Widening Opportunities in the Workplace (WOW) – Oklahoma

Background

The Lifelong Learning Section of the Oklahoma Department of Education is responsible for implementing Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. Under the guidelines of the law, 41 Adult Learning Centers have been funded to provide services for educationally disadvantaged adults. These services include:

• Literacy and basic skills instruction, including reading, writing and numeracy
• Life skills
• Job Readiness
• Workplace Literacy
• Family Literacy
• English as a Second Language (ESL)/Civics/Citizenship
• Supporting Adults with Learning Disabilities
• Classes for Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) clients with the Department of Human Services
• GED preparation

The Lifelong Learning Section also provides teacher training and professional development for adult educators. It is also a proud state partner in LINCS (Literacy Information and Communication System) of the National Institute for Literacy.

Approach to Work-based Learning – Widening Opportunities in the Workplace (WOW)

We take an employer-driven approach to work-based learning. By this, we mean that each of our work-based programs develops a customized curriculum to meet the specific needs of that particular workplace. An employer’s advisory committee is established and may include a human resources representative, supervisors, employees, and the adult educator assigned to the project. We job-shadow workers in order to understand the basic skills needed to do their jobs. The goal is to create a basic skills curriculum that is contextualized and builds a bridge for employees to link what they learn in the classroom to what they must do on the job. Actual workplace documents and scenarios are integrated into the training.

Pre- and post-tests are administered to measure learning gains. This meets the NRS reporting requirements, but we strive to do more than this by also working with employers on establishing specific return on investment (ROI) measures. For example, we may do pre- and post-survey measures about customer service satisfaction or product waste statistics, to determine the impact of work-based instruction.

One of the biggest challenges is finding teachers who can make the paradigm shift from an education-driven model to an employer-driven model.

Overview of the WOW Program

What It Is

• A job-site, workforce development program that uses the job task analysis to develop basic skills programs for today's workers;
• An essential skills program that links program goals to the employer's demand for igh-performance workers and product quality;
• An educational program that builds a bridge for the employees to link what they learn in the classroom to what they must do on the job.

How It Works

• An employer's advisory committee identifies the critical tasks where improvement is needed.
• Trained work-based education teachers conduct job task and essential skills analyses.
• Work-based teachers develop job-related, customized curriculum to assist employees in improving identified essential skills.
• An instructional program is conducted for the employees at the work site. Release time may be given to employees to attend class.
• Return on investment is determined.

Linda Young, State Director of Adult Education
Lifelong Learning Section
Department of Education, Oklahoma

http://title3.sde.state.ok.us/slincs/about_us.html

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