Charting a Course: Responding to the Industry-Related
Adult Basic Education Needs of the Texas Workforce
Handbook One: Planning and Implementation Tips
for Program Planners and Administrators

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The impact of globalization, changing business practices, and technological change… have created an economic climate radically different from what Texas has known for the past decade. Once dominant agricultural and mining sectors in Texas have now been surpassed by growth in knowledge industries like telecommunications, semiconductor processing, and a wide array of service-oriented businesses… Opportunities to assure future prosperity lie on the horizon. For Texas, meeting these challenges means addressing the education and training needs of our workforce, from upgrading the skills of the current labor force to educating a future generation with the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in the 21st century. *

* Excerpt above from the Texas Workforce Commission Strategic Plan for FY 2003 – 2007.

A State Perspective…

Texas’ Strategic Economic Development Plan for Texas (1998 – 2008) lists as its first goal making “education and training the state’s number one economic development priority.” ** This statement places the state’s workforce development system in a pivotal role to impact the economic prosperity of more than 22 million Texans. The challenge facing the state is to make its workforce development system an essential tool for economic prosperity. This requires a commitment to expanding education and training opportunities, improving program coordination, connecting with employers, and linking programs directly to economic development efforts. Given Texas’ demographic trends, particular attention must be given to creating pathways through this system for minorities and low-income individuals, including those with limited English language skills. Their success is critical to the state’s future economic vitality.

Adult Education’s Role

If the top priority for Texas is building its workforce, adult education and literacy initiatives must also be made a high priority. Texans with underdeveloped basic skills and limited English proficiency can not attain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in today’s labor market on their own. The 79th State Legislature(regular session, 2005) mandates:

Education Rider 82
Out of federal funds appropriated in Strategy A.2.5, Adult Education and Family Literacy, the Commissioner shall allocate an amount not to exceed $850,000 in fiscal year 2006 for the development of a demand-driven workplace literacy and basic skills curriculum. The Texas Workforce Commission shall provide resources, industry-specific information, and expertise identified as necessary by the Texas Education Agency to support the development and implementation of the curriculum.

The allocation cited in the legislation is not new money; rather, the legislation earmarks already limited adult education dollars to address the work-related needs of a growing segment of the adult learner population in Texas. Texas LEARNS has responded to Rider 82 with the following resources and services:

• the funding of a research initiative to identify Texas industries in which those with limited English language proficiency often seek entry-level employment;
• the development of curricula for the limited English proficient seeking employment and career opportunities in healthcare, manufacturing, and sales and service;
• the collection of best practices in adult literacy services for job seekers and incumbent workers;
• professional development for adult educators delivering the services.

** Texas Strategic Economic Development Planning Commission, Texas Strategic Economic Development Plan, 1998-2008, Austin, TX , October ‘98

The Principal Challenge to Destination 2010: Linkages
Adult education’s capacity to effectively respond to Rider 82 is critically linked to workforce development partners serving the same universal customers: employers and workers. Full participation by these partners – local workforce development boards, employers, post secondary institutions offering further education and training, and agencies providing support services – all strategic members of the Texas Workforce Development System (TWDS) – is essential to providing access to a continuum of relevant and comprehensive services that include career planning and preparation leading to gainful employment.

TWDS
The Texas Workforce Development System includes more than 38 different programs across 12 state agencies. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and its network of 28 local workforce development boards are responsible for half of all programs; of the $2.6 billion flowing through this system, approximately $1 billion is controlled by TWC alone. Vocational training through public education (K-12) and post secondary systems (community colleges and technical schools) makes up another 1.3 billion. In contrast, Adult Education and Family Literacy’s state and federal funding combined totals less than $67 million.

Building Bridges to Success
To date, the gaps in education and training services for Texas’ workforce remain unclosed. While Adult Education strives to address the literacy and basic skills needs of adult learners, it is not authorized to providethe technical training and job sourcing so critical to individuals’ seeking to meet their employment goals. Furthermore, adult education does not have the resources necessary to develop bridge programs to technical training.

One of the first and most critical questions posed by adult educators engaged in developing the curricular responses to Rider 82 was, “What will make the curricular responses to Rider 82 succeed where previous efforts have failed?” The answer is twofold: 1) thorough preparation to deliver work-related instruction, and 2) strong linkages between English language instruction provided by adult education, and technical training / job sourcing provided by partners.

The Devil is in the Details
But the opportunities for learners to continue to improve their language skills in an industry-related context and qualify for employment and/or technical training are elusive. Funding to build bridge programs from adult education to postsecondary education and training – to provide services not allowable under WIA Title II Adult Education Funding – must be made available to adult education.

In reality, the following scenario occurs all too often: Adult learners enroll in adult education courses to improve their English language skills and upgrade their basic skills. Although they may be committed to lifelong learning and recognize that they must continue to educate themselves, several obstacles prevent them from moving forward:

1. post secondary education and training providers insist that learners must first master English and obtain a GED certificate before beginning vocational training, with little consideration given to the integration of components; and
2. no funding is earmarked specifically to support integrated or bridge programs, thereby hindering efforts to offer a continuum of services leading toward career preparation and gainful employment.

An entry-level job remains an entry-level job as long as no efforts are made to connect entry-level employment with career pathways and training opportunities. The connections require that funding be made available and that partners reach beyond their present levels of collaboration to bridge the gaps in services to limited English proficient adults. While these obstacles are not insurmountable, they require the full attention and support of policy makers.

Source of information: Workforce Development: The Key to Creating Opportunity and Building Prosperity in Texas (2003). Center for Public Policy Priorities, Austin, TX.

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