ed 355 367 ce 063 192 title skills today for tomorrow. a ... · title skills today for tomorrow. a...

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 355 367 CE 063 192

TITLE Skills Today for Tomorrow. A Workplace LiteracyConsortium for the Printing Industry March1991-November 1992. Final Report.

INSTITUTION Catonsville Community Coll., Md.SFAS AGENCY Office of Vocational and Adult Education (ED),

Washington, DC. National Workplace LiteracyProgram,

PUB DATE Feb 93CONTRACT V198A10280NOTE 225p.; For a graphic arts curriculum, see CE 063

193.

PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; Adult Literacy; Adult

Programs; Basic Skills; *Literacy Education;Mathematics Instruction; *On the Job Training;*Printing; Problem Solving; *Program Implementation;Publishing Industry; Reading Instruction; StudentRecruitment

IDENTIFIERS Partnerships in Education; *Workplace Literacy

ABSTRACTA cooperative project received a federal education

grant to provide workplace literacy education in communications,mathematics, and problem-solving skills for the printing/graphic artsindustry. Partners in the 18-month program were Catonsville CommunityCollege in Baltimore (Maryland), the printing industries of Marylandand Southern Pennsylvania, and several area printing/graphic artscompanies. Program components included the following: recruitment ofcompany participants through the trade association, recruitment ofemployee participants, assessment of need among volunteers,assignment of employees to courses and levels according to theassessment, and courses conducted in-house by community collideinstructors or company training officers at the levels specified.Curriculum materials were developed through a needs assessment andwere specific to the printing industry. Employee assessment wasconducted carefully to avoid the mention of "testing" and to ensureconfidentiality. Twelve-week sessions of classes were held accordingto identified needs. Employees were enthusiastic about the classesand a high level of participation was achieved. Employers also wereenthusiastic about the classes and their effects on the employees,except when participation took employees off the floor at peakperiods. (Appendixes to the report include the following: samples ofmanagement meeting handouts, sample marketing material, a Clozedocument used for assessment, Comprehensive Adult Student AssessmentSystem student profile/competency sheets, individual learning plan,learner competency profile sheets, literacy task analysis documents,participant recognition certificate, intake and follow-up participantquestionnaires, a course evaluation form, a supervisor survey,publicity and press clippings, and an outside evaluator's finalevaluation report, which questioned the effectiveness of theassessment instrument used and reported that supervisors saw nochange in employee performance.) (KC)

Catonsville Community College & PIM&SPA Partnership For The Future.

A WORKPLACE LITERACY CONSORTIUMFOR THE PRINTING INDUSTRYMARCH 1991 - NOVEMBER 1992

FINAL REPORTNATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY GRANT

AWARD #V198A10280

I

0

CJ

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and ImprovementEDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

CENTER (ERIC)

his document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it

O Minor changes have been made to improvereproduction outlay

Points of new or opinions staled in this documeet do not necessarily represent OfficialOERI position or policy

PREPARED BY:CATONSVILLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

800 SOUTH ROLLING MU DBALTIMORE, MARYLAND 21228

FEBRUARY 1993

BEST COPY ii LE 2

::atonsville Community College & PIM&SPA Partnership For The Future.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

2:MPLEMENTATION

3PROGRAM STRUCTURE

4OUTCOMES

6

7

EVALUATION

DISSEMINATION

SITE SUMMARY PAGES

9

RECOMMENDATIONS

EXHIBITS

10[EXTERNAL EVALUATION

REPORT

I.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII,

VIII.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Program HighlightsAbstract 1

Key Events 2

ImplementationIntroduction 5

Start-up 6

Partner Roles 8

Staffing 9

Initial Implementation Steps 11Marketing the Program 14Employee Recruitment 16

Program StructureAssessment 19Instruction 23Literacy Task Analyses 25Curriculum 26Participant Recognition 29

OutcomesObjectives and Outcomes 30Enrollments by Company 31Data Comparisons by Company 11

Pre-Post Self Evaluation 36

EvaluationEvaluation 46Course Evaluation Summary Charts 47Supervisor Outcomes Survey 61Supervisor Survey Summary Charts 62

DisseminationDissemination Results 69Public Relations 71

Site Summary PagesPort City Press 72Bindagraphics 73Cooperative Site 74Gamse Lithographing 75Maryland Composition 76Waverly Press 77American Trade Bindery 78Alford Packaging 79

RecommendationsRecommendations 80Anecdotal Incidents & Comments 81

IX. Exhibits

X. External Evaluation Report

SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW

ABSTRACT

1. PROGRAM TITLE: FY 1991 National Workplace Literacy Program(CFDA 84.198A)

2r PROJECT TITLE: SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW:IMPLEMENTING A WORKPLACE LITERACYCONSORTIUM FOR THE PRINTINGINDUSTRY

3. AWARD NUMBER: V198A10280

4. PROJECT DIRECTOR: Laura E. Weidner(410) 455-4501

5. FUNDS BY Federal: $ 240,500FISCAL YEAR: Non-Federal: $ 155,767*

Total Funds: $ 396,267Federal Funds = 61% of total funds

6. AWARD PERIOD: March 1, 1991 - August 31, 1992(no-cost extension to November 30, 1992)

7. FEDERAL OFFICERS: Sarah Newcomb, Program OfficerConstance Tyne, Grants Officer

8. PARTNERS: Catonsville Community CollegePrinting Industries of Maryland & Southern

PennsylvaniaPort City PressAdmiral Envelope, Inc.

9. PURPOSE: The purpose is to improve the productivity ofthe workforce through improvement ofliteracy skills in the workplace by providingon-site basic skills instruction to employeesin the printing industry.

* Additional Non-federal funds (worker release time for assessment and instruction)equals $ 141,874. This amount was not reported as part of the required in-kindfunds.

NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p.1

SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROWKEY EVENTS TIMELINE

MARCH 1991- NOVEMBER 1992

MARCH 1, 1991 SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW FUNDED BY U.S. DEPT OF EDUCATION

APRIL 1, 1991 PROJECT DIRECTOR ON BOARD

APRIL 25. 1991 FIRST EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT MEETINGS

MAY 1-3, 1991 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PROJECT DIRECTORS' MEETINGWASHINGTON, D.C.

JUNE 17, 1991 CLASSES BEGIN AT PORT CITY PRESSLEVEL I (CLASS 1, 2, 3)

SEPTEMBER 5, 1991 PRESS CONFERENCE AND KICK-OFF AT PORT CITY PRESS

SEPTEMBER 24, 1991 SECOND ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT PORT CITY PRESSLEVEL II MATH MODULE (CLASS 4, 5, 6)LEVEL I: CONTINUATION (CLASS 7)

OCTOBER 22, 1991 DISSEMINATION PANEL PRESENTATION AT MSDE PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

OCTOBER 28, 1991 CLASSES BEGIN AT BINDAGRAPHICS INC.LEVEL I (CLASS 8, 9)

OCTOBER 29, 1991 DISSEMINATION SEMINAR AT "BC 2001": TOWSON, MARYLAND

NOVEMBER 11, 1991 CLASSES BEGiN AT MARYLAND COMPOSITIONLEVEL I (CLASS 10)

NOVEMBER 25, 1991 CLASSES BEGIN AT CO-C.) SITE: ALPHA GRAPHICSLEVEL II MATH MODULE (CLASS 11)

JANUARY 13, 1992 CLASSES BEGIN AT WAVERLY PRESSLEVEL I (CLASS 12, 13, 14)

JAM ARY 16, 1992 DISSEMINATION SEMINAR AT AFACCT CONFERENCE:BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

FEBRUARY 10, 1992 SECOND ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT BINDAGRAPHICSLEVEL II MATH MODULE (CLASS 15)LEVEL I: CONTINUATION (CLASS 16)

p . 2

FEBRUARY 11, 1992

MARCH 9, 1992

MARCH 16, 1992

APRIL 5, 1992

MAY 4, 1992

MAY ;9, 1992

JUNE 5, 1992

JULY 7, 1992

JULY 10, 1992

AUGUST 4, 1992

AUGUST 24, 1992

AUGUST 31, 1992

SEPTEMBER 9-11, 1992

SEPTEMBER 16, 1992

OCTOBER 14, 1992

THIRD ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT PORT CITY PRESSLEVEL II MATH MODULE (CLASS 17)LEVEL II CRITICAL THINKING MODULES (CLASS 18, 19, 20)

SECOND ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT CO-OP SITE: ALPHA GRAPHICSLEVEL H CRITICAL THINKING MODULE (CLASS 21)

CLASSES BEGIN AT GAMSE LITHOGRAPHINGLEVEL I (CLASS 22)LEVEL II CRITICAL THINKING MODULE (CLASS 23, 24)

TWO DISSEMINATION WORKSHOPS AT MAACCE CONFERENCE:ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

SECOND ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT WAVERLY PRESSLEVEL H MATH MODULE (CLASS 25)LEVEL II CRITICAL THINKING MODULE (CLASS 26, 27)

THIRD ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT BINDAGRAPHICSLEVEL II CRITICAL THINKING MODULE (CLASS 28, 29)

DISSEMINATION SEMINAR AT GRAPHIC ARTS INSTITUTE:DENVER, COLORADO

FOURTH ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT PORT CITY PRESSLEVEL 0 COMMUNICATIONS MODULE (CLASS 30)

PROPOSAL FOR EXPANSION AND REPLICATION OF PROJECTSUBMITTED TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

THIRD ROUND OF CLASSES BEGINS AT WAVERLY PRESSLEVEL II COMMUNICATIONS MODULE (CLASS 31, 32)

CLASSES BEGIN AT CO-OP SITE: AMERICAN TRADE BINDERYLEVEL I (CLASS 33)LEVEL II MATH MODULE (CLASS 34)

NO-COST EXTENSION GOES INTO EFFECT

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PROJECT DIRECTORS' MEETING:WASHINGTON, D.C.

DISSEMINATION PANEL PRESENTATION AT NAB CONFERENCE:MIAMI, FLORIDA

DISSEMINATION SEMINAR AT NCCSCE CONFERENCE:BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

P 3

OCTOBER 23, 1992

OCTOBER 27, 1992

NOVEMBER 4, 1992

NOVEMBER 17, 1992

NOVEMBER 23, 1992

NOVEMBER 25, 1992

NOVEMBER 30, 1992

DISSEMINATION SEMINAR AT PRINTING INDUSTRY SYMPOSIUM:TUCSON, ARIZONA

DISSEMINATION WORKSHOP AT MSDF. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTINSTITUTE: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

DISSEMINATION SEMINAR AT MACE CONFERENCE:ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA

FINAL SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW CLASS ENDSAT AMERICAN TRADE BINDERY

PARTICIPANT GRADUATION AND RECOGNITION CEREMONY AT CCC

SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW CURRICULUM PRINTED

FEDERAL FUNDING ENDS

8p . 4


INTRODUCTION

Catonsville Community College (CCC) and Printing Industries of Maryland andSouthern Pennsylvania (PIM+SP) have enjoyed a long-standing mutually beneficialrelationship for over 17 years. PIM+SP and CCC worked together to develop a grantresulting in the establishment of CCC'S two year degree program in PrintingManagement Technology, as well as a certificate program in printing. Therelationship between PIM+SP and CCC is currently stronger than ever. Together,the association and the college have formed the printing curriculum for the JTPAprogram, acquired equipment to be used in college printing and upgrade trainingprograms, and developed hands-on training for representatives in the industry.

In early 1990 the PIM+SP Education Committee approached CCC about a growingconcern in the industry relating to the basic skills levels of employees. Several localcompanies had expressed some degree of alarm at their employees' inability toperform tasks requiring basic reading and/or math skills This local concern wasvalidated further by a study conducted by the National Associadon of Printers andLithographers (NAPL) in 1990. This survey reported the lack of adequate basicskills to meet basic job requirements in:

41% of bindery workers38% of press workers30% of materials handling workers28% of pre-press workers

Catonsville and PIM+SP conducted a local survey which indicated similar levels ofskill deficiencies among workers in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. As a result,PIM+SP asked Catonsville to develop a program to meet those needs in the Baltimorearea.

Using these surveys as evidence of need, CCC and PIM+SP submitted a proposal tothe U.S. Department of Education for funding under the National Workplace LiteracyGrant Program. In March 1991, this partnership was awarded $240,500 to developand implement a basic skills training program for graphic arts industry.

This document reports the process, outcomes, and recommendations of Skills Todayfor Tomorrow.

9



START-UP

Though Skills Today for Tomorrow was funded beginning in March, 1991, the ProjectDirector was not hired until April 1991, effectively eliminating any period of timededicated to start-up. The Project Director, Laura E. Weidner, came to Catonsvillewith over thirteen years of experience in adult literacy, including the managementof two computer-assisted adult learning centers and a mobile literacy lab. Theremainder of the project staff was not officially hired until June, 1991 when classesbegan.

The Education Committee of PIM+SP served as the Management Council for theproject. This committee is comprised of the Vice President of PIM+SP , tenrepresentatives of the more than 400 PIM+SP members, and a representative from theContii suing Education Division of Catonsville Community College. In addition, theSkills Today for Tomorrow Project Director began attending Education Committeemeetings at the onset of the project.

The Management Council played a very important role in the project. The ProjectDirector constantly sought input and recommendations from this Council. Becausethe Education Committee members represent different components of the graphic artsindustry (small, medium, & large firms, paper suppliers, ink suppliers, pre-pressfirms, composition firms, and binderies, among others) , they were able to offerexcellent suggestions for addressing many of the questions encountered in theproject. In addition, since the project staff hulds primarily an education backgroundand focus, the business acumen of the Management Council was invaluable.

Three companies had agreed to participate in Skills Today for Tomorrow:

Port City Press, Inc.Admiral Envelope CompanyJohn D. Lucas Printing Company

These three companies are diverse in size and function. Port City Press printsprimarily books, journals, and manuals. They can accomplish all parts of theprinting process from composition to printing and binding. Port City Press hasapproximately, 285 employees. Admiral Envelope is a very small company withapproximately 25 employees. It is a family-owned business that primarily printsenvelopes and other small printing jobs. The third company, John D . LucasPrinting, was the largest of the three firms with over 350 employees.

In addition to working closely with the Management Council during the start-upphase of the project, the Project Director began immediate meetings with each of thebusiness partners in the project. At that time CCC learned that John D. LucasPrinting had been sold to new owners in April 1991. The Project Directorapproached the new management and encouraged involvement in Skills Today forTomorrow. However, due to the financial situation and realigned priorities of thefirm, John D . Luc.Ls Printing withdrew its support and did not participate in theproject.

10

NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM .

-,11111111/1p.6


The loss of John D . Lucas as the largest business partner necessitated ame changesin the structure of the project as originally proposed. After consulting with U . S.Department of Education program staff and the Management Council, the ProjectDirector embarked on a campaign to interest other PIM+SP members in participatingin the project as additional sites, not partners. Specifics of marketing will bediscussed later in this report.

A summary chart of the roles of each of the partners in Skills Today for Tomorrowfollows.

MIIIIIIIIIIIMIMMINIMINI.14111111111/1111.1111111111111111N111011111M1111NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p.7

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STAFFING

Staffing under the original proposal consisted of the following:

Project Director 100%Secretary 50%Curriculum Coordinator 25%

Assessment Technician 10%

Instructors:Reading Specialist 50%Writing Specialist 50%Math Specialist 50%

It became apparent almost immediately that this structure must be altered to providethe most effective program. According to the project instructional program, thereading, writing, and math classes in Level I would be integrated, requiring aninstructor competent in all three areas, and not necessarily a specialist in any onearea. In addition, since the largest of the three partners had withdrawn from theproject, and other sites would be added, it was questionable whether or not threeinstructors would be able to teach all of the classes. Therefore, only two half-timeinstructors were hired. The funds provided for the third instructor weredesignated to be used for adjunct (contractual) instructors to meet the needs of anyadditional sites. The two half-time instructors provided program continuity and didmuch of the curriculum development work, while also teaching some classes Theadjunct instructors worked closely with the two instructor/developers to identifyand meets needs for their own classes.

The Assessment Technician was originally slated to be the Testing CenterCoordinator at Catonsville Community College. However, after the first monthof theproject, the individual involved withdrew from the project because her current workload prohibited her from taking on this additional assignment. To adjust to thischange, the Project Director hired an Assessment Technician on a contractual basis.It was the role of this individual to conduct and score all on-site employeeassessments, prepare individual score reports for employees . and aggregatereportsfor the Project Director. This position was not needed throughout the entireproject.

All staff members were carefully evaluated to determine their qualifications,experience, and capabilities. Flexibility and a commitment to working with adultswere two of the primary qualities required of all staff members.

14



SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW - PROJECT STAFF

Project Director

Curriculum Coordinator

Instructors/Developers

Assessment Technician

Adjunct Instructors

Secretary

Laura E. Weidner

William E. Loflin

Jean BrunstetterThomas Cantu

Wendy Smith

Gwyn DegnerDonna MayClaudia MorrellMary HardcastleWilliam HostoMary Ann VerHagenElizabeth MandlenLynn Lazear

Maxine Barrett

15



INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Both Port City Press and Admiral Envelope were eager to begin training employeesas soon as possible. The Project Director met several times with the "contact person"at each company prior to meeting with the management. Meetings with topmanagement were essential prior to the employee recruitment phase. A series ofhandouts was shared with company management at these meetings. [SEE EXHIBIT A]At these upper-level management meetings the following issues were discussed:

Need for basic skills instruction in industryin general and in this firm in particular.

Commitment of CEO and other top managementto offering Skills Today for Tomorrow tocompany employees.

Role of CCC staff and program: important,yet secondary to r imary function of thecompany, i.e. getting the job done.

Advantages of voluntary participation byemployees

Necessity of confidentiality of all employeerecords

Release-time configurations for classes:- 100% company time

100% employee time- 50% company time/50% employee time

Process/progress of the project:- Interest generating sessions- Literacy Task Analyses- Curriculum development (on-going)- Employee needs assessments- Instruction

Cost to the company:- Site Coordinator (10% time)- Release-time- Instructional space- Miscellaneous supplies

Record-keeping requirements

MIMIIIIIMIN/11/1/11/11/1NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p . 11

16


Note: Both of the initial partners involved in the project were non-union firms, someetings with union representatives, essential at the first phase of a projectsuch as Skills Today for Tomorrow, were not applicable at this stage in theproject. Two union-represented companies were encountered during themarketing phase. A brief discussion of the union role can be found on theSite Summary pages for those firms.

Once these isst. s were resolved with management, the Project Director met withfront-line supervisors. This step was critical to the successful implementation andcontinuation of Skills Today for Tomorrow at each company and its importance mustbe emphasized. At supervisor meetings the following issues were discussed:

Need for basic skills instruction in industryin general and in this firm in particular.

Commitment of CEO and other top managementto offering Skills Today for Tomorrow

Role of CCC staff and program: important,yet secondary to primary function of thecompany, i.e. getting the job done.

Process/progress of the project:- Interest generating sessions- Literacy Task Analyses- Curriculum development (on-going)- Employee needs assessments- Instruction

Necessity for on-going communicationbetween supervisor, site coordinator, andProject Director

Confidentiality

Role of the supervisor in recruitment:- Encouraging employees to get involved- Arranging schedules to accommodate participants- Positive attitude & actions toward program

Specific needs within each department-supervisors were asked to help identify basicskill areas that needed to be addressed.

Identification of two or three competentworkers within each department to participatein the Literacy Task Analyses.

Most supervisors, as far as CCC was able to ascertain, were supportive of theproject. They were willing to release employees to attend class, as long as accurateattendance records were kept. Their concerns centered around schedule changesneeded when workers were in class during work hours. The Project Director met

NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM

1

p.12


this concern with assurances that the iob was the primary concern , and Skills Todayfor Tomorrow staff would be flexible and adjust for contingencies such as rush jobs,short-handed days, and the like.

Another common thread was a concern that employees whom the supervisor "knew"really needed the program would not voluntarily become involved. Lengthydiscussion centered on this topic, but the advantages of voluntary participationoutweighed the desire to involve reluctant or unwilling individuals. It was our hopethat word-of-mouth promotion z fter the first round of classes would encourageworkers who were reluctant at the beginning.



MARKETING THE PROGRAM

Marketing Skills Today for Tomorrow was not a part of the original intent of thisproject. Indeed, the goals and objectives targeted the three business partners.However, with the loss of John D. Lucas Printing, the initial focus of the projectneeded adjustments. Upon recommendations of the Management Council, a marketingplan was developed and implemented.

The goal of this plan was to encourage other PIM+SP member companies to participatein Skills Today for Tomorrow, enabling the project to meet its training goals. TheProject Director designed a set of handouts to share with company management whendiscussing the project. The Management Council and Project Director worked witha graphics design company to design a project logo, poster, brochure, and othermaterials to use in both marketing and recruitment. [SEE EXHIBIT B

The PIM+SP Vice President made initial contact with member companies that hadexpressed an interest in becoming involved. She personally contacted members thatmight be interested. It was especially effective for the initial contact to come fromthe professional trade association rather than the college. In addition, .shepublished articles in the PIM+SP members' newsletter encouraging inquiries.

Once the initial contact had been made, the Project Director scheduled meetings withrepresentatives at interested companies, making the "pitch" to get involved. Someof the difficulties encountered in this process included:

Most printing companies are small, less than 25 employees,making the logistics of on-site instruction difficult andnot cost-effective.

Some of the companies were union-represented , and otherswere not. Non-union companies were reluctant for theiremployees to snare clasaez with union-representedworkers.

The printing industry, according to industry experts, ione of the last both to feel the impact of a recession and tofeel the recovery from a recession. By spring and summerof 1991, many printing companies were hurting from therecession , and reluctant to implement training programswhile concurrently laying-off employees.

In small companies of 25 or fewer employees, employerswere very concerned about releasing 8-10 workers forclasses. There would be a far greater impact on theproduction line than in a larger company .


19

p . 14


At least one employer was concerned that this programwould teach his workers to "think"--he wanted them to dotheir jobs without thinking.

The Project Director approached the following companies to become involved as sitesin Skills Today for Tomorrow. Those marked with an asterisk participated in theprogram.

