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From: Margaret Lewis <mlewis@egusd.k12.ca.us>
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Subject: [NIFL-ESL:1433] Re: Press Release
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ACT, Inc. 2201 North Dodge
> St. PO Box 168 Iowa
> City, IA 52243-0168
>
September 17, 1997
>Study Tells How to Move the Low-skilled from Welfare to Work
> NOTE: The executive summary of Extending the Ladder can be
downloaded from the National Institute for Literacy's website,
www.nifl.gov, or accessed from the CASAS website, www.casas.org, through a
hyperlink to the NIFL site. opies are available from CASAS Customer
Service, 8910 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92123-1104; phone
619-292-2900, ext. 310; fax 619-292-2910.
>
> Iowa City, Iowa -- ACT Inc. and the Comprehensive Adult Student
Assessment System (CASAS)today released a joint study that describes how
prospective workers lacking basic literacy skills can be brought from
welfare programs into a training system and guided to the higher skill
levels necessary for meaningful jobs and economic success.
The study, titled Extending the Ladder, was supported in part by a
grant from the National Institute for Literacy. It links the reading and
math tests of CASAS' Workforce Learning Systems, which target the relatively
low levels of skills possessed by many adults on welfare, with the reading
and math tests of ACT's Work Keys system, which targets the higher skill
levels needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive workplace.
ACT and CASAS joined forces for this study to help low-skilled
individuals gain access to higher-skilled jobs. The study found that the
two organizations' systems are
>compatible and together can measure a wide range of skill levels, thus
helping even very low-skilled individuals build their skills to levels where
they have value in the
>workplace.
"As the nation tries to move large numbers of people from welfare
to work," said Richard L.Ferguson, president of ACT, "many states are
finding that some welfare recipients lack the most basic reading and math
skills. Without these skills, prospective workers can't qualify for or keep
even the lowest-paying available jobs, let alone those that pay a 'living
wage.'
"ACT developed Work Keys(TM), a comprehensive system of workplace
assessment and training, to address the foundation skills necessary in a
majority of occupations. The Work Keys(TM) scales measure the lowest skill
levels employers have identified as appropriate for their jobs. But we've
found that many people on welfare don't even reach the bottom of our scales."
Pat Rickard, executive director of CASAS, noted that "Extending the
Ladder will help workforce programs nationally implement a comprehensive
system that identifies development needs from very basic through more
advanced skill levels. It will benefit all those concerned about increasing
the competitiveness of our nation's workers and more effectively preparing
those who want to enter the workforce. Anyone involved with providing
training for welfare recipients and reducing the welfare rolls will, I
think, welcome this connection between the Workforce Learning Systems and
the Work Keys(TM) system."
>==========
>Please check "What's New" on LINCS (http://www.nifl.gov), for the Executive
Summary.
Peggy Lewis
mlewis@egusd.k12.ca.us
(916) 440-5317 fax (916) 440-6188
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