BACKGROUND

The origins of WAGE can be traced back to the late 1980s, when managers at a company near Little Rock encountered a surprise. Preparing for automation, managers at the Maybelline Cosmetics factory discovered to their dismay that many employees could not decipher fractions. Employees in the shipping room did not know the difference between 1/4 dozen, 1/3 dozen, or 1/2 dozen (the units in which products were sold). With each transaction, employees were shorting either the buyer or the company. To gauge the extent of this problem, the manager administered a basic skills test to the employees—only one out of five passed.

All who failed the test were promptly enrolled in a local adult basic education class, but the results were disappointing. The workers made little progress, perhaps because they saw little connection between their classes and their jobs. At about this time, the manager attended a presentation on the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), a federal initiative to develop skills standards for a variety of occupations. As she saw the link made between work and education, she realized its relevance for her own workplace literacy challenge at home.

In 1991, the newly inspired manager met with some local public officials to propose a workforce education program to upgrade the basic skills of incumbent workers. They liked the concept of linking work and education, but they had no funds to support the program. Undaunted, the manager turned to the Department of Employment Security, Department of Human Services, Department of Economic Development, and some local employers. Most people were enthusiastic, but still no funds materialized.

Finally, the agencies, many of which did not have cooperative relationships in the past, began pooling their resources, launching a tradition of creative financing through partnerships that is still a key feature of the WAGE program today. One partner provided the desks, another the teachers, someone else the money for outreach, and soon the statewide WAGE program was off and running.

The WAGE program is a natural for El Dorado, with its poor population and employers hungry for a more literate workforce. The town has some built-in assets: a community college with a strong workforce development mission and a tight-knit community willing to abandon "turf issues" to join a broad-based collaborative effort between businesses and public-sector agencies. A town of about 45,000 located in south central Arkansas, El Dorado is the largest town in rural Union County. It is the regional hub for services and jobs, as well as home to South Arkansas Community College, known locally as "South Ark." Because of the town's size and position at the junction of several major highways, many industries have located plants here.

The demand for labor ebbs and flows in El Dorado as the local and national economies change, but employers' increasing need for a literate workforce remains a constant. Figures for 2002 show that about 19 percent of the population in Union County lives below the federal poverty line, compared to 16 percent statewide, and about 34 percent of the population is minority, compared to 20 percent statewide. The unemployment rate is 5.7 percent, somewhat higher than the state average. In 2000, nearly 9,000 people were estimated to have inadequate basic skills and therefore to be eligible for adult education services.

El Dorado is home to many long-term residents who are used to cooperation and collaboration among different sectors of the community. "Partnerships have always existed in this community," says one social service program staff member. "As far as turf issues go, we don't have that, because we are sincere about helping people."

WAGE in El Dorado began in 1997, when the current adult education center director was hired and encouraged to start a WAGE program. She enrolled in the WAGE certification course provided by the state and, once qualified, she started the WAGE program in El Dorado, following the steps required by the state to create a certified program:

• Surveying businesses in the community to assess their workforce needs and human resource practices. Twenty-two El Dorado businesses responded.
  
  
• Conducting several "Literacy Task Analyses" (LTAs)¹ for businesses who volunteered to participate. WAGE performed LTAs for, among others, Pacific MDF and Cooper Tire and Rubber. To see a sample LTA, return to the Arkansas Partnership Profile Summary (http://c-pal.net/profiles/arkansas.html).
  
  
• Analyzing the data from the LTAs and local businesses to customize WAGE's basic skills competency-based curriculum to match local business needs. WAGE developed a matrix called Union County WAGE Essential Skills Averages, which shows that such skills as "Using common knowledge for safety" and "Performing whole number operations" were those most in demand by local employers.
  
  
• Establishing partnerships with the local offices of the Departments of Human Services, Employment Security and Economic Development, the Chamber of Commerce, local government, human resource associations, and other community organizations.
  
  
• Convening an advisory group with more than 51 percent of the membership representing local businesses and a business representative as the chair.
  
  

WAGE blends best practices from adult education, workforce training and economic development, while erasing the traditional-but artificial-boundaries among these worlds. The result is a program that benefits businesses while meeting the employment and literacy needs of the local population.

¹LTAs are assessments of the foundation skills needed in entry-level positions. A WAGE staff member begins the LTA by observing the skills involved in successfully performing a job. The staff member then correlates these observations with a list of 112 competencies developed for the statewide WAGE program, to determine the competencies needed for the positions of interest. Several companies have noted how this information revealed discrepancies between the basic skills level they thought necessary for each position and the skills workers actually possessed. (back to text)