* Alford Packaging* Alpha Graphics* American Trade Bindery

Art LithoBarton Cotton

* Bindagraphics, Inc.* Gamse Lithographing Company

Garamond PridemarkMa lco Plastics

* Maryland Composition

Optic GraphicsReese PrintingROI TechnologiesVictor Graphics

* Waverly Press, Williams & Wilkins


20

p . 15


EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT

An integral part of the Project Director's assignment was employee recruitment.Since every company participating in Skills Today for Tomorrow had agreed to acompletely voluntary program, an effective campaign to encourage workerinvolvement was critical.

The company scheduled employee meetings for the purpose of generating interest inthe program among workers. CCC insisted that meetings be made available to allemployees. Wherever possible, employee attendance at these interest-generatingmeetings was mandatory. The Project Director requested a minimum of 20 minutesand a maximum of 30 for each meeting. The company determined meeting times,locations, and number of workers in attendance.

These meetings took different forms at each company. In some instances, the ProjectDirector spoke to employees as part of a regularly scheduled department or plantmeeting. Other times, employees were scheduled in small groups for special meetingsusually held in the company cafeteria. At one site, the plant manager simply shutdown the loudest presses and employees gathered round an empty pallet while theProject Director spoke above the hum of other machinery.

Despite management's consistent predictions of low response. these meetings wereextremely successful in recruiting employees for the program. Several factorscontributed to the very positive response by employees at these meetings:

Project Director approached employees on avery personal level.

Tone of these meetings was low pressure andlow key.

Management, usually the CEO, introduced theProject Director and expressed strongsupport for Skills Today for Tomorrow.

Educational goals that extended to thepersonal level were addressed.

Differences between Skills Today forTomorrow and the K-12 school experiencewere stressed.

Individualized instruction, based on goalsand needs of each participant, washighlighted as hallmark of the program.

CCC presented this as an opportunity, onenot likely to recur in the near future.

NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p . 16


An outside provider has an advantage of notbeing part of the company, its culture, andits politics. The Project Director remainedneutral on those issues, helping to gain theworkers' trust.

Employees were more willing to enroll inclasses conducted by a college. AttendingCatonsville Community College, even as acontinuing education student, was viewed asmore positive than taking "reading classes."

Finally, and perhaps the most significant factor contributing to the success of thesemeetings, relates to the expected outcomes of the session. Employees were notexpected, or even permitted, to sign-up for caasses after these sessions. The onlycommitment workers made was to attend an assessment session to help them and thecollege determine if they needed basic skills classes. This approach was lessthreatening to workers than committing to twelve weeks of classes. More werewilling to "test the waters" by taking the assessment with no further commitmentrequired. Interestingly enough, almost all workers whose initial assessmentindicated a need for classes did sign-up for classes. Data demonstrating the successof the employee recruitment program are included in the Outcomes and Objectivessecticl. of this report.

Each worker who signed up for an assessment session received a reminder card ,similar to those used by medical offices for appointments. In those instances wherethe specific assessment times were pre-determined, this card was given at theinterest-generating session. In other companies, the Site Coordinator at the firm,sent the reminders to employees once the scheduling of the assessment sessions hadbeen completed. In both circumstances, the worker had a handy, pocket-sizedreminder of his or her scheduled assessment session.

NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p .17

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2324


ASSESSMENT

The assessment procedures delineated in the original proposal had to be alteredslightly. The NAPL WorkPLACER program assessment instrument is an anonymousneeds assessment that company managers may administer, send to NAPL for scoring,and analyze results to determine if there is a basic skills need in their plants. Thistype of assessment, while filling an important need in the industry, did not meet theneeds of Skills Today for Tomorrow. In addition, the Maryland State Department ofEducation mandates that literacy programs in the state use the Comprehensive AdultStudent Assessment System (CASAS) to unify reporting data. Therefore, SkillsToday for Tomorrow assessed participants using CASAS.

Prior to the assessment session, the Assessment Technician developed a CLOZEdocument for each company. Following the guidelines in Literacy at Work by JoriePhilippi, the technician selected passages from either the company handbook orpersonnel policies in use at the company. She conducted a readability test onpassages and created a CLOZE assessment for each company. [SEE EXHIBIT C ] Thetarget readability range was 8th or 9th grade level. It was very difficult to findemployee handbooks with a readability level below 11th grade level.

Initial assessment was for placement purposes only. Employees who signed-up forassessment at the interest-generating sessions committed to a two hour assessmentsession. The "T Word" (test) was never used, and assessment was used only in alimited way. Instead the sessions were called "Information Sessions" or "OrientationSessions" and the purpose defined as:

an opportunity for interested workers to askquestions about the program

an opportunity for CCC staff to measure eachworker's skills to determine if the program isneeded

an opportunity for CCC staff to identify theoverall reading level of workers using aCLOZE document

The company scheduled assessment sessions on company time approximately one-twoweeks after the employee meetings. It was important to maintain the interest andexcitement generated at the meetings wither prior to the assessment sessions.Assessments were conducted in groups of up to 25 individuals, frequently back toback, and in some cases, all day and all night long.

The Assessment Technician conducted the sessions. A portion of the time wascommitted to reducing test anxiety for the workers. For most of the participants,this was the first test they had faced in many years. The CASAS WorkplaceAppraisal Form 200 was used for reading placement and the Maryland version of theCASAS math appraisal Form 75 was used for math placement. Both tests areuntimed , but most workers were finished with each assessment L approximately 30-40 minutes. Employees at every company found the CLOZE document veryfrustrating. Several refused to complete it. The CLOZE took approximately 20minutes to complete. 2i



The Assessment Technician scored all assessments and prepared individual reportsfor employees in sealed CCC envelopes. The Project Director returned to thecompany approximately 1-2 weeks after assessment to report scores to the workersand begin the enrollment process. Scores were returned in group meetings with aninterpretation presented for all levels. Only the individual employee knew whichlevel referred to his or her specific situation. The Project Director and other staffmembers were available for individual counseling sessions after the general reportingsession

After employees received their scores, they completed an "Interest Statement, "

indicating their decision and commitment to involvement in Skills Today forTomorrow. The results of these interest statements were compiled and given to theSite Coordinator at the company for scheduling purposes. All class scheduling wasdone by the company.

This system worked quite well. Employees did not feel compelled to enroll in classes,but based on their needs, knew which level to enroll in if they were interested. Mostemployees who indicated a need on the appraisal expressed interest in classes. Somewere unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, however. If an employee did notenroll in classes, confidentiality was maintained by this system and the employer didnot know that worker's level of need.

The CASAS, though certainly not a perfect instrument for measuring worker needs,had an unanticipated advantage in this situation. Workers were NOT demoralized ordiscouraged by their scores, even if the scores were quite low. CASAS is acompetency-based assessment and results are reported as scale scores. There areno grade level, percentage, or other readily-identifiable indicators of level. Eachemployee received a three-digit number which had no inherent meaning to him orher. The Project Director explained those scores in terms of Skills Today forTomorrow and in which part( s) of the program the worker should enroll. Fewworkers, if any, left the score sessions feeling they had failed another test.

Workers were placed into the program according to the following guidelines:

RECOMMENDED LEVELS OF CLASS ENROLLMENT:(represents scale scores on initial appraisal)Level 1 : either reading or math < 221Level 2 : either reading or math 221-230Level 2+: both reading and math 231

LEVEL I ASSESSMENT

Once employees began their Level I classes, the CASAS Survey Achievement tests(Forms 31 -36) in Reading and Math were administered to identify specifically whichcompetencies they needed to master- In addition, each participant produced awriting sample which was evaluated by the instructor. The experience of thisproject indicated that workers scored much higher on the Survey Achievement testthan the appraisal scores would indicate. In several instances, a higher level of theSurvey Achievement test needed to be administered in order for the instructor toidentify the individual's needs.

26



The following criteria were used to place learners in the correct Survey Achievementtest:

SCALE SCORE INTERPRETATION FOR APPRAISAL:(use to determine which level of pre-test to administer)

Reading <200: Level AMath <200: Level B

Reading 200 - 215: Level BMath 200 - 215: Level B

Reading 216 +: Level CMath 216+ : Level C

Another problem with the CASAS that surfaced almost immediately made it difficultto relate CASAS scores to the printing industry-identified competencies the projectwas to address. To alleviate this problem, one of the instructor/developersconducted an item-analysis of the CASAS tests forms 31-36 and correlated thisanalysis with the competencies. [SEE EXHIBIT D] This enabled all instructors toidentify immediately the individual's needs in terms of the industry-identifiedcompetencies. Those competencies not measured by the CASAS were measured bythe instructor using more informal diagnostic procedures once class had started.In addition, CASAS assessments generally do not register measurable gains withouta minimum of 75-100 hours of instruction between administration of the pre and postforms. Level I classes in Skills Today for Tomorrow were scheduled for 48instructional hours.

LEVEL DE ASSESSMENT

Each module in Level II had its own pre and post assessment. The CASAS systemwas not used in the Level II modules.

27


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INSTRUCTION

Skills Today for Tomorrow was designed with a great deal of flexibility to meet theneeds of as many workers as possible duriztg the eighteen months of the project.The program focused on worker needs at two levels. Placement into the program wasbased on an initial appraisal. (see Assessment section) Placement recommendationswere made to employees when they received their scores.

All classes, regardless of level and content, met twice weekly for two hour sessions.Classes were scheduled at shift changes since the employees were granted 50%release time. All classes were held on-site at the participating company. Two sitesserved as cooperative sites and employees from more than one company attendedclasses as those sites. For a complete description of classes at each site, refer to the"Site Summary" pages of this report.

LEVEL I

Placement into Level I classes indicated that a worker's skills were not sufficient toenroll in Level II which used the NAPL curriculum. Level I featured greaterflexibility in both scheduling and curriculum. For registration purposes, theseclasses were twelve weeks in duration, four hours per week for a total of 48instructional hours. However, Level I classes were open-exit, and each participantwas able to exit upon demonstrating mastery of the competencies he/she needed. If,at the completion of the scheduled class, some of the workers had not yet masteredall of their competencies, a second round of Level I classes would be scheduled, withinstruction picking up where it stopped.

The instructional approach in Level I was individualized and competency-based.Upon entry into the program, each participant met with the instructor to discussindividual goals and the results of the diagnostic assessment. During thesesessions, the learner and instructor cooperatively developed the Individual LearningPlan (ILP) which would guide the learning process during the class. [SEE EXHIBITE] Both the instructor and learner signed the ILP indicating joint agreement with theprogram.

Instructors maintained a "Competency Profile" on each learner. [SEE EXHIBIT F]This profile indicated which industry-identified competencies the workerdemonstrated upon entry into the program and the date others were mastered. Thisprofile provided valuable data for each instructor as the learner progressed throughthe program. It also gave the student visible evidence of his or her progress. Thiswas especially important when little or no evidence of progress manifested itself inpost-test scores.

Level I instruction in Skills Today for Tomorrow covered reading, writing, and matheach class. Because the instruction was so individualized, learners focused only onthose areas in which they needed help. A wide range of skill levels existed in eachof the Level I classes, from little or no reading skills to approximately 7th or 8thgrade level. ( This is only an estimate as no assessment to determine grade level wasadministered. )

30



Instructional delivery took on numerous forms. A limited number of teacher-directed lessons was included in the class. Each instructor used varying amountsof grouping, cooperative learning activities, peer-tutoring, and independent work.Since each class was unique, this flexibility was essential, and proved veryeffective. Learners were delighted, and surprised, to learn from and help eachother during and between classes.

Upon completion of the competencies in Level I, most learners were ready to enrollin one or more of the Level II modules.

LEVEL II

Some workers were placed directly into Level II classes as a result of the initialappraisal. Others enrolled in Level II modules after completing the Level I classes.Level II was comprised of three distinct classes:

On the Job Math 12 weeksCritical Thinking & Problem Solving 9 weeksWorkplace Communications 12 weeks

48 hours36 hours48 hours

These three classes were offered as separate modules. While no particular order wasrequired, these classes generally followed the above sequence. Each module haddefined start and end dates, and open-exit was not an option.

Each module included a pre and post assessment specific to the curriculum. As inthe Level I classes, instructors maintained a "Competency Profile" on every learnerto document competency gains in meeting the objectives of the module. [SEE EXHIBITF] Instructional delivery in the Level II classes included more teacher-directedlessons for the most part. However, the Critical Thinking and Problem Solvingmodule involved a great deal of group work, since the problem solving model useda team approach.

31



LITERACY TASK ANALYSE

Skills Today for Tomorrow instructional staff conducted Literacy Task Analyses(LTA) in order to develop a job-specific curriculum and to offer an effective work-based education program. Since the project included eight different companiesrepresenting very diverse areas of the printing industry, an LTA of every job inevery company was out of the question. This was further exacerbated by theunavoidable delays in hiring and the necessity of starting classes almost immediately .

The Project Director, working with the instructor/developers, customized the LTAprocess to meet the unique needs of this project. During the initial supervisorsmeetings the Project Director asked supervisors to identify specific needs in theirrespective departments. Most were eager to state what their workers needed to dobetter. Supervisors also identified two or three competent workers from theirdepartments. The Project Director requested workers who would be able to clearlyarticulate the detaiIR of their jobs. Each supervisor and compatent worker involvedin the process also helped by providing both blank and completed copies of variousworkplace documents.

Instructor/developers created simplified Task Analysis forms to use in workerinterviews. [SEE EXHIBIT G] To streamline the LTA process, the developers metwith workers from one department in a group to gather details about the tasks donein that department. Later the workers took the developers onto the plant floor forobservations of the job in progress. Developers were permitted to spend as muchtime as needed watching workers and asking questions. These interviews andmodified shadowing produced sufficient data for the developers to develop thecurriculum. AdGitional documents and information rapidly surfaced once classesbegan and each instructor asked learners in that class to identify their job tasks andneeds. This process took place at all sites in Skills Today for Tomorrow.

32



CURRICULUM

Curriculum development was an integral part of Skills Today for Tomorrow, and agraphic arts industry-specific curriculum is the end product of the project. Theproject proposed to create a curriculum to prepare workers for the NAPLWorkPLACER curriculum. While NAPL was reluctant to identify the "level" of theircurriculum, the Curriculum Coordinator and Project Director of Skills Today forTomorrow estimated a need for an approximate 7th - 8th grade reading level forbeginning the WorkPLACER curriculum. The Level I curriculum developed by SkillsToday for Tomorrow staff complements the WorkPLACER curriculum.

LEVEL IThe instructional staff created the curriculum for Level I using the Literacy TaskAnalyses (LTA) and documents from each company that participated in the project.A copy of the entire curriculum is included with this report. However, it becameapparent almost immediately that the instructors would not be able to develop everylearning activity needed for the classes. The project director and curriculumcoordinator, working in conjunction with the instructors, purchased additionalcommercially-published materials to supplement the job-specific curriculum. Thisblending of curriculum materials worked quite well.

Skills Today for Tomorrow did not have funding to purchase equipment forcomputer-assisted instruction. However, z.s part of the matching funds, CCCprovided seven portable IBM compatible computers for a portion of the project.These computers were used at three sites in the Level I instructional. program. Theonly software available with these computers was WordPerfect 5.0. Instructorscreated on-screen reading and writing activities using the word processor as a tool.Learners found the computers a worthwhile addition to the curriculum. The greatestpositive response was from learners who had never or rarely used a computer intheir job. Company management was pleased that some of their employees receivedan introduction to the computer in a non-threatening way, easing futureimplementations within the firm.

Level instruction also included two components often overlooked in a basic skillsprogram, especially in the workplace. Learners spent approximately ten minutes ofeach class session engaged in "sustained silent reading." This opportunity forrecreational reading encouraged workers to begin (or re-start) the habit of dailyreading. A lending library of donated books remained on site at each location toprovide reading materials if learners did not have their own . Besides SSR , learnerswere strongly encouraged to keep a written journal and many did. This was not arequirement of the program, but proved to be not only interesting, but veryworthwhile for those whose goals included improved writing skills

33



SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS - :FVEL I CURRICULUM

TITLE

MathMath Skills by Objective, Books 1 - 3Basic Essentials of Mathematics, Books 1-2Number Skills for Life & WorkPre-GED Math ExercisesBreakthrough to Math

ReadingReading for Workplace SuccessMegawords, Books 1-8Reading Skills for Life & WorkPre-GED Reading

WritingWriting for Workplace SuccessEnglish Skills by Objective, Books 1 3Document Skills for Life & WorkLanguage Exercises for AdultsPre-GED Writing

OtherMore Than A JobNews For You, Weekly Newspaper

34

PUBLISHER

CambridgeSteck VaughanSimon & SchusterCambridgeCenter /Workforce Ed.

ParadigmEducators PublishingSimon & SchusterCambridge

ParadigmCambridgeSimon & SchusterSteck VaughanCambridge

Center Workforce Ed.New Readers Press



LEVEL 11

In the original proposal, the Level II classes were based on the National Associationof Printers and Lithographers' (NAPL) curriculum, WorkPLACER . The NAPL wasdeveloping an extensive curriculum to address graphic arts industry needs in eachof the three areas listed above. Unfortunately, when the project was funded inSpring 1991, NAPL had fallen far behind its original publication schedule forWorkPLACER . During the course of the project, CCC was able to use only one of thethree WorkPLACER curriculum programs, On-the-Job Math. Both the CriticalThinking and Problem Solving and Workplace Communications classes were offeredprior to publication of the WorkPLACER module of the same names.To resolve this dilemma, Skills Today for Tomorrow staff developed a curriculumforboth classes. Working closely with both supervisors and workers, the staffdeveloped the Critical Thinking and Problem Solving curriculum. Using Thinkingfor Workplace Success by Paradigm publishers as a basis, project staff supplementedand customized the exercises for the printing industry classes Specific problemsencountered on the job in the participating printing company replaced the books'more generic problems. The staff created a pre and post assessment instrument todocument learner mastery of the competencies. Missing from the Paradigm book,however, was a model for the problem-solving process. After extensive researchinto the various known models, CCC instructors developed a five-step modelaffectionately known as the DOSIE:

D Define and analyze the problemO Originate solutionsS Select a solutionI Implement a solutionE Evaluate the solution

Workers learned this process and applied it in a wide range of problem solvingapplications.

Paradigm Publishers's Reading for Workplace Success and Writing for WorkplaceSuccess formed the basis for the Workplace Communications module. Again staffworked with supervisors and participants to customize these basic texts for theSkills Today for Tomorrow communications class. The pre and post assessmentinvolved reading workplace documents and responding in written form. It alsoincluded a listening component. The module curriculum focused on verbalcommunication on the job and finding and passing on information (reading andwriting ) . The emphasis in the writing unit was on effective communication asopposed to a strong mechanics approach, though some mechanics instruction wasincluded.

The NAPL WorkPLACER curriculum entitled On the Job Math formed the basis of theOn-the-Job Math module. This project was one of the first nationwide to implementthis curriculum into a workplace learning program.

35



PARTICIPANT RECOGNITION

Since many of the participants in Skills Today for Tomorrow have not been in anykind of educational program for quite a few years, the project staff felt it wasimportant to encourage success by celebrating success. Once this process wasimplemented, it grew and became an integral part of every class

Skills Today for Tomorrow participants who successfully completed the programreceived a Catonsville Community College Continuing Education certificate. Thiscertificate is issued to all individuals who complete CCC continuing educationclasses. Generally, the certificate is mailed to the students' homes. However, inSkills Today for Tomorrow, the project staff held a graduation at the end of eachclass at each site. Invited to the ceremony were the CEO of the company, plantmanagers, supervisors, CCC representatives, and PIM+SP representatives. Thepresence of the company and project partner leadership added to the significance ofthe event for the participants.

All of the guests were invited to speak to the class if they desired. The ProjectDirector presented the certificates to each participant, offering each the opportunityto speak to the group. Generally participants thanked the cJmpany,the program,and especially their instructors. This was a very worthwhile and moving portion ofevery graduation. It sent a strong and effective message to the company--in a waythe project staff could not.

These graduations were originally intended to be a means of recognizing success inthe program on a small scale. The participants became quite delighted at theprospect of each upcoming graduation and expanded the ceremony beyond theoriginal intent. Each company provided refreshments, yet the participants broughtin great quantities of food and additional refreshments, seemingly eager to sharetheir success in other ways. At two sites, participants purchased or mademortarboards, complete with tassels, and wore them throughout the ceremony. Onepartic..pant videotaped the entire event. CCC maintained a project scrapbook withpictures from all graduations. Workers were thus able to see involvement by othercompanies and individuals like themselves.

During the last week of the project, CCC hosted a closing ceremony and recognitionevent for all participating companies and individuals. This exciting event broughttogether nearly 100 participants and their families, management representatives ofall eight participating companies, PIM+SP leadership, CCC President and Deans, andall project staff . The Project Director recognized each company and it employeeswho participated in Skills Today for Tomorrow. [SEE EXHIBIT H] Two exemplaryparticipants volunteered to speak .1)out their experiences in the prcgram. Thosetwo brief speeches held greater impact than those of all the dignitaries involved inthe event. A reception afterwards allowed workers and their families to socializewith project and college personnel and to explore other educational opportunities.Everyone enjoyed the picture displays of various project classes, graduations, andparticipants.

36



OBJECTIVES AND OUTCON6

Every effort was made during the life of the project to effectively evaluate theprogram. Project staff collected data on pre and post test scores for Level T, andcompetency mastery for all modules in Level I and II. Data was also collected byinstructors and compiled by the Project Director regarding assessments,registrations, enrollments, and completions in order to determine whether or not theproject met its goals and objectives.

"Enrollments by Course and Company" (p.31) charts a. listing of worker enrollmentsin each class offered at all participating companies. The majority (66%) of programparticipants enrolled in the Level II modules.

"Worker Enrollments By Company" (p. 32) indicates the number of individuals whowere assessed and who enrolled in classes at each site. Percentage of employeesenrolled is shown in the data chart. Alford Packaging Company employees wereassessed, but the company withdrew from the program prior to starting classes.

The graph on page 33, "Identified Need and Actual Enrollments," demonstrates thenumber of individuals whose assessment scores showed a need for instruction andwho actually enrolled in classes. At Port City Press, a small number of supervisorsenrolled in the Critical Thinking classes without taking the initial assessment, thusindicating greater enrollment than need. At Maryland Composition, the companypresident terminated the classes before all interested employees could enroll.

