Texas Education Agency, Texas LEARNS, Texas LEARNS’ contractor/ liaison for Rider 82 responses, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and a local workforce development board (Alamo WorkSource). Texas LEARNS requests that TWC identify and invite employer representatives to join the WLRT.

March 2006: Curriculum development teams meet to discuss approach to curriculum development, formatting and organizational issues. Industry skills standards are reviewed and discussed.

April 2006: Texas LEARNS hosts and participates in National Workplace Peer Conference in Houston, sharing update on Rider 82. Texas LEARNS presents at National Conference of the Commission on Adult Basic Education and solicits input from adult educators in session, “Connecting Professional Development to the Workplace”.

April 2006: SHOP TALK series begins and is posted online. Series focuses on issues, concerns, and questions related to meeting the educational needs of Texas’ emerging, incumbent, and displaced workers. A particular focus: promising practices by adult education programs responding to the needs of local employers and employees.

April - May 2006: Identification of and communication with pilot sites for Rider 82 curricular responses. Piloting scheduled to occur in various regions of the state, in both urban and rural/semi-rural settings. Eligibility criteria for pilot sites are established.

May – August 2006: Soft launch of healthcare, manufacturing, and sales and service curricular modules in Socorro ISD (El Paso) and Seguin ISD (New Braunfels/Seguin).

June 2006: Texas LEARNS represents Adult Education in Webinar hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training, “Tapping into the Pipeline of Limited English Proficient Workers”.

August 2006: Trinity Valley Community College completes draft of “how to” component for adult education program administrators seeking to develop/strengthen bridges between adult and post secondary education and training initiatives.

August 2006: Texas LEARNS purchases Sed de Saber units to be piloted in adult education programs addressing workforce-related needs of workers in food services (partnership with SER National Jobs for Progress, recipient of U.S. DOL grant).

August – Fall 2006: Revisions to curricular modules for sales and service, healthcare, and manufacturing are made in preparation for second soft launch in October.

October 2006: Texas LEARNS serves on steering committee to inform development by the Texas Workforce Commission of a resource guide for local workforce development boards providing services to the limited English proficient.

November 2006: Texas LEARNS enters into agreement with Sed de Saber and SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc. to pilot a technology-based English language program designed specifically for adult Hispanic workers. Pilots to be launched through 14 adult education programs in 8 Texas cities (Brownsville, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, Houston, Dallas, Lubbock, El Paso, San Antonio).

January – May 2007: Drafts of curricular responses to Rider 82 are further revised. Sales and Service modules are prepared for April 2007 pilot at two sites. Development continues on Manufacturing and Healthcare modules in response to soft launch and to balance integration of language learning and workforce development.

February 2007: Texas LEARNS meets with six adult education programs participating in pilot initiatives. El Paso Community College schedules pre-pilot training, and Texas A&M University’s Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy and Learning (TCALL) designs and prepares for third party data collection and evaluation. GREAT Center representatives participate in the training sessions and provide technical support to local pilot initiatives.

March 2007: Release of Handbook # 1: Planning and Implementation Tips for Adult Basic Education Program Administrators. This is part of Texas LEARNS’ response to Rider 82, Charting a Course: Responding to the Adult Basic Education Needs of the Texas Workforce. Handbook # 2 focuses on instructional issues and will be released later in the spring of 2007. Professional development opportunities are made available through eight regional GREAT Centers.

April – August 2007: Two pilots for each of the three industry clusters (sales and service, healthcare, and manufacturing,) are initiated incrementally in six adult education programs across the state: ESC Region 1 (Lower Rio Grand Valley); Harris County Department of Education (Houston/Coastal); Northeast Texas Community College (Mt. Pleasant); El Paso and Socorro Independent School Districts (El Paso); and Seguin ISD (Central Texas).

April – October 2007: Curricular responses to Rider 82 are piloted. Data is gathered, report is prepared, and revisions are made in response to input/feedback (instructors, learners, employers).

April 2008: Revisions to curricula are completed, and deliverables are delivered to Texas LEARNS for distribution to adult education programs across the state.

July 2008: Adult education programs receive copyrighted licenses from the Texas Education Agency for the Texas Industry Specific ESL (TISESL) curricula.

Fall 2008: Adult education programs begin to implement TISESL curricula in fall 2008 / spring 2009.

Note: Curricular responses to Rider 82 are designed to be delivered by trained instructors in local adult education programs. Professional development is a critical component of preparation for instructional delivery. A unique feature of adult education’s response to Rider 82 is the requirement of linkages with business/industry, technical training, and job sourcing services to ensure individuals’ full access to a continuum of career path opportunities.