Workplace Literacy

 

What is Workplace Literacy?

Workplace adult education and literacy is a programming model offered in collaboration with an employer or employee organization at a workplace or an off-site location that is designed to improve the productivity of the workforce. Read on for program design considerations and resources.

Adult education providers can help employers through in-house, customized, low-cost training to:
  • Improve employees’ English language proficiency and academic skills specific to their job
  • Provide digital skill building and work readiness skills
  • Support occupational training and credential attainment

Resources for Workplace Literacy

MSG Type 4: Progress Toward Milestones

MSG Type 4

The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) Program Memorandum (PM) 17-2 defines MSG as the percentage of program participants who, during a program year, are in an education or training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential or employment and who are achieving measurable skill gains—defined as documented academic, technical, occupational, or other forms of progress—toward such a credential or employment.

MSG Type 4 is important for reporting work-related progress in Workplace Literacy Programming. MSG Type 4 is defined as:

Satisfactory or better progress report, toward established milestones, such as completion of on-the-job training or completion of 1 year of an apprenticeship program or similar milestones, from an employer or training provider who is providing training…

Source: NRS Resources for Reporting

The Virginia Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education has developed two resources to support the creation of MOUs with employers for MSG Type 4.

Workplace Literacy MSG Type 4 MOU Template_a

Workplace Literacy MSG Type 4 MOU Template Example

Employer Fact Sheet

The Employer Fact Sheet is a 2-pager for employers that summarizes the benefits of partnering with adult education to delivery workplace literacy programs.

ProLiteracy Workplace Literacy Guide

The ProLiteracy Workplace Literacy Guide provides resources, strategies, and practices for organizations to start and grow workplace literacy programming. The Guide includes sample letters to employers, employer surveys, sample lesson plans, and other templates for building a workplace literacy program.

Guide

ProLiteracy Workplace Literacy Research Brief

This research brief covers six decades of work on contextualized instruction for adult learners, focusing on workforce preparation. The report includes recommendations and considerations for designing instruction that are particularly useful for workplace literacy planning and implementation.

Contextualizing Adult Education: Learning from Six Decades of Experience and Research, ProLiteracy Research Brief, (2020), https://www.proliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2020-09_PL-Research-Brief-4_Contextualizing.pdf 

Improving Workplace English Instruction

This Progress article explores ways instructors can build workplace English classes that support the career growth of their learners.

Bumbalo, H. (2018) Improving Workplace English Instruction, Progress, (2018), https://valrc.org/progress/2018-volume-29-no-2-december-issue/improving-workplace-english-instruction/ 

TAP Into Workplace Literacy with LESLLA Learners

This article introduces strategies to support workplace literacy with emergent bilinguals and those who may have limited literacy in their home languages.

Slakk, S., & Peyton, J. K. (2020). TAP into Workplace Literacy with LESLLA Learners. LESLLA Symposium Proceedings, 15(1), 126-146,  https://lesllasp.journals.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/lesllasp/article/view/6167/5254

Enhancing Access for Refugees and New Americans (EARN)

The Enhancing Access for Refugees and New Americans (EARN) project provides resources and technical assistance to adult education state agency staff, local programs, and instructors who serve or are aiming to serve English learners in Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) programming and are interested in using an immigrant integration approach.

Read the Spotlight articles at the bottom of the page for more on workforce preparation programming, IELCEs, and economic integration for new Americans.

EARN