Since Skills Today for Tomorrow was a multi-level program with four distinct classesavailable to participants, some workers enrolled in more than one class. The"Program Participation" chart on page 34 compares the number of individuals withthe total number of enrollments in the program.

Page 35 graphs the total number (34) of Level I and Level II classes held at eachsite.

Site Abbreviations:PCP Port City PressBIND Bindagraphics, Inc.AD/AG Admiral Envelope & Alpha Graphics Co-op SiteMDC Maryland CompositionWAVE Waverly PressGAM Gamse LithographingATB American Trade Bindery

37


SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROWENROLLMENTS BY COURSE AND COMPANY

MARCH 1991 - NOVEMBER 1992

CLASS ;SEC INSTR PCP BINDA ADMIRA ALPHA MDCOM WAVE GAMSE AMTRAD TOTALS

WPL001 L TRC 6

WPL001 F TRCWPL001 E GAD 12

WPL001 H MCH 8

WPL001 I MCH 14

WPL001 CM 10

WPL001 D GAD 15

WPL001 C JSB 14

WPL001 A TRC 17

WPL001 B JSB 16

WPL001 IA MVH 15

TOTAL LEVEL I ENROLLMENTS 136

WPL002 IA JSB 13

WPL002 IB GADTOTAL LEVEL I CONTINUATION ENROLLMENTS

WPL004 H 1 RC 8

WPL004 A EM

WPL004 E TRC 13

WPL004 B JSB 23

WPL004 D WI-I

WPL004 TRC 13

WPL004 F GAD 14

WPL004 TRC 11

TOTAL LEVEL II MATH ENROLLMENTS 100

WPL007 H MVH 13

WPL007 J GAD 11

WPL007 I GAD 6

WPL007 G MVH

WPL007 C LL 16

WPL007 B JSB 13

WPL007 A JSB 26WPL007 F Ll.WPL007 E CM

WPL007 D TRC 10

TOW. LEVEL II CRITICAL THINKING ENROLLMENTS 116

WPL008 C TRC 7

WPL008 TRC 11

WPL008 B TRC 12

TOTAL LEVEL II COMMUNICATIONS ENROLLMENTS

TOTALENROLLMENTS 186 67 2 18 9 80 19 23 404

38

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PARTICIPANT PRE-POST EVALUATION

Skills Today for Tomorrow was also interested in comparative data regardingparticipant perceptions of their abilities when they entered the program and aftercompletion of one or more classes in the program. When enrolling in their first classin the program, workers ranked their skills in the following areas [SEE EXHIBIT I] :

communication with other peoplereading Englishwriting Englishspeaking Englishworking with numbers

Several months later, during the 21st month of the project, a "Course Follow-UpSurvey" was sent to every worker who had taken one or more class in Skills Todayfor Tomorrow. [SEE EXHIBIT I] The return rate of these surveys was 37%.

Pages 37 - 41 are comparison graphs showing the quantitative changes inparticipants' perceptions of their skills Skills were ranked along a five-pointchecklist. The graphs show how workers perceived the change in their skills:

-1 skill level dropped one point0 no change in skill level

+1 skill level raised one point+2 skill :level raised two points+3 skill level raised three points

Pages 42-45 chart the qualitative changes workers repo-zted as a result of SkillsToday for Tomorrow in work-based, education-based, and personal outcomes.

4f

NATIOAAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p.36

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G`1


EVALUATION

Skills Today for Tomorrow proposed both formative and summative evaluation.R . G . Wasdyke and Associates of Annapolis, Maryland served as the externalevaluator. A copy of the external evaluation report is included with this report.

This project made an active attempt to evaluate and adjust the program on an on-going basis. The Project Director made herself a very visible presence in everycompany and in every class. She opened each class, made at least two scheduled sitevisits during each module, and returned for the dosing ceremony of each class. Inaddition, she made numerous unscheduled visits, especially during the early phasesof the project. During every visit, she spoke to the entire class and to individualsas well seeking informal feedback about the class, content, instructor, materials,and program organization. This feedback proved very useful in adjustments forfuture classes

More formal evaluation measures included a "Course Evaluation" completed by everystudent during the last class session. [SEE EXHIBIT J] In an effort to encourageparticipants to give honest responses, the instructor was not present while learnerscompleted these evaluations. A quantitative analysis of these evaluations is includedin the graphs on pages 47-59. Participant responses clearly indicate satisfactionwith the program. Page 60 summarizes some of the worker comments included on theevaluation forms.

66

NATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM p .46

HA

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SO

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WH

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68

180

160

140

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100 80 60 40 20

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152

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35

NO

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70

250

200

150

100 50

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160

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133

112

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250

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300

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92


WORKER COURSE EVALUATIONS - SUMMARY OF COMMENTS

I want more!

. . . having education come to Binda makes education possible that woulu nototherwise take place for most of us.

. . . the teacher could not have gone out of her way more for us than G. did.

this class is for everyone who needs to refresh their education

. . . I hope more of the other employees take this class--supervisors too!

. . . the teacher would not let me give up.

this class gave me the confidence to take my GED test, and I passed it.

. . . I got back what was lost and now I want more.

. . . I am very pleased with the results of this class.

. . . the instructor was terrific! (repeated on almost all evaluations)

it helps you learn what other departments do.

if you apply what you've learned in this class it makes problems at workeasier Between management and staff learning to work out problems, it couldimprove business.

. . . I can better help my son/daughter. (repeated on many evaluations)

I feel the classes helped and I noticed I learned quicker as an adult.

caught up on things which I forgot since high school.

. . . I feel I can solve problems in an organized way and come up with a goodworking plan.

. . . it has been both education and fun.

good timing because I'm already here for work.

. . . I'm much more aware of how much I don't know.

. . . learned more in this class than I did in high school.

I am very pleased with myself .

. . . helped me very much to improve my work habits. I have use for 90% of whatI have learned in the workplace.

it was helpful when I remodeled our bathroom (calculations) .


t) tft

p.60


Another of the evaluation goals of Skills Today for Tomorrow was to measure asobjectively as possible work-based outcomes of the program. Unfortunately, theparticipating companies did not have individual productivity measures in place.Therefore, CCC conducted a supervisor survey for all participants. [SEE EXHIBITK] Surveys with participant names were sent to each supervisor at every site. Thesupervisors rated their workers in the areas of :

productivityattendancesafetyself-esteemcommunications

Supervisors ranked any change along a 4 point scale:Much + substantial improvement in worker after programSome + some improvement in worker after programNo change no change in worker after programSome - some decline in worker after programNot apply unable to evaluate change in worker after program

The return rate of these surveys was 63%. Graphs of the results follow on pages62-66. A summary of additional supervisor comments included on these reports can befound on page 67.


r4

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103

le


SUPERVISOR SURVEY - SUMMARY OF COMMENTS

. . . acquired her GED while attending classes. It was a big morale booster for herand I see the improvement. I'm proud of C.

. . . advanced in her department with a substantial wage increase. Herattendance, attitude and confidence are at all time highs.

. . . the classes sharpened C .'s skills.

. . . is a hard worker and received a raise recently and is commended for startingset-ups on folders. Other operators praise him for this too.

. . . has received a raise for doing a fine job. R. is getting more involved withmachine set-ups and is an active participant in our count control program.

. . has been promoted while she was in the Skills Today for Tomorrow classes.

. . . was recently promoted to senior revisor.

. . . is more interested in her job and generally does a better job.

. . . has recently been promoted.

. . . has taken the responsibility on herself to enroll in a computer class at a localcommunity college.

. . . was promoted to a Senior CRT Operator.

. . . enrolled in a PIM+SP course and is seeking a position with more responsibility.

. . . used to go through the motions and didn't say mulch. Now V. is very activein what is going on in the folding department.

. . . is willing to accept more responsibility. D. has also enrolled in a PC trainingclass He received a note of recognition from the President of the company forhis quality awareness.



. . . was promoted to Embossing Press Trainee.

. . . the schooling opened his eyes and made him aware of what he was headed forand N. has overcome some serious problems which I'm sure have overlappedwith work.

. . . has been out of school for some time. I think it was very refreshing for V. toattend these classes. It helped her self-esteem and improved her attitudetowards the company.

. . . has more interest in what is written on job jackets.

. . . really enjoyed the learning experience. B.'s self-esteem is better and he iscomplimented often by customers when they come in for inspections.

. . . has enrolled in four classes at Catonsville Community College.

. . . has been E.F.lected as a process improvements team leader.

. . . is more aware of her job responsibilities. I think the classes made A. realizethis is a real job, not just a temporary thing.

. . . enrolled in a stop smoking program.



DISSEMINATION

Dissemination, though not originally expected to be a primary outcome of thisproject, indeed took on a major role. Both the education community and the graphicarts industry displayed great interest in the project. Interestingly, greater interestwas in "how to" rather than "what happened. "

Both of the national printing trade associations were very interested in the project.The National Association of Printers and Lithographers (NAPL) was interested in theproject since Skills Today for Tomorrow used their WorkPLACER curriculum for partof the instruction. The project was frequently mentioned in their publicityregarding WorkPLACER. Printing Industries of America (PIA) is the parentorganization of PIM+SP, one of the partners in the project. PIA is beginning toinitiate workplace literacy programs for its members and requested that the ProjectDirector present a seminar at the PIA Human Relations Symposium in October 1992.

As a result of the dissemination efforts of this project, the Project Director receivednumerous telephone consulting requests from printing companies in other parts ofthe country seeking assistance in establishing work-based education programs intheir firms. Printing companies in California, Ohio, Colorado, Massachusetts,Washington, D .C . , Virginia, among others, sought assistance from Skills Today forTomorrow.

The Project Director presented the following workshops, seminars, and discussionsregarding Skills Today for Tomorrow during the life of the project:

"Skills Today for Tomorrow: Implementing a Workplace Literacy Program."seminar presented at American Association for Adult, Community, andContinuing Education Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, November 1992.

"Workforce 2000: Planning and Implementing a Basic Skills EnhancementProgram in the Graphic Arts Industry." seminar presented at PrintingIndustries of America Human Relations Symposium, Tucson, Arizona, October1992.

"Workplace Documents to Workplace Learning: Job-Specific CurriculumDevelopment." participatory workshop presented at Literacy WorksProfessional Development Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, October 1992.

"Skills Today for Tomorrow: A Workplace Literacy Program Model." seminarpresented at National Council on Community Services and ContinuingEducation Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, October 1992.

"Workplace Literacy for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses. panel discussionat National Alliance of Business annual conference in Miami, Florida,September 1992.

"Implementing a Workplace Literacy Program for Graphic Arts Companies,"seminar presented at the Graphic Arts Institute of America annual meeting,Denver, Colorado, June 1992.


107p.69


"Implementing a Workplace Literacy Program: A Model for Business andEducation Partnerships, " breakout session presented at Maryland Associationof Adult, Community and Continuing Education conference, Annapolis,Maryland, April 1992.

"Reducing Management Skepticism and Worker Anxiety: Promoting WorkplaceLiteracy Programs," breakout session presented at Maryland Association ofAdult, Community and Continuing Education conference, Annapolis,Maryland, April 1992.

'Workplace Literacy: The Community College Role," workshop presented atAssociation of Faculty for Advancement of Community College Teaching ,Essex, Maryland, January, 1992.

"Skill', Today for Tomorrow, A Program That's Working," lecture presentedat "BC 2001, " sponsored by the Executive Advisory Board on HigherEducation, Towson, Maryland, October 1991.

"How to Evaluate and Select Software for Adult Literacy Programs, " workshoppresented at the Maryland Department of Education Literacy ProfessionalDevelopment Institute, Columbia, Maryland, October 1991.

"Workplace Literacy Program Models,' panel presentation at the MarylandState Department of Education Literacy Works Professional DevelopmentInstitute, Columbia, Maryland, October 1991.

The final report and copies of the curriculum will be on file with the U.S.Department of Education in Washington, D.0 . and at the Curriculum CoordinationCenter in Springfield, IL.


108

p .70

S


PUBLIC RELATIONS

Skills Today for Tomorrow received recognition in both the education community andthe graphic arts industry. Exhibit L includes a selection of published articlesreferring to this project.

The project started so quickly that a kick-off event prior to classes %: as notpossible. However, on September 5, 1991, during the initial round of classes,Catonsville Community College, Printing Industries of Maryland and SouthernPennsylvania, and Port City Press held a press conference at the site of Port CityPress' classes. Some employee participants agreed to speak, along with theleader3hip of the three partners, on the value of the program to both the companyand the individual worker. This event was scheduled close to International LiteracyDay on September 8 in hopes of garnering greater press coverage.

The dosing event for the project is discussed in the Employee Recognition sectionof this report.


109p.71


LOCATION

SITE SUMMARY - PORT CITY PRESS

Port City Press, Incorporated1323 Greenwood RoadBaltimore, Maryland 21208

SITE COORDINATOR Ms. Pat Schlottenmeier, Benefits Administrator

CLASSES HELD

INSTRUCTORS

Level I: 4 sectionsLevel II:

On-The-Job Math - 4 sectionsCritical Thinking/Problem Solving - 3 sectionsWorkplace Communications - 1 section

Jean BrunstetterThomas CantuLynn Lazear

EMPLOYEE ASSESSMENTS 144

EMPLOYEE ENROLLMENTS 186

HIGHLIGHTS Port City Press was not only the first, but also the largestparticipating company in the project. Immediately after theProject Director was hired, Port City held its quarterly employeemeeting affording the best opportunity to address all 285employees. Management's dire predictions of employee response( "7-10 at the =At ") were quickly banished when 99 employeessigned-up for assessment the first day. Employee focus groupsat Port City advised Skills Today for Tomorrow staff and wereinvaluable to the project during start-up. Since Port City wasthe "first" for each phase of the project, the staff andparticipants there were referred to as the "Port City Pioneers"and served as a barometer for much of the project. Port CityPress' management offered employees compensatory time for anypersonal time they spent in Skills Today for Tomorrow. Thisextra incentive encouraged greater participation and alleviatedmany of the irregular shift problems inscheduling classes. Afterclasses had been going on for over a year at Port City,supervisors began expressing concern about the number ofworkers off the line and an accompanying decline in production.(Port City management assured project staff that other factorswere contributing to this decluie as well. ) In a compromiseeffort, Port City offered the communicatirms module after workhours and compensated employees for 100% time in the class.Port City Press has expanded its work-based education programsand is currently offering several other courses to hourly workersas a direct result of Skills Today for Tomorrow. One Port Citylearner was chosen as a 1991 outstanding adult learner by theMaryland Association of Adult and Continuing Education.


110

p . 72


LOCATION

SITE SUMMARY - BINDAGRAPHICS, INC.

Bindagraphics, Inc.2701 Wilmarco AvenueBaltimore, Maryland 21223

SITE COORDINATOR Ms. Chris Colehouse, Personnel Manager

CLASSES HELD Level I: 3 sectionsLevel II:

On-The-Job Math - 1 sectionCritical Thinking/Problem Solving - 2 sections

INSTRUCTORS Gwyn Degner



HIGHLIGHTS Bindagraphics, Inc. was also eager to begin classes in SkillsToday for Tomorrow. Plant meetings were held on the plant floorover the din of folding, cutting, and binding machinery.Bindagraphics had more female workers, traditionally thoseworkers doing the more tedious hand tasks required in thebindery. Classes met in the smoking/vending machine room, theonly space available until the company moved into its new locationapproximately 2 months into the project. The classes atBindagraphics became a very cohesive group, and consequentlymore involved in company events. After completing the CriticalThinking and Problem Solving Module, participants preparedsuggested changes and presented their solutions to commonproblems to management. Several participants in Bindagraphicsclasses joined, at their own expense, Skills Today for Tomorrowproject staff in a city-wide celebration of adult learners inBaltimore on a Saturday evening during the program.Communications classes were not offered at Bindagraphics perthe decision of company management.


1 l 1

p . 73

S


SITE SUMMARY - COOPERATIVE SITE

ALPHA GRAPHICS INC.

ADMIRAL ENVELOPE, INC.

LOCATION Alpha Graphics Inc.1305 St. Paul StreetBaltimore, Maryland 21202

SITE COORDINATOR Ms. Marcia Watcheski (Secretary, Alpha Graphics)Mr. Gary Zorn (Executive Vice President, Admiral

Envelope)

CLASSES HELD Level II:On-The-Job Math - 1 sectionCritical Thinking/Problem Solving - 1 section

INSTRUCTORS William HostoThomas Cantu



HIGHLIGHTS This cooperative site was an exciting experiment in Skills Todayfor Tomorrow. Both Admiral Envelope and Alpha Graphics aresmall companies (25 and 22 employees respectively) . Neither hadsufficient numbers of workers who needed basic s. his instructionto warrant holding classes. By combining the interested workersfrom both sites, classes could be held. Alpha Graphics is locatedin an old "row house" in Baltimore and had an entire third floorvacant. The company expended a great deal of money to outfitpart of the third floor for classes. Instructors found the settingdelightful and well-suited to individualizing ( workers could movefrom one room to another as the need arose) . Both companieswere very committed to offering their workers this program, butdifficulties naturally arise when 10 workers of a 22 employeecompany are off the floor for classes. This site required greaterflexibility of the project staff as classes were canceled morefrequently due to rush jobs requiring workers to be on the job .


112


SITE SUMMARY - GAMSE LITHOGRAPHING COICANY

LOCATION Gamse Lithographing Company7413 Pulaski HighwayBaltimore, Maryland 21237

SITE COORDINATOR Mr. David Gerber, Quality Assurance Manager

CLASSES HELD

INSTRUCTORS

Level I: 1 sectionLevel II:

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving - 2 sections

Thomas CantuClaudia MorrellLynn Lazear



HIGHLIGHTS Gamse Litho did not become involved in Skills Today forTomorrow until mid 1992, near the end of the project. Classesmet in a very small conference room, the only facility available,a fact which limited class size to fewer than ten. One class metat 6:00 a.m. to accommodate the third shift employees. Thoughvery small, these classes generated a great deal of enthusiasm.


113

ISKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW

LOCATION

SITE SUMMARY - MARYLAND COMPOSITION

Maryland Composition Company6711 Dover RoadBaymeadow Industrial ParkGlen Burnie, Maryland 21061

SITE COORDINATOR Ms. Debbie Summers, Secretary to the President

CLASSES HELD Level I: 1 section

INSTRUCTORS Thomas Cantu



HIGHLIGHTS Maryland Composition's workers do primarily editing andproofing, in addition to copy work, comprising a more skilledworkforce. However, there was substantial interest in both themath and critical thinking modules. Maryland Compositionbecame involved in the program early, but did not remain pastone round of classes. The company president was veryinterested in the NAPL Critical rhinking and Problem Solvingcurriculum. NAPL's repeated delays in publication of thecurriculum delayed classes until the president decided towithdraw from the program. The company had gone back into apeak period and could not afford for employees to be in classduring work hours. This was very disappointing to the staff ofSkills Today for Tomorrow and the employees who wereinterested in enrolling. The management was not interested inbecoming involved later in the project.


114

p . 76


LOCATION

SITE SUMMARY - WAVERLY PRESS

Waverly, Inc.1310 Guilford Avenuetaltimore, Maryland 21202

SITE COORDINATOR Mr. Rob McCreadie, Human Resources Manager

CLASSES HELD

INSTRUCTORS

Level I: 3 sectionsLevel II:

On-The-Job Math - 1 sectionCritical Thinking/Problem Solving - 2 sectionsWorkplace Communications - 2 sections

Mary HardcastleClaudia MorrellMary Ann VerHacmnThomas Cantu



HIGHLIGHTS Waverly Inc. includes both a publishing and printing operation.Most of the printing work is done at a site outside of CatonsvilleCommunity College's service area. However, the workers inBaltimore were very interested in Skills Today for Tomorrow.Waverly was the only site where the initial interest-generatingsessions were NOT mandatory. This eventually created a never-ending stream of workers who were "just finding out" about theprogram. One difficulty with this was the need to constantlyreschedule assessment sessions and report scores to thoseworkers. Another difficulty with this site was that workers werein two different divisions and buildings, a number of blocksapart. To accommodate everyone, classes were held in bothbuildings at different times. Waverly has committed tocontinuing this program and other training programs for workersnow that the grant period is over.


115

p.77


LOCATION

SITE SUMMARY AMERICAN TRADE BINDERY

American Trade Bindery1120 Whistler AvenueBaltimore, Maryland 21230

SITE COORDINATOR Ms. Melissa Hanrahan, Vice President

CLASSES HELD Level I: 1 sectionLevel II:

On-The-Job Math - 1 section

INSTRUCTORS Elizabeth MandlenMary Ann VerHagen



HIGHLIGHTS American Trade Bindery was approached early in the project anddeclined to be involved. Interestingly, near the end of theproject the company contacted Catonsville CommunityCollege andrequested to be involved. Since the project had receivedpermission for a 90 day no-cost ertension, there was sufficienttime to run one round of classes. At the same time, anothercompany, French Bray, Inc. , contacted CCC and requestedassistance for one employee who needed reading and writinginstruction. Again, on a more limited basis than at AlphaGraphics, a cooperative site was established.


LOCATION


SITE SUMMARY - ALFORD PACKAGING

Alford Packaging2631 Merchant DriveBaltimore, Maryland 21230

SITE COORDINATOR Mr. Michael Cox, Human Resources Manager



HIGHLIGHTS Alford Packaging expressed great interest in the early phase ofthe project. The company had hired a private consultant whowas in the process of conducting extensive literacy task auditsof every job in the company. Alford is a union shop and theunion representatives were included in all initial discussionsabout implementing Skills Today for Tomorrow at the company.Because the company could not afford to have more than fifteenworkers off the line at any given time, plant meetings andassessments were conducted non-stop for 24 hours. Over half ofthe workforce was assessed and a definite need for classesemerged. On the day the Project Director returned to giveworkers their scores, the company announced 100 layoffs--andthe end of Skills Today for Tomorrow at Alford.


117

p.79


RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Start-up period should be at least 90 days, preferably 120 days. This isespecially true if the partner responsible for hiring staff has a lengthy hiringprocess (e.g. community college, public school system, etc. ) This projectworked at a definite disadvantage during the first 4 months until all staff wasin place. This absence of a clearly-defined start-up period also may it verydifficult to provide staff development prior to beginning the program.

