Writings: U.S. & Canada, 1994-2001
This page shows sample documents from 1994 to 2001. Topics include planning, evaluation, and policy for worker basic education; adult learner leadership; family literacy; labor union roles; and collaborative, participatory, and contextualized approaches to adult basic education.
An Experiment in Collaborative Learning: A Final Report ...
- “An Experiment in Collaborative Learning: A Final Report for the Non-Profit Organization, Learning Partnerships”: Written by Paul Jurmo in September 2001, this 24-page report summarizes the origins, activities, achievements, and challenges of this non-profit organization during its ten-year life. Originally called “Literacy Partnerships,” Learning Partnerships focused on developing collaborative models of work-related basic skills education, learner leadership development, and advocacy for adult basic education. Many of the documents from the 1990s found on this web page were developed through Learning Partnerships.
A Balancing Act: Learner and Program Needs vs. Policy . . .
- “A Balancing Act: Learner and Program Needs Versus Policy Requirements”: Report from the Pre-Conference Leadership Institute of the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning, April 13, 2000.
Adult Education’s Role in NJ Workforce Development . . .
- “Adult Education’s Role in New Jersey’s Workforce Development System”: Report of the April 22, 1999 Pre-Conference Symposium Hosted by the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning.
“Starting Together” Even Start Family Literacy Partnership
- “Year 1 Evaluation Report for “Starting Together” Even Start Family Literacy Partnership of Western Suffolk (NY) BOCES and Long Island Head Start” (23-pages, 1999).
Integrating ABE w Workforce Development & Workplace Change
- “Integrating Adult Basic Education with Workforce Development and Workplace Change: How National-Level Policy Makers Can Help”: A monograph for the U.S. Department of Education, October 1998.
Collaborative Learning for Continuous Improvement . . .
- Collaborative Learning for Continuous Improvement: Team Learning and Problem Solving in a Workplace Education Program: A guidebook that provides an overview of a three-year project of the National Workplace Literacy Program, August 1998. This project was carried out in seven workplace sites (from a range of manufacturing companies) in upstate New York by a team that tested collaborative strategies for planning, managing, and evaluating worker basic skills activities customized to each site. Curricula emphasized active problem-solving by workers in the classroom and workplace. An additional seven “Technical Notes” (written by Paul Jurmo with contributions by project team members) describe features of the model and how each site’s Educational Planning Team adapted it to the needs and realities of the company, union, and workers.
Adding VALUE: A New National Adult Learner Organization
- This report (written by Paul Jurmo, Carol Talan, and Leslie Shelton) describes the founding meeting of VALUE (now “VALUEUSA”), held at the Highlander Center in Tennessee in March 1998.
State Level Policy for Workplace Basic Education . . .
- State Level Policy for Workplace Basic Education: What Advocates Are Saying: Literacy Leader Fellowship Report, National Institute for Literacy, 1997.
Western Suffolk BOCES Workplace Education Program Report
- Evaluation of Western Suffolk BOCES Workplace Education Program: Final Report. 1997: An evaluation of a National Workplace Literacy Program site on Long Island, New York..
Contextualized ABE/Literacy
- An article (by Paul Jurmo and Johan Uvin) about the then-new concept of work-related basic skills education, in the May/June 1996 issue of Adult Learning, the journal of the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education.
June 1996 Maryland Workplace Education Conference
- “Report on the June 1996 Maryland Workplace Education Conference.” This report summarizes two days of discussions about key questions facing Maryland workplace educators in a federally-funded worker education program operated by the Maryland Department of Education and Metropolitan Baltimore Council of AFL-CIO Unions.
Organizational & Individual Assessment:Decision-Making Tools
- "Organizational and Individual Assessment: Decision-Making Tools for Workplace Educators”: An article in the Journal on Workplace Education, a publication of the Illinois Literacy Resource Development Center, January 1996.
The Semi-Alloys/Mercy College Workplace Education Program
- "The Semi-Alloys/Mercy College Workplace Education Program: Final Evaluation Report": 1995 evaluation of a National Workplace Literacy Program site north of New York City..
The Cutting Edge: Workplace Ed. at El Paso Community College
- “The Cutting Edge”: Final Evaluation Report for a National Workplace Education Program at El Paso Community College, August 1995.
New Paradigms for a New Economy: Challenges for NJ Adult Ed.
- “New Paradigms for a New Economy: Challenges for New Jersey Adult Educators.” Written by Paul Jurmo and Laurie Rommele for the 1995 conference of the NJ Association for Lifelong Learning, this article describes new thinking, opportunities, and challenges that adult educators should consider as they plan work-related basic skills efforts
ABC CANADA Guides on Collaborative Approach to Workplace Ed.
- Collaborative Workplace Development, Collaborative Needs Assessment, and Collaborative Evaluation (written by Paul Jurmo and Sue Folinsbee): Series of resource materials for workplace education specialists, ABC CANADA, 1994. Presented arguments and strategies for a collaborative approach that involves key stakeholders in decisions and other supports for workplace education initiatives.
Reinventing the National Workplace Literacy Program (1994)
- Reinventing the NWLP: Recommendations for the National Workplace Literacy Program. Submitted November 1994 to the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with the reauthorization of the Adult Education Act.
Workplace Ed.: Expectations, Responses, & Evaluation's Role
- Workplace Education: Stakeholders’ Expectations, Practitioners’ Responses, and the Role Evaluation Might Play: An 88-page report prepared for the National Institute for Literacy, June 1994.
Team Evaluation Guide and Case Studies
- Team Evaluation: A Guide for Workplace Education Programs was written in 1994 by Paul Jurmo and Laura Sperazi with funding from the National Institute for Literacy. It was based on field-testing of a collaborative evaluation methodology in seven sites (described in the attached Team Evaluation: Case Studies from Seven Workplace Education Programs). This project helped lay the foundation for a similar collaborative model of workplace education developed by ABC CANADA.