2. Remain in constant contact with other project directors of both current andprior-funded projects. This is probably the most valuable resource availableto a project director. Most project directors are willing to consult with otherstrying to reach the same goals. In addition, there is a wealth of documents,forms, surveys, applications, and the like already developed. Struggling '.:ore-invent the wheel is not an effective use of time.

3. Project secretary should be full-time for a project of this magnitude. A full-time commitment is needed to address administrative clerical needs and toas-sist instructors with their needs as well.

4. It is essential to remove the "L Word" and its negative connotations from theprogram immediately. After the initial meetings with the Management Council,the word literacy was no longer used. The negative stigma attached to aliteracy program is a deterrent not only to potential program participants, butemployers are sometimes reluctant to admit there may be a literacy problem intheir firms. The Council named this project Skills Today for Tomorrow toemphasize the need for training to meet future workplace demands. Al)references to the program were either "workplace skills enhancement" or"work-based education . "

5. Be aware of "peak times" and "down times" of each partner in the project andplan accordingly. It is a good idea to build in one or two skip dates whenscheduling classes. This allows flexibility if a rush job comes in, thebloodmobile is using the classroom one day, or a plant meeting forces you tocancel classes.



ANECDOTAL INCIDENTS AND COMMENTS

The following are a few of the "smiles and waves" collected during this project. Itis impossible to recount every incident and comment, so a number of representativeanecdotes are included here.

By having the opportunity to take the classes offered by Port City Press andCatonsville Community College I have raised my self-confidence in myabilities, greatly increased my self-esteem. I personally hope to see morecourses offered at Port City so that the opportunityfor the employees to raisetheir personal and educational skill levels may continue. The opportunity towatch, listen and be a part of my co-workers in a non-work situation wasfascinating to see strength, weakness, and teamwork come together. Inclosing, I think the words should be Thank You for the opportunity for selfimprovement.

A Participant

I am delighted the people in my department took this class. In the past whenthey had to count stacks of paper, it was all done manually. Now, they havelearned how to measure and multiply and do it much faster. What used to bea 15 minute job now takes only 5.

A supervisor

My employees are smiling more. They are getting more interested involunteering for Employee Focus Groups. I didn't expect these outcomes--Ifigured that if only one person learned to read better, it would all be worthit. Instead I think we got much more.

A Vice President

I took the first critical thinking class and showed the DOSIE to a co-workerwho was driving her family and me crazy while she agonized over a decision.She was delighted when it showed her the obvious choices and the relevancyof each choice. Her final decision is working out very well for her.

A Participant

Tell Jean [the instructor] that the critical thinking class is costing me bigbucks because instead of just making a decision on updating my kitchen, I amnow doing a long-term downstairs house plan to be addressed in steps.

A Participant


119

p.81


My son is in graduate school learning to be a doctor. I told him about thisclass and for the first time ever, he is so proud of me.

A Participant

I would never have taken these classes if they had not beenoffered right herewhere I work.

A Participant

I thought I was too old and too stupid to learn anything, but Gwyn [theinstructor] was so patient with me I even amazed myself at how much Ilearned.

A Participant


120

EXHIBIT A

MANAGEMENT MEETING HANDOUTS

191

WIN


122

Today's labor force does not meet our current needs,are increasing as technological change acceleratescompetition intensifies. Between 20 and 40 millionhave literacy problems, making it difficult for themor retrained. One-half of all 18-year olds have faibasic language, mathematics, and analytic skills.

and our needsand foreignadults todayto be trainedled to master

Secretary of Labor's Commissionon Workforce Quality and LaborMarket Efficiency, 1989.

THE SK 1 LLS EMPLOYERS WANT

Employers want employees who can learn the particular skills ofan available job--who have LEARNED HOW TO LEARN,

Employers want employees who will hear the key points that makeup a customer's concerns [LISTENING] and who can convey an adequateresponse [ORAL COMMUNICATIONS].

Employers want ernloyees who can think on their feet [PROBLEMSOLVING] and who cal. come up with innovative solutions when needed[CREATIVE THINKING] .

Employers want employees who have pride in themselves and theirpotential to be successful [SELF - ESTEEM]; who know how to getthings done [GOAL-SETTING/MOTIVATION]; and who have some sense ofthe skills needed to perform well in the workplace [PERSONAL/CAREERDEVELOPMENT].

Employers want employees who can get along with customers,suppliers or co-workers [INTERPERSONAL AND NEGOTIATION SKILLS]; whocan work with others to achieve a goal [TEAMWORK]; who have somesense of where the-organisation is headed and what they must do tomake a contribution [ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS]; and who canassume responsibility and motivate co-workers when necessary[LEADERSHIP].

124

workplace Basics: The SkillsEmployers Want, U.S.Departmentof Labor, Employment S TrainingAdministration, 1989.

HUMAN ReackuRce DILEMMAS IN THEPRINTINCI INDUSTRY

As an industry, we are replacing craft--which can be learned overa period of years--with technology that requires equally skilledworkers but workers who can use tools like statistical qualitycontrol and system programming.

Technology is changing the way we work. The expense of newtechnologies requires workers to be up and running faster.

Our present workforce is aging and as a group, the people whowill be replacing our retirees are less skilled in the basics.

The educational institutions traditionally responsible for basicskills instruction don't have the resources required to respond tothe need.

Basic Skills in the Workplace:A Problem in the oraphic Arts,National Association ofPrinters and Lithographers,1990.

125

America has no coherent employment and training policy for themajority of its workers. Little training of front-line workersoccurs in the private sector. Most workers receive no education ortraining beyond high school.

America's Choice: High Skillsor Low Wages, The Commission onthe Skills of the AmericanWorkforce, 1990.


WORKPLACE SKILLS TRAINING BENEFITS

BENEFITS TO THE COMPANY AS A WHOLE:

reduced spoilage, due _o improved ability to perform tasksimproved attendance, attitude, and performance of employeesimproves overall technical readiness of the firmenables firm to be proactive for future staffing needs

41/positive image of concerned management committed to employeespositive public image as enlightened, employee-oriented firmbuilds basis for future training programsbuilds a more versatile and trainable work forceincreased stability in the work forcemaximize training dollars with minimum cost due to grant

BENEFITS TO THE INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE:

improved skills in reading, writing, math, problem solvingenhanced self-esteem leads to sense of pride in workchance to improve promotion possibilitiesbetter attendance, attitude, and performance on the jobimproved skills apply to personal goals as well as job goalsbetter equipped to deal with technology as it changesfree training in basic skills as preparation for further educationmore self-confidence heightens wiklingness to adapt as job demands

127

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surv

ey b

y th

e N

atio

nal A

sso-

ciat

ion

ofP

rinte

rs a

nd L

ithog

raph

ers

re-

veal

ed:

"Ove

r 60

% o

f prin

ting

com

pani

es s

urve

yed

repo

rted

neg

ativ

e re

sults

due

toem

ploy

ee's

lack

of b

asic

ski

lls,

..

."

'The

res

pond

ents

indi

cate

d th

at a

lack

of

basi

c sk

ills

was

evi

dent

in 4

1% o

f bin

dery

wor

kers

, 38%

of p

ress

wor

kers

, 30%

of

mat

eria

ls h

andl

ing

wor

kers

, 28%

of p

re-

pres

s w

orke

rs, a

nd 1

9% o

f offi

ce p

erso

n-ne

l."

"As

an in

dust

ry, w

e ar

e re

plac

ing

craf

tw

hich

can

be

lear

ned

over

a p

erio

d of

year

swith

tech

nolo

gyth

atre

quire

seq

ually

ski

lled

wor

kers

but

wor

kers

who

can

use

tool

s lik

e st

atis

tical

qua

lity

cont

rol

and

syst

em p

rogr

amm

ing.

"

Lind

a S

trok

er, "

Bas

ic S

kills

in th

e W

ork-

plac

e: A

Pro

blem

in th

e G

raph

ic A

rts,

"N

atio

nal A

ssoc

iatio

n of

Prin

ters

and

Lith

ogra

pher

s (N

AP

L) S

peci

al R

epor

t,A

pril

1990

.

"Low

leve

l lite

racy

is n

ot r

eally

the

criti

cal

prob

lem

. The

pro

blem

is th

e in

abili

ty o

f wor

k-er

s w

ho a

lread

y po

sses

s ve

ry b

asic

ski

lls to

appl

y th

eir

skill

s to

job

situ

atio

ns a

nd to

cop

ew

ith c

hang

ing

job

requ

irem

ents

." J

orie

W. P

hilip

pi, L

itera

cy a

t Wor

k, S

imon

& S

chus

-te

r W

orkp

lace

Res

ourc

es, N

ew Y

ork,

NY

,19

91.

142

The

Sol

utio

n:S

KIL

LS T

OD

AY

FO

R T

OM

OR

RO

WO

ur s

peci

al in

stru

ctio

nal t

eam

will

ass

ess

your

wor

kfor

ce to

det

erm

ine

the

need

for

basi

c sk

ills

trai

ning

. We

will

des

ign

and

impl

emen

t a p

ro-

gram

to:

Tra

in e

mpl

oyee

s in

the

basi

c m

ath,

com

-m

unic

atio

ns, r

eadi

ng, w

ritin

g, a

nd p

robl

emso

lvin

g sk

ills

they

nee

d to

per

form

crit

ical

job

task

s.

..

usin

g ac

tual

job

mat

eria

ls.

Tea

ch tr

ansf

erab

le b

asic

ski

lls to

ena

ble

your

em

ploy

ees

to a

pply

thei

r le

arni

ng to

any

situ

atio

n.

.. y

ouha

ve e

mpl

oyee

sw

ho k

now

how

to le

arn.

Cus

tom

ize

basi

c sk

ills

trai

ning

to m

eet t

hesp

ecifi

c ne

eds

of y

our

com

pany

by:

Iden

tifyi

ng c

ritic

al jo

b ta

sks

and

prob

-le

m a

reas

Per

form

ing

basi

c sk

ills

anal

ysis

of j

obta

sks

Ass

essi

ng b

asic

ski

lls n

eeds

of y

our

empl

oyee

s

Des

igni

ng in

stru

ctio

nal p

rogr

am u

sing

job

mat

eria

ls.

Pro

gram

is b

acke

d by

the

repu

tatio

n an

d in

tegr

ity o

f Cat

onsv

ille

Com

mun

ity C

olle

ge.

WH

O W

ILL

BE

NE

FIT

?Y

our

Com

pany

:

Red

uces

spo

ilage

, due

to im

prov

ed a

bilit

yto

per

form

mat

h, r

eadi

ng, a

nd p

robl

emso

lvin

g sk

ills

for

criti

cal j

ob ta

sks.

Impr

oves

tech

nica

l rea

dine

ss o

f the

firm

by d

evel

opin

g a

mor

e ve

rsat

ile a

nd tr

ain-

able

wor

kfor

ce.

Cre

ates

a p

ositi

ve im

age

of c

once

rned

man

agem

ent a

s co

mm

itted

to e

mpl

oyee

s.

You

r E

mpl

oyee

s:

Dev

elop

s em

ploy

ees'

ski

llsin

rea

ding

,w

ritin

g, m

ath,

pro

blem

sol

ving

,cr

itica

lth

inki

ng a

s th

ey a

re a

pplie

d on

the

job.

Equ

ips

empl

oyee

s to

bet

ter

man

age

new

tech

nolo

gy a

nd c

hang

es in

the

wor

kpla

ce.

Impr

oves

self-

este

em,

self-

conf

iden

ce,

and

adap

tabi

lity

to n

ew jo

b de

man

ds.

143


WILL YOUR SKILLS BE READY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?

You are invited to attend one of the informationsessions scheduled.on May 7, 1991 at:

5 am - 7 am1 pm - 3 pm4 pm - 6 pm

Come and find out what YOU need to meet thechallenges of tomorrow.

Call Pat Schlottenmeier at extension 296 andlet her know which session you will attend. ,

1

MEETING THECHALLENGES

OF TOMORROWWILL YOUR SKILLS BE READY FOR THE 21ST CENTURY?

EXHIBIT C

SAMPLE CLOZE DOCUMENT

145

CLOZE DOCUMENT

Name Date

Department Ttme

Directions:1. First, read through the entire passage tc g-at an idea of what

it is about.

2. In each blank, write the ONE word you think was removed. Youmay fill the blanks in any order.

3. Spelling is not important as long as the words are readable.

Name

ADMIRAL ENVELOPE COMPANYCLOZE ACTIVITY

It is our primary desire to send you home to your loved ones

at the end of your shift--safe, sound and whole. The following

rules and are essential to your

and to the productive of

the Admiral Envelope They are of major

to you and should read

attentively, studied and in every detail.

Study and apply them to

work. Make safety a part of the day

day performance of your

Report all injuries to supervisor as soon

as no matter how slight

think they are.

Operate that equipment and use

those tools which you

authorized to use. Be to always check

machinery starting it to make

that all is clear all

guards are in

Do not use your hands where you should use tools or equipment.

EXHIBIT D

CASAS CORRELATIONS WITH PRINTING INDUSTRY COMPETENCIES

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EXHIBIT E

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PLAN

161

Cationev144, CaffirronAy College & PIM&$PA Parinershe. For TM Future.

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PLAN

Nria INSTRUCTOR

SS * EMPLOYER

DATE ENTERED PROGRAM COURSE/SECTION 1

*****************************************************************ASSESSMENT

CASAS READING

Appraisal

Level

Pre

Post

Close

PROGRAM LEVEL

OTHER DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION:

MATH

Learning Style

*****************************************************************STUDENT GOALS:

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS:

1_62

1.**********************************************************************SKILLS/COMPETENCY NEEDS APPROACH/MATERIUS STARTE4 MASTERED

0

I have met with my instructor and we have discussed the above proposed

program for my instruction. I will attend class regularly and work with my

instructor to reach these goals.

Student Signature Date

Instructor Signature Date 1004,--

S

EXHIBIT F

LEARNER COMPETENCY PROFILES

164

SKILLS tODAY FOR TOMORROWLEVEL 1 COMPETENCY PROFILE

MASTERYON ENTRY

DATE OF I

MASTERY

READING COMPETENCIES1 READ & INTERPRET JOB-SPECIFIC VOCABULARY

2 FIND INFORMATION IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

3 READ & INTERPRET INFORMATION FROM WRITTEN MATERIAL

4 READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS

5 READ AND INTERPRET SEQUENTIAL DIRECTIONS

6 USE TABLE OF CONTENTS, INDEX, AND APPENDICES

7 READ & INTERPRET CHARTS, GRAPHS, TABLES

8 READ & INTERPRET MAPS, DIAGRAMS, ILLUSTRATIONS, & BLUEPRINTS

9 READ & INTERPRET NOTICES ABOUT SAFETY, RULES, & PROCEDURES

10 READ & INTERPRET PROCEDURES FOR REPORTING ACCIDENTS & EMERGENCES

11 READ & INTERPRET DIRECTIONS FOR USING EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS

MATHEMATICS COMPETENCIES-1 ADO, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DMDE WHOLE NUMBERS

2 ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DMDE FRACTIONS/ MIXED NUMBERS

3 ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DMDE USING DECIMALS

*ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DIVIDE USING PERCENTAGES

5 DETERMINE EQUIVALENTS BY CONVERTING FRACTIONS, DECIMALS, PERCENTAGES

6 COMPUTE AVERAGES USN° WHOLE NUMBERS, FRACTIONS, DECIMALS, PERCENTAGES

7 DETERMINE APPROXIMATIONS BY ESTIMATING, ROUNDING, & JUDGING ANSWER VALIDITY

8 INTERPRET RATIO AND PROPORTION

a INTERPRET DATA FROM GRAPHS AND CHARTS

10 CALCULATE TIME

11 PERFORM BASIC MEASUREMENT TASKS

12 USE MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS & INTERPRET READINGS

13 SOLVE MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS IN ENGUSH OR METRIC UNITS

WRITING COMPETENCIES1 PRINT OR WRITE LEGMLY

2 USE STANDARD ENGLISH MECHAMCS

3 RECORD INFORMATION ON WORK FORMS, CHARTS, GRAPHS

4 WRITE ABBREVIATIONS SPECIFIC TO THE JOB

5 WRITE INFORMATION IN CLEAR, LOGICAL, & COMPLETE MANNER

6 TAKE ACCURATE TELEPHOCE MESSAGES

7 WRITE SHORT NOTES AND/OR SIMPLE MEMOS

8 WRITE LETTERS USING CORRECT STRUCTURE & SENTENCE STYLE .

PARTICIPANT NAME DATE ENTERED

COMPANY

165

SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROWLEVEL 2 COMPETENCY PROFILE

lir MASTERYON ENTRY

DATE OFMASTERY

MATHEMATICS COMPETENCIES i

I WRITE & SOLVE RATIOS AND PROPORTIONS

2 ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DMDE FRACTIONS & MD(ED NUMBERS

3 PERFORM OPERATIONS WITH A RULER TO 32NDS OF AN INCH

4 CONVERT FRACTIONS AND DECIMALS

5 SOLVE PROBLEMS IN MATERIAL CONTENT & PRESS SHEET LAYOUTS

6 USE FORMULAS & CONVERSION TABLES TO CONVERT ENGUSH/METRIC MEASURES

7 DRAW CIRCLES, AND SOLVE FOR RADIUS, DIAMETER, AND CIRCUMFERENCE

6 CONSTRUCT AND INTERPRET PIE GRAPHS -

9 SOLVE PROBLEMS CONVERTING MEASUREMENTS EXPRESSED IN INCHES, POINTS, AND PICA

10 WORK W111-1 TIME iN MINUTES, FRACTIONS, DECIMALS

11 USE ESTIMATION/ROUNDING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

12 UNDERSTAND THE USES OF STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROLS (SPC)

13 DETERMINE RANGES AND MEANS

14 USE FRACTIONS, DECIMALS. AND PERCENTAGES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

15 UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS OF RANDOM SAMPUNG, VAUDITY, REUABIUTY, AND VARIATION

16 PLOT DATA ON A GRAPH

IPRITICAL THINKING/PROBLEM SOLVING COMPETENCIES1 USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS TO ANALYZE & DEFINE A PROBLEM

2 USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS TO ORIGINATE SOLUTIONS TO A PROBLEM

3 USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS TO SELECT A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM

4 USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS TO IMPLEMENT A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM

5 USE APPROPRIATE TOOLS TO EVALUATE A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM

COMMUNICATIONS COMPETENCIES1 USTEN TO COMPREHEND MESSAGE & FOLLOW DIRECTIONS ACCURATELY

2 VOCAUZE DIRECTIONS EFFECTIVELY TO OTHERS

3 READ WORKPLACE MATERIALS TO LOCATE INFORMATION

4 WRITE TO PASS ON PERTINENT INFORMATION

5 READ AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS

6 RECORD INFORMATION ACCURATELY

7 VERIFY AND CHECK INFORMATION FOR ACCURACY

8 SUMMARIZE WORKPLACE INFORMATION IN WRITING

9 RESPOND APPROPRIATELY ORALLY AND/OR IN WRITING TO WORKPLACE SITUATIONS

PARTICIPANT NAMECOMPANY

16f

DATE ENTERED

EXHIBIT G

LITERACY TASK ANALYSIS DOCUMENTS

167

CRITICAL SKILLS ANALYSIS

Task:

Worker. Category: Task Frequency Use

Equipment & Materials Required:Computer Industry Specific MachinePrint Drafting SuppliesCalculator Paper/PencilTools Other

Process:

Technical Terms:

Problem Areas:

qafety Considerations:

STFT 025/16/91

INEPORMAL JOS TASK ANALYSIS

Department/Company Date

Interviewee Interviewer

Job Task Material Skills

sTIPT la5/16/91 165

AYTOM

LITERACY TASK ANALYSISWORKER INTERVIEW

tonsv$IIC Canape S. NNWA Partnership Far The Future.

1. What books, manuals, forms, charts, etc, do you read in orderto do your job?

-where can we obtain copies of these materials-we will need both completed and blank forms if possible

2. Of the materials you read on the job, which are the hardest?-how often do you use these materialshow much reading do you actually do on the job

3. What reports, memos, summaries, or other written materials doyou write or complete for your job?

where can we obtain copies of these materials

4. What math skills do you use in your job?measurements?-calculations?-reading charts, making conversions, etc.

5. What special measuring tools do you need to read to do yourjob?

from rulers to electronic gauges

6. What computer equipment or computerized machines and tools doyou use in your job?

what kinds of tasks are performed on this equipmentdo you need to refer to the manual to use this equipment

7. If you were training a new person to do your job, what wouldthat person need to know before you could teach him/her thejob?

8. What would a new person find most challenging about learningyour job?

how would you teach someone about your job

9. In which parts of your job would you like to improve?

10. What skills would you need to learn in order to promoted to adifferent or better job?

11. Are you currently being trained or are you training someonenew to do this job?

-what is most difficult about the trainingdo you expect to be going back to school or training in

this or another jobwhich manuals/exercises are the most difficult

12. How has your job changed since you first started it?what new skills do you need that you did not need when

you started on this job

170

EXHIBIT H

PARTICIPANT RECOGNITION CERTIFICATE

171

Cat

onsv

ille

Com

mun

ity C

olle

ge &

Prin

ting

Indu

stri

es o

f M

aryl

and/

Sout

hern

Pen

nsyl

vani

aA

war

d th

is c

ertif

icat

e to

:

In r

ecog

nitio

n fo

r su

cces

sful

com

plet

ion

of S

kills

Tod

ay f

or T

omor

row

, aw

orkp

lace

ski

lls e

nhan

cem

ent p

rogr

am f

or e

mpl

oyee

s in

the

grap

hic

arts

indu

stry

.

174

PR

DE

NT

, CA

TO

KS

VIL

CO

MM

UN

ITY

CO

LLE

(O

P'R

l JE

CT

DIR

EC

TO

R, S

KIL

LS T

OD

AY

FO

R (

)MO

RR

OW

Cat

onsv

ille

Com

mun

ity C

olle

ge &

Inta

iSP

A P

artn

ersh

ip F

or T

M F

utur

e.

1 7

EX

EC

UT

IV D

IRE

CT

OR

PIM

&S

PP

DA

TE

EXHIBIT I

PARTICIPANT INTAKE QUESTIONNAIRE

COURSE FOLLOW-UP SURVEY

174

PART I C I PANT INTAKM FORM

Catonsville Community C011ogo PlIA&SPA Partininin0 For Th. Future.PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. IF YOU NEED HELP, ASK THE

INSTRUCTOR.

NAME

DATE OF BIRTH SS# PHONE

ADDRESS!street) (city) (state) (zip)

EMPLOYER WORK PHONE

1. What kind of work do you do?

2. Do you work full time or part timeWhat are your work hours?

3. What is the last grade you completed in school?

4. Do you have a high school diploma? GED

5. What was your best subject in school?

6. What was your worst subject in school?

7. Why did you take this class? (You may mark more than one

O 'blank)

a. To do better on my job.

b. To be able to help my kids with their school work.

c. To get ready for a different job.

d. To learn to speak English better.

e. 2o learn to read better.

f. To learn to write better.

g. To learn to work with numbers better.

h. To better myself.

i. To get ready for other classes or training.

j. If you have other reasons, please list:

8. Have you ever been enrolled in other basic skills courses?a. No

b. Yes When? For how long?

ery

9. If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be?

41, 10. What living person do you most admire in the world today?

11. What would you do if you were told the world would end in

six weeks?

12. Name a book you have read and liked.

13. What is your favorite singer or group?

14. What is your favorite T.V. program?

*****************************************************************Please answer the following questions by pl,...zing an X over your

choice.

15. How well do you communicate with other people at work?

very well quite well slightly well not at all well

16. How well do you read English?

very well quite well

17. How well do you write English?


18. How well do you speak English?

slightly well not at all well


very well quite well slightly well

19. How well do you work with numbers?

not at all well

very well quite well slightly well not at all well

20. What kinds of things do you like to read?

novels magazines real-life how-to nothing other

stories books

******************************************************************1.APlease list any other information about yourself that you think might be

helpful to us as we plan your learning proaram.

176

TOM COURSE FOLLCM-UP INVENTORY__Community College & PIM&SP

A Partnership For The Future.

NAME DATE

COMPANY

Please answer the following questions by placing an X over yourchoice. This information will help us to evaluate the effectivenessof the Skills Today For Tomorrow classes.

1. How well do you communicate with other people at work?


2. How well do you read English?

very well


quite well slightly well

3. How well do you write English?


4. How well do you speak English?

very well

not at all well


quite well slightly well

5. How well do you work with numbers?

very well quite well slightly well

not at all well

not at all well

6. Please mark with an X on the list below any changes you havenoticed in yourself since taking classes. Feel free to add otherchanges you may have noticed.

Do you...Read more for pleasure?Read more to your childrenor grandchildren?Help your children orgrandchildren more withtheir schoolwork?Solve problems better atwork?Use math in everyday lifemore comfortably?Write more?

On the back of this sheet,please tell us more.

Have you...Enrolled in classes througha f3ommunity college orprofessional organization?Accepted newresponsibilities at work?Been promoted?Received specialrecognition in the company?Applied for your GEDor external diploma?Received your GED orexternal diploma?

177

EXHIBIT J

COURSE EVALUATION FORM

1 73

TOMCoownisto Comm Ay COW*

A losneowsh, Fee The Pt Awe.

COURSE EVALUATION FORM

PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BY MARKING AN X ON THE PLANKS. IF YOU

NEED HELP, ASK THE INSTRUCTOR.

COURSE TITLESTART DATE

INSTRUCTORLOCATION

1. Have you reached the goal(s) you set when you started this class?

a. Yesb. Noc. Somewhat - Liszt the goal(s) you have not yet met.

2. What skill(s) do you think this class has helped you to improve?

(You may mark more than one.)

a. Reading English

b. Speaking English

c. Writing English

d. Performing arithmetic

e. Self-discipline (regulating yourself for the sake of

improvement)

f. Self-motivation (causing yourself to act)

g. None of these skills

h. If you have improved other skills, please list:

3. In relation to your goal(s), was this class helpful for you?

definitely probably probably

yes yes notdefinitely I don'tnot know

4. Do you think that the skills you learned in this class will help

you to do your job better?

definitely probably probably definitely I don't

yes yes not not know

5. Was the instructor well-informed about the material presented in cis:,..'

111definitely probably probably

yes yes notdefinitely I don'tnot know

Was the instructor(s) helpful to you?

definitely probably probablyyea yes not

definitely I don'tnot know

7. Was the instructor sensitive to students?

definitelyyes

probably probablyyes not


8. Were the methods of teaching helpful to you?

definitely probably probably definitely I don'tyes yes not not know

9. Would you recommend this class to a co-worker or friend?


10. As a result of taking this class, would you take another adult educationclass if it were offered at this location?


11. As a result of taking this class, would you take another adult educationclass if it were offered at u different location?

definitely probably probablyyes yes not


12. Having taken this class, do you intend to take other classes?

definitely probably probably definitely I don't

yes yes not not know

41113. If you think that you might take other classes, what type of classes do

you intend to take? (If you do not intend to take additional

classes,leave this question blank.)

a. Other Skills Today for Tomorrow Classes

b. GED classes to earn high school diploma

c. Credit college classes

d. Non-credit college classes

e. Technical training classes (printing)

f. Adult Basic Education classes

g. I don't know .

h. Other Please list

14. What was MOST valuable to you in this class?

15. What was LEAST valuable to you in this class?

16. What would you recommend to improve this class?

17. Please write any comments you have about this class on the back

of this sheet. Thank you very much.

di

EXHIBIT K

SUPERVISOR SURVEY

1U4

Community Co liege S. PIM&SPA Partnership For The Future.

Supervisor:

Employee

SUPERVISOR SURVEY

Using the scale below, rate any changes you have observed in the aboveemployee by circling the number that most closely expresses yourobservations. A brief description of each category is provided.

11.1substantialimprovement

2someimprovement

3no change

4somedecline

5does notapply

1. COMMUNICATIONS 1 2 3 4 5(ability to follow oral or written directions, write clear messages tosupervisors or coworkers, comprehend written materials, etc.)

2. PRODUCTIVITY: 1 2 3 4 5(work performance, willingness to accept responsibilities or to performnew tasks, desire to learn more about other areas of production, etc.)

03. ATTENDANCE 1 2 3 4 5(attendance, punctuality, willingness to work overtime,etc.)

4. SELF ESTEEM 1 2 3

(attitudes toward work, confidence,responsibility, desire to take more ofteams, interest in being promoted, etc.

4 5motivation to accept greatera leadership role or to work in

5. SAFETY 1 2 3 4 5(concern for following safety procedures, changing or improvingsafety procedures, etc.)

current

Please indicate if the employee has done anything noteworthy such as:received special recognition by the compa.ly, been promoted, enrolled inclasses through a community college or professional organization, receivedhis or her GED, or changed his or her job status in any way since classesbegan at your company. If possible, give specific examples. Use the back ofthis sheet if necessary.

Comments:

8 3

EXHIBIT L

PUBLICITY

IS

nd Tcaining

WIN

A. n

The Carl Didde Work-PLACE"'" Program playeda leading role in the in-

troduction of Skills Today for.Tomorrow) an employee literacyinitiative sponsored by Catonsv

ville Community CollegesCatonsville, Md., in partnershipwith the Printing Industries ofMaryland and SouthernPennsylvania (PIM&SP). Acelebration of the program'sstart took place Sept. 5 at PortCity Press, Pikesville, Md.

"It's a national demonstra-tion project, and as such it haspotential beyond just our localarea," says Laura Weidner, proj-ect director at the college. 'Wehave the opportunity to takefederal dollars and match themwith local dollars to develop aprogram management modeland basic skills curriculum thatcan be replicated across theprinting industry:'

The training program is theresult of an 18-month, $240,500Department of Education Na-tional Workplace Literacy Grantawarded to the college.

The grant establishes a con-sortium, including PIM&SP,several Baltimore-area printingcompanies and CatonsvilleCommunity College. The con-sortium receives funding for theCarl Didde WorkPLACEn4 Pro-gram and other skills enhance-ment courses from the NationalWorkplace Literacy Grant Pro-gram of the U.S. Department ofEducation. The grant will coverinstructor salaries and all Work -PLACE"'' Program materialcosts and will enable up to 350individuals to participate at nocost.

An integral part is theWorkPLACV4 Program, whichis jointly funded by NAPL andDidde Corporation, Emporia,Kan. The program, which isused for the Level 2 portion of

the program, was developed andcopyrighted by NAPL.

The goal of Skills Todayfor Tomorrow is to improve thebasic skills of at least 350 print-ing industry employees by using

/

workplace-specificinstruction inreading, writing, mathematicsand problem-solving.

Once an assessment is com-pleted, employees start at eitherLevel 1 or Level 2. The programtakes an individualized ap-proach to learning for thoseinvolved. Additional learningactivities have been developed

by the college's project staff us-

ing on-the-job materials fromparticipating companies.

Port City Press, the30-year-old book printing divi-sion of Judd's, Inc., has offeredthe program to its employees,and the response has been better

than expected. 'We've beenamazed at the number of peoplewho want to do this on a volun-tary basis:* says Terry Young,

vice president and generalmanager. it took a lot ofcourage to sign up."

Working Together1 believe that business andeducation are natural partners;says Dr. Frederick J. Walsh,president of the college. "One ofthe keys to economic growth is

a knowledgeable and educatedwork force"

Walsh notes that increasedquality is a goal for printingcompanies and a result ofeducation. "The printingindustry uses a variety of high-tech processes that demandhigh-level basic skills to ensureaccuracy during all phases ofthe printing process," he says."Catonsville envisions the newprogram as a tangible means ofaddressing Baltimore's printingindustries' needs for high-quality workplace training:'

He adds that because 'com-munity college students areusually adults who are alreadyemployed, the key to adulteducation is to make educationrelevant to work:*

The Carl Didde Work-PLACETm Program is part ofthat dedication to make adulteducation relevant. The integra-tion of the WorkPLACET"materials also heralds the firstProgram Agreement, the meansby which trade groups (like

fr1,0-a 18 5

PIM &SP) can offer their mem-bership affordable, work-relate(essential skills training. Theagreement paves the way formore companies, particularlysmall firms lacking the facilitiesor resources, to participate inWorkPLACEn4 by joining forcewith other companies in thesame geographical area.

Positive Thinking'We have received nothing butfavorable comments from theparticipants in the program;says Pat Schlottenmeier, on-sitecoordinator for Skills Today foTomorrow at Port City Press.It is a program whose time ha

come."She adds that Port City

Press has offered a great deal cassistance and encouragementtoward the program. 'To con-duct this type of training oncompany time is very generousSchlottenmeier says. "I thinkthat demonstrates our commit-ment to improve skills in theworkplace:*

Pat Martin, vice presidentof PIM &SP, says, "The prograbenefits the companies that paticipate by making theiremployees more productive:'She adds that since employeesfrom many departments are itclasses together, "it fosters aspirit of cooperation betweendepartments.

'With improvement in themployees' job skills :' saysMartin, "there is less wasteof time and materials becausethey are able to understand jcjackets and follow directionsbetter:'

Perhaps the best reason tSkills Today for Tomorrowcomes from Allen Smith, abindery employee at Port CitPress, who says, 'This new pgram has furthered the skillsuse on and off the job" Andthat's the whole idea.

For information about tiCarl Didde WorkPLACEY"Program or how to set up aProgram Agreement, contactSusan Reif, WorkPLACEnprogram manager, at 1-800-258 -7323. ION

Prin

ters

mas

ter

mat

h, E

nglis

h sk

ills

Kar

en S

aver

ino

She

thou

ght s

he m

ight

be

too

old

to le

arn

anyt

hing

new

, but

sin

ce62

-yea

r-ol

d E

lean

or O

ise

has

been

bru

shin

g up

on-

her

mat

h an

dE

nglis

h sk

ills,

she

has

fou

nd h

er jo

bon

the

prod

uctio

n lin

e at

Por

t City

Pre

ss.

sim

pler

and

less

fru

stra

ting.

Cas

e an

d m

ore

than

200

oth

erem

-pl

oyee

s at

the

Pike

svill

e-ba

sed

prin

ter

of b

ooks

and

man

uals

are

taki

ng a

dvan

-ta

ge o

f a

"Ski

lls T

oday

For

Tom

or-

row

" pa

rtne

rshi

p be

twee

n C

aton

svill

eC

omm

unity

Col

lege

and

the

Prin

ting

Indu

stri

es o

f M

aryl

and

and

Sout

hern

Penn

sylv

ania

.T

he p

rogr

am a

ims

to im

prov

e th

eba

sic

wor

k sk

ills

of p

rint

ing

empl

oyee

s'th

roug

h w

orkp

lace

-spe

cifi

c in

stru

ctio

nin

rea

ding

, wri

ting,

mat

hem

atic

s an

dpr

oble

m s

olvi

ng.

The

par

tner

ship

is p

art o

fan

18-

mon

th, $

240,

500

gran

t fro

m th

e D

e-pa

rtm

ent o

f E

duca

tion

Nat

iona

l Wor

k-pl

ace

Lite

racy

Gra

nt a

war

ded

to th

eco

llege

.L

ast w

eek

Cou

nty

Exe

cutiv

e R

oger

Hay

den,

Cat

onsv

ille

Com

mun

ity C

ol-

lege

Pre

side

nt D

r. F

rede

rick

Wal

sh a

nda

hoit

of e

xecu

tives

fro

m lo

cal p

rint

ing

faci

litie

s at

tend

ed a

cel

ebra

tion

of th

epa

rtne

rshi

p in

a p

rint

ing

pres

sro

om a

tPo

rt C

ity P

ress

."W

hat w

e're

dem

onst

ratin

g to

day

isho

w c

omm

unity

col

lege

s op

erat

e...

colle

ge to

day

is li

ke th

is,"

Wal

sh s

aid

as h

e m

otio

ned

to th

e w

areh

ouse

en-

viro

nmen

t of

the

cele

brat

ion.

"I b

elie

ve b

usin

ess

and

educ

atio

nar

ena

tura

l par

tner

s. O

ne o

f th

e ke

ysto

..

loca

l com

pani

esio

impl

emen

t the

pro

-gr

am, b

ut th

e te

am o

f in

stru

ctor

s w

iUdi

scus

s de

velo

ping

the

prog

ram

at a

nyM

aryl

and

prin

ting

com

pany

, exp

lain

edPr

ogra

m D

irec

tor

Lau

ra W

iedn

er..

For

the

Port

City

Pre

ss c

lass

es, t

hete

am o

f in

stru

ctor

s us

es jo

b-sp

ecif

icm

ater

ials

suc

h as

em

ploy

ee h

andb

ooks

,m

emos

, war

ning

not

ices

and

mat

hpr

oble

ms

whi

ch a

re u

sed

in th

e pr

intin

gin

dust

ry to

hel

p th

e em

ploy

ees

impr

ove

thei

r ba

sic

skill

s.C

lass

es *

are

held

in th

e ba

sem

ent o

fPo

rt C

ity P

ress

at 6

a.m

., 3

p.m

. and

1a.

m. t

o m

eet a

ll w

orke

rs' s

ched

ules

.St

uden

ts a

re p

rovi

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with

rel

ease

tim

efr

om th

e co

mpa

ny to

atte

nd c

lass

es f

orfo

ur h

ours

a w

eek.

.

Em

ploy

ee p

artic

ipat

ion

is v

olun

tary

,W

eidn

er e

xpla

ined

, but

if th

ere

,spi

nse

to th

e pr

ogra

m a

t Por

t City

is in

dica

tive

of p

rint

ing

empl

oyee

s'in

tere

stin

broa

deni

ng th

eir

know

ledg

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e

-.1'

4.k.

;-A

num

ber

of w

ell-

educ

ated

em

ploy

ees

isab

out t

o ta

ke a

dra

mat

ic tu

rn.

--

Cas

e si

gned

up

for

the

clas

ses

be-

- ca

use

she

wan

ted

to im

prov

e he

r m

ath

skill

s. S

he o

ften

mus

t use

fra

ctio

ns a

ndis

n't

alw

ays

conf

iden

tw

ithth

ent

imlb

ers.

"It

rea

lly r

efre

shed

my

min

d.A

fter

all,

it h

as b

een

40. y

ears

sin

ce I

wen

t to

scho

ol,"

she

sai

d.M

arily

n H

erde

gen,

a b

inde

ry w

orke

rw

ho h

as b

een

with

the

com

pany

for

four

Yea

rs, s

aid

she

sign

ed u

p "t

o le

arn

wha

t I d

idn'

t lea

rn in

sch

ool."

She

was

hop

ing

toin

crea

se h

erun

ders

tand

ing

of m

ath,

but

sai

d si

nce

the

inst

ruct

or. i

s a

stic

kler

for

Eng

lish,

"I r

ealiz

ed I

'm p

retty

bad

at t

hat,

too.

"B

ecau

se s

he w

orks

with

fig

ures

all

day

long

, Jea

n O

sbur

ne, a

boo

k en

gi-

neer

, bel

ieve

s th

at s

he k

now

s m

ath.

But

, Osb

orne

iaid

;. "I

'm lo

st w

ithou

tm

y ca

lcul

ator

. I f

orgo

t the

rul

es. R

eal-

ly, I

just

wan

ted

to f

ind

out h

ow to

do

itca

n PI

M",

BE

ST

CO

PY

AV

AIL

AB

LE

Cat

onsv

ille

Com

mun

ity C

olle

geW

orkp

lace

Lite

racy

Proj

ect i

nstr

ucto

rT

om C

antu

, cen

ter,

wor

ks o

n m

ath

prob

lem

s w

ith P

ort

City

Pre

ss b

inde

ryw

orke

r Sh

eila

Dou

glas

.

Basic SkillsThe U.S. Department ofEducation has awarded a$250,000 grant, earmarkedfor a literacy training pro-gram, to Catonsville (Mr 11CommunitzCaw.

The grant establishes aconsortium including thePrinting Industries of Mary-land and Southeastern Penn-sylvania and three Baltimoreprinting companies. It in-cludes the Carl Didde Work-Place basic skills program,developed by the NationalAssociation of Printers andLithographers and theDidde Corporation.

The 18-month grant issaid to be the first collabora-tion of its kind; Pat Martin ofPIMSP says, "We hope itwill serve as a model for pro-grams to be developedthroughout the country."

24 graphic arts monthly APRIL 1991

See e 1%THE GRAPHIC ARTS MANAGERS MAGAZINE .... .-4.7 T.; f

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4'441/1444Will- -

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ecial Focus on eb 0 set BEST COPY AVAILABLE

BASICTRAIriTI,NG

Print-specific education programtackles the essential skills deficiencyin the graphic arts head on

Iou're the president or managerof a printing firm and you'renot happy. You can't quite putyour finger on it, but some-thing just isn't right. Unex-plainable accidents keep oc-.curring in your plant. Usuallyit's a little thing like a timesheet error or a slight job over-run. Sometimes it% a more se-rious glitch such as a jobprinted on the wrong paper, in-ordinately high incidence ofspoilage, or an order intendedfor Oak Lawn sent to Oakland.

You don't understand it.Your firm offers plenty of tech-nical training on every pieceof equipment you have. Em-ployees seem to have masteredtheir jobs and then, boom, an-other screw up. Everyone's en-titled to a mistake now andthen; it's expected in any typeof operation, printing or oth-erwise. But the same thingsseem to be happening overand over. Morale is low and ab-senteeism is higher than you'dlike. Are your employees lazy,careless, undedicated or justplain stupid?

Most likely, none of theabove. It could be they simplylack some basic skills, things

2i MERICAN MONTER BEST COPY Aniii3LE 13°

By FRED FERRISAssistant editor

they learned in high school(i.e., math, reading, communi-cations), but have either for-gotten or never really took tooserious:y in the first place.Now that they're in the work-force, however, these seeming-ly unimportant subjects sud-denly are thrust upon them inways they never dreamed whilesitting in a 10th grade mathclass.

However, this lack of basicskills undoubtedly will comeback to haunt most graphic.:arts employees. It's apparentlyhaunting their employers intangible sense as well.

According to a 1989 surveyof commercial offset printersconducted by the NationalAssn. of Printers and Lithogra-phers (NAPL) and AMERICANPRINTER magazine, more thanone-third of 800 respondentsbelieve that the skills prob-lems of the graphic arts indus-try are serious or very serious;74 percent believe they havesome employees who have abasic skills problem; and 63percent could point to a specif-ic negative event occurring intheir plants attributable topoor basic skills.

Add these grim findings todemographic studies indicat=ing that 75 percent of the peo-ple who will be in the entireU.S. workforce in the year2000 already are working, andthe need to correct this seri-ous problem, and soon, be-comes even more apparent.

Working with a team ofprofessional educators, graphicarts consultants and printingfirms over Um last three years,the National Assn. of Printersand Lithographers has devel-oped the Carl Didde Work-PLACE (work-related printlearning and career enhance-ment) Program to address thisdeficiency in the printing in-dustry. Co-funded by the Did-de Corp., the program is acomplete educational packagetailored specifically to theprinting industry. Although

still being evaluated at varioustest sites across the country,the entire WorkPLACE pro-gram is expected to be avan-able by the end of 1991.

Specifically, WorkPLACEconsists of a four-course cur-ricula including On-the-Job

Math Computations, Work-PLACE Communications, TheGraphic Arts Process and Crit-ical Thinking and ProblemSolving. .

On-the-Job Math Computa-tions focuses on the develop-ment of math skills as theyapply to situations encoun-tered every day in a graphicarts firm. Subjects such as av-erages and means, ratios andproportions, estimation, aswell as proper use of a ruler,are covered. Currently avail-able, the course also featuresan introduction to StatisticalProcess Control (SPC).

WorkPLACE Communica-tions is a practical course foremployees requiring a reviewof reading and writing skills.Students study the varioustypes of documents found inthe industry (job jackets,memos, etc.) in order to betterunderstand their content andfollow instructions accurately.Participants must have a basiccommand of the English lan-guage, both written and oral.The course is expected to beavailable in July.

The Graphic Arts Processtakes students through the en-tire printing process from

191

start to finish. Available inSeptember, this course is in-tended to provide a better un-derstanding of a plant's work-flow, showing the individualemployee when his or her jobfits into the company's pro-cess.

Rounding out the curriculais the Critical Thinking andProblem Solving course. Em-ployees learn how to identifyproblems, generate solutions,design and implement actionplans, and evaluate results.Scheduled for release in De-cember, the course encouragesstudents to share and analyzewith the class problems en-countered on the job.

Each course includes an in-struction manual providingcourse material, lesson plans,course assessments and sug-gestions for teaching theclasses.

The Manager's Source-bookthe "how-to" manualfor the program. This publica-tion describes in detail suchimportant course implemen-tation factors as public rela-tions techniques for sellingemployees on the program,finding the right instructor,scheduling class sessions andevaluating results. It also fea-tures a general nine-monthcourse implementation time-table.

The WorkPLACE SkillsInventoryan anonymous52-question test administeredto employees to obtain anoverall picture of a company'smath, reading, writing, criti-cal thinking and problem-solving and graphic arts skills.The results are sent to an eval-uation team at NAPL for as-sessment and a report is sub-sequently returned to thefirm's designated representa-tive. The report describes themeaning of the results andprovides recommendations forpursuing the WorkPLACEcourses, if any, appropriate toKip the firm tackle its mostsevere ski:Is deficiencies.

MAY, 1991 2:

We feel asif we havefound thefountain ofyouth. Theprogramhas turnedour peopleon tolearningagain"

TRAINING

NAPL truly was breakingnew ground in developing theprogram. "When we saw theresults of the survey, we knewwe had to do something," re-lates WorkPLACE programmanager Susan Reif. "Ratherthan reinvent the wheel, wethought that there must besome basic skills program al-ready in place somewhere inthe business world that wecould take and adapt to our in-dustry." There were, in fact,next to none.

Luckily, NAPL eventuallywas put in touch with Cox Ed-ucational Services, a Texas ed-ucational consulting firm thathelped Polaroid develop its 25-year -old skills program, one ofthe most prominent and suc-cessful of its kind in the coun-try. Several printing industryconsultants also were hired towork with the educators in de-veloping NAPL's program toensure print specificity.

Thomas Gruber of Gorelickand Associates (West Chester,PA) was one of those consul-tants. "The industry has lost alot of good people through theyears due to inadequate basictraining," Gruber explains."Typically, a firm will place anew hire albngside as experi-enced operator for a period oftime and just pray he or shewill catch on. It's either sinkor swim, and there's no way ofdetermining if a basic skillsproblem exists."

The printing consultantswent on site visitations withthe educators, taking themthrough printing plants tohelp them understand thegraphic arts process and thetypes of educational materialsthat could be applied. Hun-dreds of employees, managersand supervisors were inter-viewed to get their feedback oneach step of the program's de-velopment

"Through these cooperative

*26 AMERICAN PRINTER

efforts, we've put together aprogram that is 100 percentrootNi in the graphic arts in-dustry," says Gruber. it usesour technology, workplace ex-amples and the everyday in-dustry jargon to reinforcewhat is being taught"

Jostens, Inc. (Topeka, KS), a1,200-employee yearbookprinter, was heavily involvedin the early stages of the pro-gram's development. The firstsite to administer the Work-PLACE Skills Inventory, thefirm saw an opportunity tosupplement its already exten-sive technical training pro-:gram.

"We have formal, job-spe-cific training for all our newhires," relates Mitch Sexton,manager of quality and train-ing at Jostens. "However, wefirmly believe that employeesneed more. If they feel goodabout their basic education,they feel good about them-selves, and that carries over totheir jobs."

After reading about the,WorkPLACE program in AMER-ICAN PRINTER magazine, Sextoncalled NAPL's Reif for more in-formation and wound up vol-unteering to implement theSkills Inventory. "We wereconvinced this would be avaluable program for our com-pany," Sexton says. "Now wehad to sell our employees. Wehad to convince at least 60people to step forward in aunion environment and say, 'Iwant to assess my skills to seeif I need additional training oreducation.' "

-*One chapter of the Manag-er's Sourcebook extensivelydetails suggested promotionalactivities to get employees tobuy into the program. It de-scribes how to introduce theprogram to managers and fil-ter the information down

iS

through the organiiition.Id:as for flyers, envelope stuf-fers, posters and departmentmeetings are presented, eachdesigned to gain employeetrust as well as participation.

"Without proper public re-lations, the program may fail,"Reif explains. "A managercan't go into the plant and say'we know you can't read orwrite, so you have to partici-pate in this program or else.'Workers must be assured thatthe results are completelyanonymous and will not beused to hire or fire anyone."

"We were careful to avoidnegative terms such as 'reme-dial' or 'literacy' when promot-ing the test," Sexton explains."We talked to 500 people overa period of several weeks,telling them that this is achance for them to make a dif-ference in themselves, theircommunities and their indus-try. To our surprise, 340 out ofthe 500 volunteered."

The results of the test indi-cated some weaknesses in theareas of calculating percent-ages, reading rulers and timemanagementcommon prob-lems found at subsequent testsites. The firm plans to imple-ment the math portion of theprogram at a later date.

"We feel as if we've discov-ered the fountain of youth,"Sexton concludes. "The Work-PLACE program has turnedour people on to learningagain. It's helped them getover the attitude of not need-ing or wanting education, andwe've integrated many of itsbasic concepts into our job-specific training."

The company also served asa test site for the Communica-tions course. All-State LegalSupply Co. (Cranford, NJ) cur-rently is testing the CriticalThinking and Problem Solv-ing course, and Solar Press(Naperville, IL) has test run

William Marzano(standing,; vicepresident of trainingand development atSolar Press, isresponsible for doing atest run of theWorkPLACE mathcourse. According toMarzano, the students"math confidence"increased significantlyupon completion of thecourse.

TRAINING

the On-the-Job Math Compu-tations course.

William Marzano, vice pres-ident of training and develop-ment at Solar, has an educa-tion background and taughtthe math course. "The in-structor's manual encouragespractical demonstrations ofplant operations in addition towritten work in the classroomsetting," Marzano notes. "Wetook the students through allour departments to showthem how math is in use ev-erywhere. The camera opera-tor demonstrated the use of aproportion wheel, the inkmixer described the impor-tance of percentages and theestirr ati ng manager talkedabout the intricacies involvedin his job."

According to the Solar ex-ec, the eight class participantsdemonstrated marked increas-es in confidence in theirmathematical abilities uponcompletion of the course. "Ourplant has been looking intoSPC, and we've been slowlyand cautiously nudging em-ployees toward more advancedmath challenges," he notes."This move might have beenscary for them a year ago, butnow the WorkPLACE students'attitude is 'no problem, tell us

what to do and we'll tackle it.' "The Critical Thinking and

Problem Solving course andGraphic Arts Process courseare specifically designed to betaught by in-plant personnel.However, NAPL strongly rec-ommends that instruction ofthe On-the-Job Math Compu-tations and WorkPLACE Com-munications courses be under-taken by a trained educator.For companies lacking a quali-fied instructor, NAPL is com-piling a database of educatorsthroughout the U.S. willing toassist with implementation ofthese courses.

"Another option for a smallfirm would be to band togeth-er with other companies in itsarea and, working with a localcommunity college, offer thecourse at a central location,"says Reif. "We're also trying toget local trade associations in-vol as well."

ustries oMaryland (PIM) and Catons:ville Community College'(Cat-onsville, MD) have formedsuch a partnership, applyingfor and receiving a $250,000grant from the U.S. Dept. ofEducation to adapt the Work-PLAC'::: program to meet thespecific needs of PIM membercompanies. The goal is to train

AMERICAN PRINTER BEST COPY AVAILABLE -19a

350 to 450 area employan 18-month period,plant-specific tasks in alto the WorkPLACE prog

"We're taking the 1what NAPL learned frstudies and customizirmeet our needs in Manexplains Dr. William Idirector of developmentcation and support serathe college.

According to Reif,has sold more than 20(ager's Sourcebooks ti"We've also had inquiriiother industries for silions regarding implema similar program," Rplains. "Although our itis print specific, it doeas a model for an overaltraining program.

"Lack of basic skillslimited to the graphic adustry," she concludemore widespread thanimagine, and programas WorkPLACE are becmore a necessity thantion for all types of firm

orinfthe Carl Didde WorldProgram. contact SusaNada:nil Assn, of Print(Lithographers, 780 1';Ave.. Teaneck, NJ 0766E258-7323.

MAY. 199

C.

Ii

1

.July 11991

Industry gets$240,000 grant

BALTIMOREAP% atonsrWe Community College'and

the Printing Industries of Marylandand Southeastern Peru sylvania havereceived a special grant from the U.S.Department of Education to help in-dustry employees improve their basicskill.

"Skill Today for Tomorrow.° wasdeveloped by the PIM + SP EducationCommittee, headed by T.J. Manning ofThe Port City Press in Baltimore, withstaff support from Catonsville and thetrade association.

With the S240,000 18-month grantfrom the federal government, projectfaculty assess a company's workforce todetermine need and then provide train-ing in basic mathematics, communica-tions, reading, writing, and problem-solving skills.

An important aspect of this training isits tailoring to the individual firm and itsworkers. The needs analysis, for ex-ample, looks at skills as they relate tocritical job tasks, and the instructionalprogram uses actual job materials.

At the same time, however, the skillstaught are transferable, so employeesknow how to apply their learning to anysituation, not just the isolated tasks oftheir current job.

Program a result of surveyThe program was developed because ofa PIM + SP survey of members. An over-whelming percentage of respondentsidentified a need for such training in lightof recent trends, including decreasedbasic skills of entry-level employees andtechnological advances in the industry.

The trade association's EducationCommittee evaluated a number of exist-ing programs. PIM + SP Vice PresidentPatricia Martin and Catonsville facultymembers Gene Loftin and Nancy Rennerthen visited local companies, observingworkers and meeting with managers toidentify common training needs.

Classes meet for three hours per weekfor up to 38 weeks, half each on companyand employee time. Pilot classes will beoffered at the Port City Press, for its ownemployees, and at Admiral Envelope andPrinting Co. and the PIM + SP EducationCenter, Baltimore, grouping workersfrom smaller firms.

Any company interested in the pro-gram is encouraged to call Pat Martin atPIM + SP, (301) 368-0900 or (800) 388-00nq

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41,1i .

Or. i 'Meeting the Training NeedS. of Business and Industry

A confeience held an October, 29, 1991 at Tciwson State University..

Executive Summary.The EricUtive Advisory Board on Higher Education of Baltimore County' thanks these conference sponsors for their support:

Towson State UniversityThe TSU Center for Suburban and Regional Studies

Baltimore County Economic Development CommissionBaltimore County Chamber of Commerce

BaltiMore Regional Council of GovernmentsThe Ainerican Society for Training and DeveloPirient

1 7

The purpose of higher education is to make individuals aware of what was and what is, and to inspire themipo probe into what may be. But education in itself is not enough; graduates must possess job skills that meet

ac needs of businesses, so that all who are motivated and willing to do so are not left out in the cold.Colleges must train students in areas where they will be most needed on graduation. Government has a roleto play in determining what jobs are most in demand and where opportunities exist for security and growth.

To keep pace with our rapidly changing society, we must also focus on retraining. Our Office of Employmentand Training works closely with the business communityto help low-income residents and dislocated workers.Our mentoring program for at-risk high school students, which involves community volunteers as role models,encourages students to stay in school, builds self- esteem, and develops job skills. It would be beneficial to alsoinitiate a mentoring program in higher education in which members of the business community can helpstudents deielop job and interview skills.

A well-educated, highly skilled work force is a major factor in attracting new businesses to the area and inretaining and encouraging the growth of 'existing businesses. But it all begins with the educational system.Education is the bottom line.

The following speakers contra:tied to the 'What Works' session

Joseph E. Hunter, Jr. manager of the Information Systems Department at Baltimore Gas and ElectricCompany, gave a joint presentation with John Burbridge, Jr., director of the Lattanzc Center at LoyolaCollege. As chairman of the program committee at LC, JEH and his business colleagues plan events inconjunction with the academic staff. °I view this organization as an opportunity to share common businessobjectives with my counterparts in the Baltimore metropolitan area.' He is able to draw on the researchresources of the Center, which provides educational programs and facilities to a number of businesses nonecould afford independently. The Center serves as a consortium where professionals can discuss common'iroblems, seek academic advice, and draw on the help of student interns. Students, in turn, benefit from thelarking contact with business professionals. "I am a strong proponent of utilizing co-op programs fromuniversities in the area as a potential source of employees." Co-op assignments enable students to assesswhether they really want to pursue a career in a certain field, and enable employers to judge the merits of astudent as a future employee. 'The partnership we have created with the Lsittenze Center . . . has helpedstrengthen the quality of the employee that BG&E utilizes in the Information Systems area.* Center DirectorJohn Burbridge added 'Partnership is the key word. The educational institution must be customer driven andchange in response to changing needs.'

Cliff Ishmael, manager of huthan resources for the Sparrows Point Plant of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, gavea joint presentation with Michael Galliazo, director of the Regional Manufacturing Institute at DundalkCommunity College. The RMI is a partnership between industry, labor, education, and government to assistthe manufacturing sector in the region, in which BSC has played an important role. Around the turn of thecentury, Beth Steel tan a virtual company town and dominated the SE Baltimore County economic landscape.During the 1970s and 1980s, American steel companies came under intense pressure from foreign producers,profits declined, and many of its community support services had to be transferred or eliminated. Thecompany's employee training program, which employed a staff of 30, had to be drastically reduced. At thattime Dundalk Community College was beginning to develop training programs for local industries, and eagerlyaccepted the challenge of working with BSC As a result, they developed not only specific training programsfor BSC, but also credit courses that contributed to a new industrial and electronics degree program atDundalk. Simultaneously, they also developed DACUM (Developing A CurriculUM), a system for identifyingthe competencies needed for a job, to be used in building the instructional curriculum. Both Beth Steel andDundalk are happy with their partnership, and with the incidental outcome of helping promote a positiveimage of manufacturing as a career option.

Selene Hahn and Laura Weidner, respectively president of Hahn Graphics and director of the Workplac

7

186

Literacy Pioject at Catonsville Community College, described a basic literacy program for printing industry-, employees sponsored jointly by CCC and Printing Industries cif Maryland and Southeastern Pennsylvania. Many

printing industry employees do not qualify for career advancement owing to their lack of basic skills, whichmakes it difficult for them to enroll in training courses requiring reading and writing. With strong managementsupport,i"Skills Today for Tomorrows is offered to employees not as a literacy program, but as a skillsenhancement program. Participation is voluntary, but employees respond enthusiastically and between 30%and 50% enrolL Instruction is offered on-site, based on the needs of individual employees, and a proportionof instructional time is compensated. Seven companies have participated to date and training is in process. Theresults are encouraging, especially since many of those involved would not have entered a literacy program asindividuals outside the workplace.

Avis Ransome president of R&B Unlimited (management consulting) and Clifton Sands, director of theUniversity Center project at Morgan State University, presented a co-operative program involving smallbusiness development. Both offer management advice and training, one as a private consultant, the other asan academic institution. Small businesses generate more jobs than large corporations, often as a result oftechnological advances. However, many inventors of better mousetraps have little business background, andthe failure rate of small businesses is needlessly high. Helping small businesses succeed is remunerative tothem and to society. Avis Ransome provides services to the Morgan State program as an independentcontractor /consultant who works with small business clients and advises them on management and finance. Inessence, she provides privatized outreach for the institution and in return has access to a flow of clientsneeding her services. Ms Ransom pointed out that funded outreach programs like the University Center enableinstitutic Is of higher education to benefit from sharing networking resources with businesses. At the sametime, small business networks need support to get going, and colleges and universities are able to provide thissupport. In addition, the universities have their own network of kindred institutions and good contacts withprivate, state, and local organizations able to offer assistance. Almost everyone today suffers from 'informationoverload,' and small businesses especially have little time to research or interpret the information availableto them. By contacting the UC and linking up with RBU, they can access expert assistance usually availableonly to much larger organizations.

Theresa Majcwski, chair of the division of allied health sciences at Essex Community College, and DickGilbert, administrative director of cardiology and radiology at Franklin Square Hospital, described a co-operative partnership developed between the two institutions. It benefits the college by boosting enrollment,the hospital by training future employees, the community by providing well-trained healthcare professionals,and of course the students themselves.

Patricia Fielder, assistant director, professional development programs in the Continuing EducationDepartment at Towson State University, teamed up with William Franswick of KCI Technologies Inc., whospoke earlier in the program. Pat described her program as "fundamentally customer-oriented," each elementcustom-designed to i.:eet the client's needs and the outcome of a successful collaboration between theuniversity and the contracting corporation. Such programs enable the university to adapt to changes in theworkplace and incorporate them into the regular curriculum.

What Human Resources and Training Professionals had to say ...

Glenda Henkel and Mary Schwanky, director and associate director of Internship/Co-op Education at TowsonState University, gave an overview of the practice and benefits of internships and various forms of co-operativeeducation (credit- earning education in the workplace). I/CE is a cost-effective way of recruiting new employeesand a means of communicating workplace values to students and academic institutions. They give employersa taste of the demographic changes moving through the pipeline by sampling the students who will graduateLi a few years. Co-op ed enables employers to take a chance and experiment without committing themselvesto hiring. The educational experience is mutual. It also enables them to be in touch with faculty and gain inputinto the college curriculum. Above all, it offers students a vision of their own future and helps them test their

8

197

LABOR HERALD, December 20, 1991

Partnership in WorkforceTraining for Printers

Baltimore County ExecutiveRoger B. Hayden was recently aguest speaker a celebrationhighlighting Today for

-Tomorrow,'4 a premier workplaceliteracy program launched atPort City Press, a Baltimore Coun-ty printing firm.

The training program, offeredby Catonsville Community Col-lege in partnership with the Print-ing Industries of Maryland andSouthern Pennsylvania, is theresult of an eighteen-month,$240,500DepartznentofEducationNationalLiteracyGraantawarxledto the college. The program'sprimary goal is to improve thebasic work skills of at least 350printing industry employees usingworkplace-specific instruction in

.reading, writing, mathematics,and problem-solving. Offered

' through the CCC ContinuingEducation Division, the "SkillsToday for Tomorrow" programis a vital business-education ser-vice to the graphic communica-tions industry.

198

Cara-IONSPublished Biweekly by Green Sheet Communications, Inc.

Post Office Box 727, Hartsdale, New York 10530-0727 Phone (914) 472-3051

July 29, 1991

Dear Executive:

COMPUTING IN CRISIS: Computer makers often note that if car manufacturinghad matched the computer's rate of innovation, a Rolls Royce would cost $1,700 today andrun several hundred miles on a gallon of gas. But such computer advances are never with-out economic implications. Besides the genera: world-wide economic crunch, (not to men-tion what to do to assist Eastern Europe), a Financial Times editorial notes rapid advancesin making microchips at steadily lower prices lets ever cheaper hardware displace oldermore value-added (pricey) computer products. While this may be good for the users, it canbe disastrous for many computer makers (a la late IBM/Compaqprofits). So many compan-ies enter the fray, the computing business is more fiercely competitive and volatile thanever. Moreover, proprietary systems which once gave vendors captive markets, are givingway to open systems, standard platforms, program interoperability. "Future competitiveadvantage will no longer be based on technical hardware performance, but on the ability tobuild mutually-reinforcing relationships with users and to acquire a detailed understanding oftheir businesses," the FT notes. In addition, the FT observes, huge investments have beenmade in projects which conspicuously have failed to improve user productivity. The aimshould be to enhance the competitiveness of strong user industries, not to shore up weakproducers. Finding ways to help customers get more out of their computers is essential. Amen.

WORKPLACE TRAINING MAKES STRIDES: "Does Business Have Any Business in Education?"According to author Nan Stone in the March-April Harvard Business Review, "the economicfuture of the US depends more on men/women in the nation's factories, offices, and shopsright now than on the skill and attitudes of future high school graduates. Most of the USwork force is prepared for yesterday's work. Firms that want to provide high-quality,innovative goods and services to demanding customers (sound like printing?) have to be inthe business of education. Most are not . . . more companies are talking about workers'skills than seriously developing them," Stone observes. Happily, graphic arts hasWorkPLACE. Since its October launch some 275 firms have ordered the manager's sourcebook, the first step in assessing the NAPL-Didde WorkPLACE training program thatteaches basic math and other skills using printing industry-specific problems. (Step two is aWorkPLACE skills inventory at a given plant and step three the course croricula.)

Several hundred enrollees are taking the initial math course this summer at avariety of sites. Small groups of companies which wish to pool efforts can IMW aign Iicrnce

anNAPL-Didde ro am throu h local trade associations and colic es For instance, the

Printing n ustnes o ary out k I are wor wit Idniville 'Coemunity Collegenear Baltimore to offer a basic skills program, including the WorkPLACEmath curriculum. An 18-month $240,500 national workplace literacy grant, one of 70 fromthe US Dept. Of Educ. and the only one for printing, is funding this effort. [Info: LauraWeidner 301/363-4111.] The initial on-the-job-math computations course is a comprehen-sive application of the math skills needed to adequately perform in a graphic arts company.The course includes ratios/proportions; measurement; using estimates and approximations;and an intro *.o statistical processing controls (SPC). Meanwhile, All-state Legal Supply inCranford, NJ recently became the first firm to field test the critical thinking and problemsolving WorkPLACE curriculum before it is released nationally. Nearly 40 of the 400 per-

199THE MONDAY MORNING BRIEFING FOR MANAGEMENT IN THE PRINTING and GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRIES

John R Werner, Publisher. All rights reamed by Green Sheet Communications, Inc. Reproduction In any form strictly prohibited.

1...bit

1 Ir°. .

P:inting Industries of Maryland 2423 Mar/land Ave. 301.466-09C& Southeastern Pennsylvania 9nitunctre. MD. 21218 FAX 366.18

8C0-366-090

August, 1991

UPDATE "SKILLS TODAY Participation in the job skills program,FOR TOMORROW! funded by the $240,000 Federal grant

received by PIM+SP and CatonsvilleCommunity College, continues to increase. Classes at Port City Press areunderway, and assessment sessions have been completed at Admiral Envelope andBindagraphics. Several other PIM +SP members have indicated at, interest inparticipation. Management has found employees to be excited about participationin the program and upgrading their job skills.

A proposal has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Education for anextension of the grant. These funds would allow us to expand this excellentprogram to include our members in Southern Maryland, the Eastern Shore andSouthern Pennsylvania.

An official kick-off ceremony for the skills program is scheduled for September5 at Port City Press. State and industry officials have been invited to attend.

If you are interested in discussing how your employees can benefit from thisoutstanding program, call Pat Martin at the PIM+SP office.

200

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

Building onPeople Skills

ike all businesspeople,1.4,printers want to get themost from their invest-

ments. Years ago. this meantsmart equipment acquisitionsand hiring the best people youcould find. Now. with changes inboth technology and the workforce, printers are paying closerattention to not only who theyhire, but how they invest in theiremployees.

For the small printer lookingto grow, an investment in train-ing is a dilemma: or the one hand,how do you justify spending timeand money developing some-thing you cannot really measure,and on the other hand, how canyou not?

Printing, as predicted in thePrinting 2000 study conductedby the Printing Industries ofAmerica, "will remain a growingindustry well into the 21st centu-ry." Last year, PIA reports,printers employed 808,600 peo-ple in 40.000 companies. Consid-ering that most of these compa-nies (80%) have fewer than 20employees. it stands to reasonthat while most of the largerprinters have already installedtraining programs in their facil-ties and started the ball rolling inthis area, the vast majority of theprint work force lies within the

.6y Bridget Kinsella ArajsAssistant Editor

52 graphic arts monthly OCTOBER 1991

Printers today are paying closerattention to who they hire and

how they invest in their training.

realm of the small printer. Typi-cally, the latter has fewer re-sources for training.

If predictions prove true, thechanging work force of the '90s,and on into the 21st century, willprovide new challenges for em-ployers big and small. The de-cline in the proficiency of theAmerican high school graduatehas been front page news foryears. So, it comes as no sur-prise that Printing 2000 pre-dicts: "Continual training and re-training of workers will becomecrucial as printers strive to keepup with new printing technol-ogies, more sophisticated cus-tomers, and the restructuring ofprinting businesses."

Some small printers are begin-ning to see that undertrained op-erators are hurting the bottomline. In a 1990 National Associa-tion of Printers and Lithogra-phers survey of the graphic artsindustry, 63% of the respon-dents attributed some press-room and bindery spoilage,equipment failures, chemicalmisuses, and other shop-floor er-

201

rors to a lack of basic skills intheir employees; 83% said therewas a need for a work-related ba-sic skills program in the industry.

In an effort to answer theprinters/employers plea to pickup where the teacher left off.NAPL developed the Carl DiddeWorkPlace program, with thesupport of the Didde Web Cor-poration. Initially, the programdetermines if there is a need forbasic skills training at your loca-tion; it then provides industry-specific assistance in thoseareas. [See GRAPHIC ARTSMONTHLY, January 1991.)

WorkPlace. as it was original-ly designed, was an attrac-

tive idea for the large printerwith. resources to bring the class-room to its employees; however.for the small shop this proved al-most impossible. In Maryland. arecent licensing agreement be-tween NAPL and the Printing In-dustries of Maryland and SouthPennsylvania appears to havebeen designed with the smallprinter in mind. Educators from

4

From The Top . . .Ted Hutton

We are entering the homestretch of 1991, our 101st year, with tremendous activity throughout the company. The

Printing and Periodical Publishing divisions are showing very fine results and are gearing up for the annualChristmas rush to publish and print our customers' publications accurately and on schedule. Lea & Febiger,

Harwal, International and the Professional and Reference group have very ambitious fall and winter publishing

schedules and are working diligently to have booksavailable for various medical meetings, academic classes, etc.

Our Corporate Service areas are in the midst of system conversions, financial year-end pressures, subscriptionrenewals and the high volume of orders being generated by our Marketing groups.

To make our 1991 financial commitments to our customersand ourselves, everyone must pull together as we near

this year's finish line. I am confident that we will achieve our objectives and have conveyed this to our Board of

Directors. I want to thank everyone for their commitment to our customers (inside and outside the company)because 100 percent customer satisfaction is our goal everyday at Waverly.

I want to recognize the Activities Committee for the excellent job done on the Easton picnic. We had in excess of

800 people attend this year and, from what I have learned, everyone appreciated the new location and, of course,

the cooperation of the weather. The following people weredirectly responsible for this very successful event: Mike

Ambrose, Anna Brown, Ricky Chenault, Yvette Chester, Lester Harmon, Francis Jones, Julie Ryland and Faye

Skipper.

I want to thank Bernie Knox and the Printing division management for the Master Printers of America cruise/dinner in Easton on September 21. This program recognizes Eastonemployees who have masiered certain skilllevels in this particular job. The program will be introduced in the Printing division's Baltimore facilit in 1992. As

I said that evening, "MPA symbolizes Waverly's overriding objectiveto be the best that we can be.'

Thank you again for your dedication and support, and lets finish the year being the best that we can be.


We are continually challenged bychanges in technology which requireus to apply ourselves in ways we havenot yet tried. The old saying that aperson must be able to walk beforethey can run can be applied in that, aperson must have strong fundamen-tal skills before they can perform moreadvanced, complicated tasks. For ex-ample, in order to effectively utilize acomputer to its capabilities one musthave well developed writing and read-ing skills in order to respond to andcomprehend the wealth of materialboth going into and coming out of theterminal. Also, sophisticated machin-ery requires strong computation skills

Rob McCreadie

in order to estimate materials require-ments, calculate production times andto perform other calculations designedto utilize the equipment to its capac-ity. Certainly, changes in these areasas well as changes in the way we man-age our business require us to system-aticallyevaluateproblemsand resolvethem in a logical manner. Indeed,today's environment sees all tlf us par-ticipating more in thedecision makingprocess requiring knowledge of properproblem solving methods in order toimplement an effective decision.

As our environment places moredemands on us it is important that we

learn new skills or refresh our knowl-edge of previously learned skills. "SkillsToday for Tomorrow," is a programwhose purpose is to do just that. It isa program designed to strengthen thefundamental areas of reading/writ-ing, math, and problem solving we alluse on a daily basis. Also, it is de-signed in such a way as to provide in-dividual and team training specific toour industry.

By this time, many of us have heardthe program described first hand by

See SKILLS, Page 4, Col. 1

Page 2 Phase Make Waverly's Way th* United Way

'COW% *. A)rloorlu Pre55 2°2

BEST COPY AVIlartall

Safety NewsEaston Safety Committeeby Greg Cole

The Easton Safety Committee wouldlike to welcome Carl Fink aboard asour new Chairperson. Carl will beworking with Bob Willey in chairingour safety committee.

In just one week, four undergroundtanks; ave been successfully removedfrom our Easbn plant. These tanksstored alcohol and diesel fuel. Byremoving these tanks, we have elimi-nated the danger of future groundcontamination and the costly after-effects to the environment. This hasalso created an even safer workplacefor our Easton employees.

We are in the process of creating aSafety Awareness program. This pro-gram is being designed to instill theidea that safety is the responsibility ofeach and every one of us. It is hopedthat by increasing the awareness ofsafety issues, a reduction in lost workdays may result. As with any pro-gram, it will take the cooperation of allof us to make it successful.

Baltimore Safety Committeeby Janette Johnson

The Safety Committee has selected two safety tips from those submitted to us.The recipients were each awarded a Seth Clock as a token of our appreciationto their tips.

Frank Crouse for his safety tip to in-stall safety mirrors in the stairwell ofthe annex building.

Bob Ames for his time to warn em:,)ployees exiting the door near the spi-ral staircase in the Mount Royal build-ing to be cautious or employees on theother side of the door who may beentering the restroom area.

We sincerely thank both Frank and Bob for their safety tips and encourage allemployees to send in their safety suggestions.

SKILLS, from Page 2

its coordinator, Laura Weidner of Ca-tonsville Community College, and arepreparing for the next step of the pro-par-i. This step will involve an assess-ment of individual strengths and ar-eas for improvement, and will deter-mine the level of participation in theprogram. Once the assessments arecomplete we will begin to scheduleappropriate classes, which are pro-jected to start as early as November.

This is an exciting program for us all,but it is not an end all to training. It isa beginning which will enable furthertraining to be designed which will aidus in 'airing greater success in bothour professional and personal endeav-ors . Congratulations and good luck tothose who are learning 'Skills Todayfor Tomorrow."

20'

Page 4 Please Make Waverly's Way the United Way

Volume N Number 5 une 1991

Workplace LiteracyGrantLaura Weidner, Project Director

In July 1990 Catonsville CommunityCollege was one of nearly 230respondents to a request for proposalsfrom the US. Department ofEducationfor workplace literacy programs. It is apleasure to announce that CCChasbeenawarded a$240,500grantforan18-monthperiod, March 1991-August 1992. Theproject will address the literacyneeds of

the Baltimore-area printingindustry, forboth the present and the future, byimplementing an industry-educationconsortium to rernediatebasicskillneeds.In addition, this project will develop atransferable model of workplace literacyskills training for the printing industrythat can be implemented elsewhere at arelatively low cost.

C-ATONSVILLE mmuNnY OLLEGEFACULTY & STAFF NEWSLETTER

: "Skills Today for Tomorrow," as theprogram is known, proposes on-siteassessment and training forapproximately 350 printing industry

-: employees during the 18 months of theprogram. Initially, theproject r.taff, which

besides myself includes Nancy Renner,administrator, and William E. Loflin,curriculum coordinator, will visit eachparticipating company and meet withmanagement teams and advisory boardsto disseminate information about theproject. Project staff will also makepresentations to all employees at7.

.participating companies to encourageinvolvement.

CCCis partnered withPrintingIndustries. of Maryland for this program. This

:. partnership is a natural extensionof an

already well-established relationshiple- with PIM. Port City Press has already

begun implementation of the programin

Garrisonthe son plant, withclasses expected

to begin there in mid-June. Several otherPIM membershave expressed aninterest

71.in participating in "Skills Today forTomorrow" and will hopefully bescheduled for start-up in the near future. 204

thra\ini-fht,f

f.

41

Printing Industries of Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania

Hi-LilesVol. 40, No. 1 Winter/Spring 1992

Members' Action = Lobbying SuccessPrinting companies in Maryland have

aggressively responded to PIM+SP'srequest for help in lobbying against twopieces of legislation that would severelydamage our industry. Shortly after thecall went out to Maryland members tocontact their state legislators about thisill-conceived legislation, a strongnumber of you responded with lettersand phony calls to your legislators. Thateffort has already produced positiveresults.

Senate Bill 32 proposed that before apermit to construct (needed whenevervon add a new press) could be issued, apublic hearing would be required. Thatlegislation would have increased thetime required to get a permit approved..from the current three month timeframe to at least one year. When thelent-lators heard from our indii,try just

-ersely affected printing.,.ould be, they watered down

the legislation considerably. Included inthe amended version is an exemptionfor any company producing less than 25tons of air pollution a year. Thatamendment exempts almost our entireindustry. In addition, a hearing is nowrequired only on special request and it issimply an informational type hearing.

A second and critical piece of legisla-tion is s:ill under consideration. HB 73proposes to repeal several sales taxexemptions applicable to our industry.

ar he loss of these exemptions would bedevastating to our low profit, highlycompetitive industry. The MarylandSenate's tax proposal (S.B. 387) calls forrepeal of the sales tax exemption ondirect mail advertising literature that is

printed in Maryland but intended fordistribution outside the state. Thislegislation would damage Marylandprinters and mailing houses which haveas customers national corporationswhich do a lot of direct mail sales.Customers such as Sears, J.C. Penneyand National Geographic, who buymillions of dollars worth of printing andmailing service in Maryland, couldeasily pull their work from our stateand place it elsewhere.

Some of the major mailing housesrecognized that hundreds of jobs couldbe lost if this exemption was repealedand they got involved. The associationwould like to recognize and thankCharles Dall'Acqua, Senior Vice Presi-dent of Harte-Hanks Direct Mailing,Ken Boone, President of DMA and JoeWritesman, Ir.. '4..rit. of QuebecorPrinting, all 0 'in took time topersonally visit with several key legisla-tors in Annapolis concerning this issue.The association's strategy is now tomaintain strong conta& with themembers of the House Ways andMeans Committee to make sure theyunderstand the ramifications of theproposed sales tax repeals.

By the time this Hi-Lites is published,the Maryland Legislature will haveclosed for 1992 and we hope none ofthe Sales Tax Exemptions for printerswill have been repealed. Our thanks tothose who took active part in thislobbying effort and to the great numberof you who responded with letters tomany legislators.

During our personal visits withlegislators we heard from several of

205

them that they had been contacted by agreat number of printers on thislegislation. One delegate indicated thatshe had heard from more printersabout this legislation than from anyother group on any other piece oflegislation being considered this year.That is music to a lobbyist's earsthatkind of response from the industry doesmake the legislators sit up and listen.

The success of the association'slobbying efforts are a direct result ofthe degree of participation by itsmembers. PIM FSP is the vehicle thathelps bring about the united voice forour industry.

Skills Todayfor Tomorrow

Port City Press, hie. launched this programwith a kick-off ceremony: (1 to ri Dr. FrederickJ. Walsh, Catonsville Community CollegePresident: Baltimore County Executive RogerB. Hayden, Laura IVeighter, Project Director:Trri/ Young, General atirigfr of Port Cityand John Q. Klutiz, III, Chairman of theBaltimore County Community College< Boardof ii rrsfre ::.

coniimud on pg. 5

Skills Today for Tomorrow... continued from pg. 1

This premier workplace skills Aro-n is funded by a $240,000 federal

14..int awarded to PIM+SP and Catons-ville Community College. Shown are

1some employees of participating com-panies with certificates awarded at thecompletion of their first level of classes.

Maryland Composition Company alsoparticipatnt but their picture was not availableat press time.

Admiral Envelope and Printing Co. and AlphaGraphics, inc.

Bindrtgraphics, inc.

r

Port City Press. Inc.

GAO Reports On Member Happenings!Hazcom Compliance

The General Accounting Office(GAO) recently reported that half of allemployers in the construction, manu-facturing, and personal services indus-tries fa:' to comply with the OSHAHazard Communication Standard. The111-page GAO report entitled OSHAAction Needed to improve ComplianceWith Hazard Communication Standardstares that small employers are lesslikely to comply with the standard thanlarge employers.

Through a national survey, the GAOfound that 58 percent of small employ-ers failed to comply with at least one ofthe Hazard Communication Standard'srequirements. The report criticized thecomplexity of material safety datasheets (MSDS) and recommended waysto improve it as well as compliance withthe rule.

PIA has been actively involved withthe revision of the MSDS. With helpfrom members of the Graphic ArtsLegislative Council, PIA is developing aMSDS-EZ form which will simplify theprocess of reporting hazard communi-cation information. If you are con-cen ied about your compliance with thehazard rule, consider ordering the PIAHazard Communication Manual fromthe PIM+SP Bookstore 410-366-0900.

Maryland Workers' CompensationRates Increase

If your renewal is coming up callRob Chojnowski at PIMSCO

(410) 366-0900for a rate comparison.

, -

Members brushed up on customer service skillsat a recent seminar.

rr

Executive Roundtable discussions offer a time toshare ideas, concerns and solutions.

Carroll County Commissioners kin in theribbon cutting ceremony to introduce JohnsonGraphics' new five-color press.

DON BAFFORD & JOHN SILBER are pleased to announce a new organizationgeared to assist the printing manager

SILBER, BAFFORD & ASSOCIATES4 J Snowdrift Court

Cockeysville, Maryland 21030

We bring you 75 years' experience in Graphic Arts management all the wayfrom the sale, to the delivery of the job and all the steps along the way. Wecan help you deliver a quality job at a profit.

DON BAFFORD(410) 823-4011

JOHN SILBER(410) 666-5450

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

SUGGESTION BOX vsGRAPEVINE...If you'd likeyour question and answerposted on the bulletinboard, use the grapevinebox.

If you want to make asuggestion or comment and

do not expect a response,use the suggestion box.

Sign your name to yoursuggestion and you will get

an answer in writing. Of

course, without the name,we're unable to get back to

you.

SKILLS TODAY FORTOMORROW...CatonsVille'sTom Cantu and JeanBrunstetter who teach thecourses state that PortCity Press has the mostinterested group ofemployee students they haveever had the pleasure to

instruct.

The enthusiasm andcommitment to educationamong the employees during

classes is said to be one

of their most rewardingteaching experiences.

The vacation credits which

have been accumulating will

be calculated and posted in

September. These creditsmust be used by December

31st.

Credits accumulated from

September through the end

of the year will becalculated and posted in

January to be used by the

end of December '92.

Beginning in January, the

vacation credits will be

posted quarterly.

PICNIC COMMITTEE...Thefirst meeting washeld July

12th and was lively and a

lot of fun. Some new ideas

were offered such as menu

changes, children'sactivities, adult games,and lots of othersurprises. We willcontinue to have thoseactivities people enjoy

like fishing contests, the

moon bounce, the chineseauction and of course the

ever popular "jar count".

Amy Fleming tells us that

at the next meeting we'll

discuss this year's prizes.

Why not join in and let us

know what you'd like as

prizes? They've always

been great and we'dlLke tomake them better andbetter. How about it?

Call Amy today (293) and be

a member of this year's

committee. After all, we

do it for you and your

family. We want to knowwhat you would like at your

picnic. Don't wait for the

survey--start now.

OUR ENVIRONMENT....Likeeveryone in the world, Port

City Press is concernedabout the earth. It's

nothing new, we've been

aware of the urgency for a

while now.

A new brochure has just

been completed which tells

the story of how one bookmanufacturer is dealing

with waste. There are

copies for you outside the

cafeteria. Take one home

and show your family how

Port City Press iscontributing to the effort.

207

p . 1 (114, Pr 5J 1 1 e n(4 al I I) \-..\-11

J inunu.a.yMorning

September 30, 1991

GRADUATION.... Our first SkillsToday for Tomorrow classes heldgraduation exercises a few weeksago. One student stated thatthey were "pioneers" in PortCity's first on-site educationclasses. More enthusiasticgroups you won't find. Food waseverywhere. Students preparedand brought a favorite recipe into share at the party. Onestudent purchased enough friedchicken for the whole'class. Oneof the classes wore whitegraduation caps and tossed them

\

into the air after receiving thecertificates. After 12 weeks,they all were ready to celebrate.

We have photos of each class onthe next page....please turn overnow.

The classes were held throughoutthe weeks in the a.m. and p.m.and each was especially proud ofit's accomplishments wanting tostay together_for the next round.

The level II math classes beganlast week and will continue forthe next 12 weeks. All thestudents seem ready and anxiousto continue to improve theirskills for tomorrow.

We had a great write-up in theCatonsville Times after our PressRelease a few weeks ago entitled"Printers master math, Englishskills." Several of ouremployees were interviewed and itmade for some good reading.

SOLUTIONS....our quarterlynewsletter edited by Amy Fleming

208

of Personnel will be on thestands next week. This is PortCity's employee involvementpublication and if you'd like tobe involved, call Amy.

FROM PIM MANAGEMENT BULLETIN --Whydo so many people treat a doctoror hospital bill as though itwere gospel and not subject toquestion?

When part of the payment of yourdoctor or hospital bill isdisallowed because it is inexcess of usual and customaryfees, don't take that as a signthat the plan is ripping you off;take it as a signal that theprovider might be overcharging.Refuse to pay the difference,demand explanations, and demandcredit. If you notice that youare being charged incredibleamounts for the service providedor being charged for servicesthat were never provided at all,immediately question theprovider.

In 1982 your odds of having amedical claim in excess of$30,000 were only one in 638. By1987, however, the frequency hadincreased to one in 193. Theodds of having a claim in excessof $50,000 in 1982,were one in2,134, but five years later thechances of having such a largeclaim stood at one in 688.

These numbers clearly demonstratethe realities of medicalinflation. We can slow this wildescalation by becoming smartconsumers.

*" .'"444%---"*""" Printing Industries of Maryland and Southeastern Pennsylvania

.

....IA.., :%'

'17`.1".trT...s,'"."." "'

-41,:*.7.i;:;'...:

Ctgi..<7` .

!.t'.:;$..".:T39.:Not".-'2 -

IMO

Spdng 1991

Industry Gets $240,000 Training GrantCatonsville Community Colleggand

Printing Industries have received aspecial grant from the U.S. Departmentof Education to help industry employ-ees improve their basic skills.

"Skills Today for Tomorrow" wasdeveloped by the PIM+SP EducationCommittee, headed by T.J. Manning of

e Port City Press in Baltimore, withaff support from Catonsville and the

trade association. With the $240,000,18-month grant from the federal gov-ernment, project faculty assess acompany's workforce to determineneed and then provide training in basicmathematics, communications read-ing, writing, and problem-solving skills.

An important aspect of this trainingis its tailoring to the individual firmand its workers. The needs analysis, forexample, looks at skills as they relate tocritical job tasks, and the instructionalprogram uses actual job materials. Atthe same time, however, the skillstaught are transferable, so employeesknow how to apply their learning toany situation, not just the isolated tasksof their current job.

The program was developed becauseof a P5.4+SP survey of members. Anoverwhelming percentage of respon-dents identified a need for such train-ing in light of recent trends, includingdecreased basic skills of entry-levelemployees and technological advances

the industry.The trade association's Education

%..ommittee evaluated a number of ex-isting programs. PIM+SP Vice Presi-dent Patricia Martin and Catonsvillefaculty members Gene Loflin and

Nancy Renner then visited local com-panies, observing workers and meet-ing with managers to identify commontraining needs. Once the grant was se-cured, Catonsville hired Laura Weidnerto coordinate the details of tl- e project.

The model curriculum has two lev-els: basic skills, developing competencein mathematics, reading, and writing;and workplace skills, covering the printproduction process, problem-solvingmethods, the reading and writing ofwork specifications, and print-relatedmathematics. Classes meet for three

hours per week for up to 38 weeks, halfeach on company and employee time.

Pilot classes will be offered at ThePort City Press, for its own employees,and at Admiral Envelope & PrintingCo. and the PIM+SP Education Center,Baltimore, grouping workers fromsmaller firms. Any company interestedin the program is encouraged to call PatMartin at PIM+SP, (301) 366-0900 or(800) 366-0908, to obtain details aboutthe curriculum and about the benefitsand responsibilities of the businessesand employees who take part; .

David Jannotta, far left, demonstration manager at Heidelberg Eastern, explains a folderto students and instructors attending one of the PIM+SP Print Production Seminars heldin Heidelberg's Columbia, MD, showroom in April and May. The seminars, designed forvocational-education students, aspiring artists and writers, and their teachers and advi-sors, drew participants from as far as St. Mary's County to learn about the latest productiontechniques and about career opportunities in graphic communications. Special thanks toseminar instructors Marcia Watcheski of Alpha Graphics, Tom Dauses ofGraphrec, andCharlie McAree of Wolk Press and to the entire Heidelberg staff for sharing their expertise.

2D

MondayMorning

POR T C

IN-HOUSECOOKOUT...We'replanning the gettogether on Thursday,May 21st. This willbe our third"cookout" and we'llbe planning more inthe future.

Theie will be hotdogs, hamburgers,barbecued chicken,salads, desserts, andall the other thingsthat make a goodcookout. So leavethe brown bag homethat day and have

lunch on Port City Press. Wehave arranged for each shift tobe served during the regularlunch break as follows:

May 11, 1992

3rd shift - 3:30 a.m.2nd shift - 8:30 p.m.1st shift - 11:45 a.m.-

_ 1:30 p.m.

Pk. METROPOLITAN repNickie Museles willbe here on Friday,May 15th to helpanyone who may behaving claimproblems. Theschedule will be asfollows:

6:00 A.M.2:00 P.M.4:00 P.M.

She will be available in theLibrary Conference Room during

210

these times for any questions youmay have.

Anyone who has a specific claimto discuss should bring their"explanation of benefit" formindicating the claim history. Ifyou don't have the form, see PatSchlottenmeier in Personnel.Mere are duplicates of all formsgoing back one year.

P1PLOMA

MAYGRADUATION...Studentswho are taking

/CriticalThinking ProblemSolving and WorkplaceMath classes given by

ts-ve - 0 Catonsville CommunityCollege will have

graduation exercises this week.

The 6:00 a.m. class is thelargest with 22 students and eachof the other 3 classes have 9 -11 students each.

The News would like tocongratulate all the students onthe successful completion of theclasses and we'll have photos inour next issue of all thegraduates.

NEW CUSTOMER...Randy Seidel fromD.C. Sales brings us Orion DirectMarketing. Jim Hoffner wins theCustomer Service honors. FrankWhare was the Estimator and PaulBuono is the Book Engineerselection.

.SOP ON TIEBANDWAGON


DID YOU MISS THE CATONSVILLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE ASSESSMENT BECAUSE:

You didn't know about it?

You were on vacation/sick when you were scheduled?

You decided too late to schedule?

or

You were too busy to keep the appointment?

Whatever the reason, Catonsville is prepared to do a make-up

session if we have at least 15 employees who are interested. If

you are, sign below and give it to your supervisor. We need all

responses in Personnel by this Friday, May 17th.

If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact

Pat Schlci:tenmeier on ext. 296.

Name Department/shift

211

loserandning.

sic skillsrc said ther

gardu,% stansu thplea to piher left ofe Carl Didd71, with thle Web Corhe progris a need foat your Ies induste in thosPH1C ART991.)

- .;

Je4irti.{0.4:1...

was originalas an attra:rge printeng the clas?s; howeveis provedMaryland.-cement

Printing 1d and Souars to hav

mafro

:a: r :%-:e

r.

Siftte4`trircegel

.

--;:,0

.4 t - ;Lfta....7.-

. 2:' 4;7!..4414;7. ';' , .4'1;4' tl'; Ot: .4tet 4rtl..;... Itt.th :4;r1.4.

mr.-4

. ; ---paeNr&,,jr44`.00'.c.4salf ti.....tars*...

r",/ 4'*"

: pr.., .4: met. 'r '...... :. ; :.,lir -'.: ,

vr. 6- - ,:f: :,,-.'r,Pivzr' 1,* : -41*f..."ii.t ::.' o .,- :.--.-- -"'' - -;.z.:.,-, ...a:4f, ,::.rx..-Zif e..-44truz_

-In-..

4;'!:-ter-,Atkt

the Catonsville Community Col-lege in Maryland will offer theprogram to employees fromprinters in that area at a centrallocation.

Irs printers to hopon Luard the WorkPlace expresswas Moore Printing in Portland,Ore. Bill Moore, president andfounder of the nearly 30-year-oldcompany. is the kind of boss whobelieves "you can always learn".As a member of the NAPL advi-sory board for the WorkPlaceprogram, he was eager to recc a-mend his company become a

89 .!

4

beta test site. Happily, and asMoore suspected, his crewproved to lack no basic skills.(But if reeducation was needed,Moore would have seen to it.)

"Send me a man who reads."Moore remembers this old Inter-nz tonal Paper advertisementwell, and uses it to emphasizethe importance of an educatedwork force. The slogan seems toring just as true now as it didthen.

There are 25 employees onthe Moore Litho payroll andmany of these skilled workers

. .

1

-

!et.4:ic1," r

0 "'litvars..

The people whowork for youbecome perhaps

the strongestpillar of supportthe company has:isn't it in yourbest interest totrain themproperly?

are approaching their 20th yearof service. Over time, therehave been many technologicaladvances at Moore, and whilethe company has no formal in-house training. employeeshave kept pace with the inno-vations by attending outsideseminars.

Eight years ago, Moore Lithobecame the first company in theNorthwest to install the Heidel-berg CPC pr As with electroniccomputer control. Today there isnot only electronic control in thepressroom at Moore, there is acomplete electronic publishingdivision. That certainly tooksome retraining.

"In the last 10 years, techno-logical changes have outweighedthe changes that occurred overthe last 50 years," says Moore.Today, the self-taught printerexplains, it is not enough to knowabout printing: one must knowcomputers as well.

The next generation of graph-1 is arts employees are being

hired right now, and for the smallprinter, with typically less of aturnover rate than a larger com-pany, that means carefullyscreening the new hires for abili-ty and computer literacy. "Theskill levels of the people we hirenow, and in the future, will haveto match the computer indus-try," says Rich Bressem, presi-dent of Technical Printing. Sun-nyvale, Calif.

At Technical, a short-run tech-nical manual printer, most pro-motion comes from within thecompany. Bressem feels th: !heinvestment in training existingemployees pays off. To keep upwith industry innovations, Tech-nical affords its employees theopportunity to attend cl3sses atnearby Mission Junior College."We recognize the people thatare eager to learn and allow themthe possibility to do so," saysBressem. Technical picks up the

OCTOBER 1991 graphic arts monthly 53

THI CARL DIVOIw o r k

PUCECaw ItHarciatH

O G R AM

The Carl Didde WorkPLACErm Program Fact Sheet:Training Options

Q. Is there a way to train a few employees with the WorkPLACETh Programmaterials without running the classes myself?

A. Yes, through a WorkPLACE"' Program Agreement. Working with yourlocal industry or trade group, or educational facility, the Program Agreementoffers you a way to provide your employees with WorIcPLACET" skillsenhancement classes--on- or off-site, without doing it yourself. It gives yousome implementation and presentation options you may not have considered.

Take for example the "Skills Today For Tomorrow' Group in Catonsville. ABaltimore-area community college joined with a local trade group and printingcompanies to provide essential skills training for employees in thoseparticipating companies. The college provided the instructors, the trade groupprovided the facility and offered the Program to its membership. Employeesattend classes at their own company, at neighboring companies, or at the tradegroup's facility.

Another example is a New York-based trade group that is runningWorkPLACE"' Courses as part of its evening school. Employees from all overthe metropolitan area are able to participate at one of four locations.

Q. How can I benefit from the Agreement?

A. If you are a small company, it affords you a way to offer training to youremployees, even if you can't do it in-house. If you're a larger company, youmay want to share your training facilities and resources. Or maybe you justwant your employees to be involved in training but can't find an instructor orthe right material. It offers companies a way to alleviate some of theresponsibilities of running courses in-house by working with other groups.

2i3

Q. What is the Carl Didde WorkPLACET" Program?

A. The Carl Didde WorkPLACETM (Work-related Print Learning And CareerEnhancement) Program is a comprehensive, industry-specific, training program,consisting of course curriculum and support materials designed for improvingskills in math, reading and writing, critical thinking and problem-solving andthe graphic arts process. WorkPLACE" was developed and copyrighted byNAPL, and jointly funded by NAPL and Did& Corporation.

Q. How do I get involved in a Program Agreement?

A. You can contact Susan Reif, WorkPLACE"' Program Manager, or FernDickey, WorkPLACE"' Program Assistant at our special WorkPLACE"`Information Hotline (1-800-258-7323), and we'll identify other companies inyour area also interested in the Program. You can then approach your localtrade group, voc/tech school or college and get them involved. (They're theones who will supply the instructors and/or facility.) Or, you can have us makethose connections too, and arrange the whole thing. The key is expressing yourinterest to us or them to get the ball rolling.

Q. How much will this cost?

A. The fees to you will be established by the school or trade group you areworking with, but NAPL has set a limit on their pricing structure to ensureaffordability to companies of all sizes.

Q. I'm interested, but I need more information about the WorkPLACE"'Program.

A. Call our WorkPLACEm Information Hotline at 1-800-258-7323. We'llsend you a comprehensive packet of material about the Program. At that time,we can discuss your interest in the Program Agreement, and begin identifying

other companies in your geographic location. As we said, we're here to helpyou find the best way to bring WorkPLACE"' courses to your employees.

WorkPLACE" Information Hotline1-800-258-7323

The National Associatiorf of Printers and Lithographers, 780 PalisadeAvenue, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

214

MEETING THE CHALLENGES OFTOMORROW BY IMPROVING WORKERSKILLS TODAYby Laura E. Weidner

Customer complaints?Overfilled spoilage bins?Entire jobs being redone?Recurring avoidable errors?Misinterpreted-job jackets?Unclear directions? Frustratedsupervisors?

Is this a familiar agendafor company meetings? It isprobably no consolation butthese problems continue toplague the graphic artsindustry nationwide. Printingfirms have begun implementingquality control, statisticalprocess controls, job training,employee incentives, and anynumber of measures to combatthis situation. However, thee rrors continue, despite manye mployers' best efforts.

This problem hit home inthe graphic arts industry withthe publication of a 1990National Association ofPrinters and Lithographersspecial report, "Basic Skillsin the Workplace: A Problem inthe Graphic Arts." In thatreport, 83% of the respondentssaw a need for work-basedskills programs in the graphicarts industry. Employersacknowledged the reality thate ven good workers may haveweaknesses in basic skills andthose weaknesses can, and do,impact business. No onecompany needs to feel alone; itis clearly a problem across theindustry.

What can an employer do toattack this problem? No matterhow caring and concerned anindividual manager may be, itis extremely difficult toapproach and reach workers 2 15about basic skills problems.

C Ty\ .)111(._

11;1'7 J15 I-) C

11-76,11

Competent employees are oftenreluctant to admit deficienciesin reading and other skillareas for fear of repercussionson the job. Even it anemployee recognizes his or herneed for help, seeking thatassistance at the workplace canbe an intimidating prospect.

In Maryland, the PIAaffiliate, Printing Industriesof Maryland and SouthernPennsylvania has taken anactive role in combatting thisproblem. PIM+SP has joinedforces with Catonsville.Community College, a BaltimoreCounty community college, andcreated Skills Today forTomorrow, a work-based skillsenhancement program for PIM+SPmember companies. Skills Todayfor Tomorrow has been developedunder a $240,500 1991 U.S.Department of EducationNational Workplace LiteracyGrant.

Since May 1991 over 570industry employees representingeight different companieshavebeen assessed to identify basicskills deficiencies. Of thoseassessed, nearly 70% haveindicated a need for basicskills instruction.Approximately 907 of theindividuals indicating needhave signed up for classes.Other printing companiescontinue to seek involvement inthe project. Industry responseto-date has already farexceeded original expectations.

The business/educationpartnership which createdSkills Today for Tomorrow drawson the strengths of eachpartner to engender success.PIM+SP effectively reachesmember companies and informs.them of the program, whileCatonsville Community Collegedevelops. manages, and delivers

the instruction. There is noneed for companies to scramblearound looking for qualitybasic skills instr.Ictors andjob-specific curriculum.Printing companies can accessthe college's experience andrecord of quality instructionalprograms and the association'smarketing and public relationsexpertise instead of relying onin-house resources. Thiscombination of business acumenand educational expertiseallows the program to thrive,despite the current economicclimate.

Skills Today for Tomorrowhas been developed under afederal grant program and ithas clear implications for the

0 graphic arts industrynationally. The program modeldeveloped in this project isreplicable in both large andsmall printing companiesanywhere in the United States.The curriculum has demonstratedits applicability in many kindsof firms, ranging from bookprinting to label printing andbinderies, among others.Instructors modify thecurriculum to some extent ateach site to fit the needs ofthat company, making it viablein virtually any company.

Is this program working?There is little doubt about itssuccess among both the programparticipants and theiremployers. Test scores areshowing dramatic improvementsin participants' skill levels.Competency levels areincreasing as demonstrated byeach individual's competencymastery profile. Managers andsupervisors report a morepositive attitude exhibited by excited about this opportunity

program participants when they which will enhance theare back on the Job, as well as credibility of PIASC'san increased willingness to 216continuing education program.

participate in more complicatedtasks and decision-making onthe job. Other supervisorstell of tasks which are beingdone quicker and moreefficiently as a result ofemployees learning (or re-learning) basic principles ofmathematics and reading.

For more info, contactLaura E. Weidner, Skills Todayfor Tomorrow, CatonsvilleCommunity College, 800 SouthRolling Road, Baltimore, MD21228 or call 410-455-4501.

PIA -SC /CSULA VENTURE

The Printing IndustriesAssociation Inc. of SouthernCalifornia (PIASC) andCalifornia State University- -Los Angeles (CSULA) havecreated a program offeringstudents of PIASC's continuingeducation program collegecredit for selected classes.

This program, to beimplemented during the spr,ing1993 session, will be offeredfor the Supervisory/LeadershipSkills, the Introduction toPrinting Technology, and theFinancial Management for theGraphic Arts classes. CSULAaccepted the course me-lineswhich were recently developedfor GAIA and its affiliateassociations.

The college credit earnedfor these classes can be usedto satisfy genera.' educationclass requirements. Thoughthese college credits cannot be

used to satisfy core classrequirements for a degree inPrinting Management, PIASC'sEducation Committee is still

FINAL EVALUATION REPORT

FOR

SKILLS TODAY FOR TOMORROW:A WORKPLACE LITERACY CONSORTIUM

FOR THE PRINTING INDUSTRY

CONDUCTED UNDER DEMONSTRATION GRANT #V198110280FUNDED by the ADULT EDUCATION ACTNATIONAL WORKPLACE LITERACY PROGRAM

BY

R.G. WASDYKE & ASSOCIATES

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

FEBRUARY, 1993


A WORKPLACE LITERACY CONSORTIUM

FOR THE

PRINTING INDUSTRY

FINAL PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT

GRANT NUMBER: V198A10280

I. INTRODUCTION

Catonsville Community College in partnership with PrintingIndustries of Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania (PIM+SP) hasestablished a partnership to provide job-specific work-basededucation for individuals employed in the graphic arts industryin the greater Baltimore metropolitan area. The project involvedthe design, development and implementation of curriculum toprovide persons in need of remediation with the basic reading,writing and mathematics skills within the context of their jobs.

Seven (7) employer sites were involved in the project. In total231 individuals employed in the graphics arts industry partici-pated in the project. These individuals received multiple in-structional interventions at three levels. Assignment ofindividuals into the various levels of treatment (remediation)was accomplished using the CASAS appraisal system.

Curriculum materials developed under this grant are competencybased. Strategically, a task analysis approach was used toidentify those literacy competencies of importance to the employ-ers and sites participating in the project. A review of thematerials developed indicates substantial use of job aids,reference as well as other job related materials in thedevelopment of the curricula. In Level I instructional interven-tion lasted for 48 hours spread over 12 weeks. Level II rangedbetween 36 and 48 hours.

-1-

II. EVALUATION APPROACH

A third party summative/outcome evaluation has been con-ducted by R.G. Wasdyke and Associates. Staff from CatonsvilleCommunity College collected all evaluation data during the courseof the 18 month project. R.G. Wasdyke and Associates assistedstaff by reviewing data collection plans and instruments. Datareduction and analysis was conducted by the evaluator.

QUESTIONS ADDRESSED

1. To what exter did project participants meet projectedperformance objectives?

2. What were the job related characteristics of project partic-ipants?

3. What were the background characteristics of project partic-ipants?

4. What were the opinions of supervisors regarding improvement ofparticipants communications skills, productivity, attendance,self esteem, and safety practices?

1. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

Two major indicators were used to determine the extent to whichparticipants increased their basic reading, mathematics andwriting skills. Participants were pre- and post-tested using theappropriate form (level) of the CASAS assessment system. Second,participants were likewise pre- and post-tested using job-specif-ic competence measures.

-2-

2i9

e

As shown in Table 1 below, pre-test and post-test scores on CASASwere virtually identical. An increase in the post-testsstandard deviation suggests a greater variability in scores.

Table 1CSAS Pre- and Post-test Scores

PRE-TEST PRE-TEST POST-TEST POST-TEST

MEAN STAN.DEV. MEAN STAN.DEV.

READING 235.38 8.46 231.78 34.29

MATH 224.58 11.657 229.97 25.56

In contrast, participants demonstrated a much different patternof growth as indicated in tables 2 and 3.

Table 2Competencies Attained by Participants

Level I

PRE POST DIFF. %PERCENT MAX %PERCENT

READING 4.7 8.3 3.6 76.60% 11 75.45%

MATH 2.7 7.8 5.1 188.89% 13 60.00%

WRITINGA---

3.3 5.6 2.3 69.70% 8 70.00%

TOTAL 10.7 21.7 11 102.80% 32 67.81f,

On average, participants doubled the number of competencies theyhad when they came into the program. They increased the most inmathematics (188.89% increase) and least in writing (69.70%increase). Overall, participants achieved 67.81% (21.7 competen-cies) of the maximum of 32 competencies included in Level I.

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Table 3Competencies Attained by Participants

Level II

PRE POST DIFF. %PER-CENT

MAX %PER-CENT

LEVEL II

MATH 3.4 11.7 8.3 244.12% 14 83.57%

COMMUN. 3.8 7.8 4 105.26% 9 86.67%

CRITICAL 1 4.5 3.5 350.00% 5 90.00%

TOTAL 8.2 24 15.8 192.68% 28 85.71%

Table 3 above also indicates that Level II participants demon-strated growth in competencies attained following instructionalintervention. Level II participants about tripled the number ofcompetencies they had based on a comparison between pre- andpost-test scores.

Based on the preliminary results above the CASAS assessmentsystem appears not to be sensitive to the instructional interven-tion delivered under this grant. Although not as psychometricallyrobust as the CASAS system, highly contextual performance mea-sures certainly appear to be more sensitive to treatment.

2. JOB RELATED CHARACTERISTICS

Approximately 75% of the participants were employed in threesites; Port City Press (40.7%), Bindagraphics (14.29%) andWaverly Press (20.35%). Admiral Envelope and Alpha Graphicsrepresent one site.

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Table 4Project Sites

NUMBER PERCENT-AGE

PORT CITY PRESS 94 40.69%

BINDAGRAPHICS 33 14.29%

ADMIRAL ENVELOPE 2 0.87%

ALPHA GRAPHICS 10 4.33%

AM TRADE BINDERY 17 7.36%

WAVERLY PRESS 47 20.35%

MD COMPOSITION 9 3.90%

GAMSE LITHO 19 8.23%

TOTAL 231 100.00%

Participants on average worked for the above graphic arts employ-ers for about 10 years. They possessed about 14 years ofexperience in the printing industry.

Table 5

Participants Work Experience

MEAN STAN.DEV.

YEARS WORKED AT COMPANY 9.7 7.9

YEARS IN PRINTING INDUSTRY 13.8 10.5

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3. BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

Gender stereotyping in the graphic arts industry in the greaterBaltimore area appears not be an issue. Almost 60% (58.4%) of theproject participants were females.

Table 6Participants Gender

NUMBER PERCENT-AGE

MALE 97 41.63%

FEMALE 135 58.37%

TOTAL 231 100.00%

Almost two-thirds of participants were white and slightly lessthan one-third were African Americans.

Table 7Participants Ethnicity

NUMBER %PERCENT

HISPANIC 1 0.43%

AFRICAN AM 82 35.50%

NATIVE AM 2 0.87%

ASIAN 1 0.43%

WHITE 145 62.77%

OTHER 0 0.00%

TOTAL 231 100.00%

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4. SUPERVISORS OPINIONS

Supervisors reported no change in participants with respect tocommunication skills, productivity, attendance, self esteem andsafety practices. Because the typical participant has worked forthe employer for about 20 years it may be unrealistic to expectchanges in performance. Also, it is likely that low performingemployees have been terminated from employment and supervisorsare satisfied with performance on these attributes.

Table 8Supervisors Opinions of Participants

N=145 MEAN STAN.DEV

COMMUNICATIONS 2.46 0.66

PRODUCTIVITY 2.36 0.64

ATTENDANCE 2.77 0.65

SELF ESTEEM 2.29 0.64

SAFETY 2.89 0.67

Scale:

1= Substantial Improvement2= Some Improvement3= No Change4= Some Decline5= Does Not Apply

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

1. The use of the CASAS assessment system for measuring growthin basic reading, math and writing skills may not be appro-

priate. The preliminary results reported herein suggestthat CASAS is not sensitive to treatment as conducted byCatonsville under this grant.

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41/ 2. Further, since the CASAS appraisal test is also used forassignment into various instructional intervention levelsits continued use should be investigated.

3. The results included in Tables 2 and 3 in particular indi-cate that the curriculum materials developed and subsequent-ly implemented under this grant are capable of generatingthe desired outcomes of improvement in workplace literacyskills.

4. While recognizing that this project was implemented usingintact groups of employees the paucity of hispanic and Asianparticipants strongly suggests that outreach is needed toincrease these groups representation in the graphic artsindustry.

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