Workforce NY 2008 Spring Conference

June 12, 2008

Presentation by Tara Colton, Deputy Director, Center for an Urban Future

Kevin Smith, Executive Director, Literacy New York

Lost in Translation: Strengthening English Language Skills as a Workforce

and Economic Development Strategy

Presentation Overview• Introduction, session goals and participants• Data: Immigration and English proficiency in New

York State • Literacy and ESOL in New York State, capacity of

adult education system• Limited English proficiency: economic impact and

workforce development potential• Intersection of WIA Title I and II• Best practice: I-BEST• Possibilities and next steps

Literacy in New York State• The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) report was

released by the United States Department of Education — the first update of adult literacy skills in the U.S. in more than 10 years.

• One of only six states that opted to perform a detailed state assessment, a 2003 New York State Assessment of Adult Literacy (SAAL) was conducted to assess the prose, document, and quantitative literacy of New York’s adults.

• The SAAL report indicates that New York is still lagging behind the nation in almost all aspects of literacy skills. The report serves as a reminder that New York State must give adult literacy more attention and support despite being one of the top contributors to adult literacy in the nation.

• The national literacy system is serving below 2% of those considered to be in need of literacy and language development. New York has a competent adult education system that can and should expand its capacity to meet a larger demand.

Literacy in New York State• A higher percentage of adults in New York were below basic prose

literacy compared with the national average • Average prose literacy level of Black and Asian/Pacific Islander adults

in New York was significantly lower than that of the same population nationally

• The average literacy of women in New York was significantly lower than the average literacy among women nationally in each of the three literacy scales.

• Across the literacy scales, adults with whom English is a second language accounted for the largest percentage of adults below basic prose literacy.

• More than half of the adults in New York who did not graduate from high school had below basic prose literacy

• Without proper funding for literacy services, many people will not learn the skills to find employment, succeed in school and perform basic social functions such as writing a check or reading a drug prescription

Growing demand for ESOL in New York State

• In 2006, 1.75 million working-age adults in New York State had limited English proficiency but just 86,948 seats in state-run ESOL programs – serving just 5.0 percent of the need

• More than one in four adult New Yorkers are now foreign-born – huge spikes in immigration all over the state

• Demand for ESOL continues to increase throughout the state but supply of state-funded ESOL hasn’t kept pace with growing demand. Total funding about $74 million.

For more details & county-level dataLost in Translation (2006 report)www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/LostInTranslation.pdf

Still Lost in Translation (2007 updated statistics)www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/StillLostInTranslation.pdf

Developing New York’s New Workforce: Could Enhancing English-Language Programs Boost the State’s Economic Competitiveness (Transcript of 2007 conference)http://www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/NewWorkforceTranscript.pdf

Why is learning English a workforce development issue?

• Workers with limited English skills often can’t advance beyond the entry level

• In today’s “knowledge economy,” workers need English to communicate with employers, co-workers and customers

• They can’t access a career ladder unless they can communicate in English

• This leaves thousands of immigrants – with strong work ethics and valuable technical skills – stuck in dead-end jobs because of their limited English skills

Larger economic impacts

• Limited English skills among the immigrant workforce means that businesses looking to relocate or expand may go elsewhere

• It also reduces productivity, increases turnover and makes it hard for businesses to grow their jobs

• Businesses can’t promote their entry-level staff and have to spend time and money finding and training replacements

An example: Karp Associates

• 50-year-old company in Queens, New York that manufactures access doors

• 100 employees, many are immigrants who came to America with advanced technical abilities but speak little English

• “Right now, our company is handicapped. Our growth is limited by the language and labor skills that we need. It’s absolutely the biggest issue we’re dealing with.”

Funding challenges

• Largest funding pot (EPE) isn’t available to many providers; has outdated formula; can’t roll over funds from one year to the next

• Adult Literacy Education (ALE) funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation

• Hard to link WIA Title I and II • Attempted cuts at the federal level• Businesses, chambers of commerce and

foundations can play a larger role

Intersection of WIA Title I and II

• WIA Title I administered by State DOL, Title II by State DOE

• Title I can be used for ESOL, but it’s not easy and blending the funding streams presents obstacles

• “Workplace ESOL is the most common training request from [New York] city businesses. But providing such training through existing Workforce 1 [WIA Title IB funds] funding streams alone, while not impossible, is difficult”

Best practice: I-BEST • Washington State’s non-English speaking population more

than doubled from 1990 to 2000• State leaders created the Integrated Basic Education and Skills

Training initiative (I-BEST) at the state’s community and technical colleges

• Pairs an ESOL or ABE instructor with a vocational instructor• Fields like commercial driving, nursing, early childhood

education, construction• Impressive outcomes:

Students in the pilot earned 5 times as many college credits than traditional ESOL students

15 times more likely to complete workforce training 33 of the state’s colleges now offer I-BEST, expansion planned

Looking forward - recommendations

• Make adult education and ESOL a higher priority for the city and state This is a workforce and economic development issue Return on investment/makes economic sense

• Expand funding for ESOL, at the city, state and federal level

• Reform outdated funding streams in NYS • Tap into workforce funding streams for ESOL,

improve connection between WIA Title I and II• Increase involvement from the private sector –

funding for programs, small business pooling, release time, wage gains, promotions

Contact us

Tara Colton

Deputy Director, Center for an Urban Future

Phone: (212) 479-3341

Email: tcolton@nycfuture.org

Kevin Smith

Executive Director, Literacy New York

Phone: (716) 631-5282

Email: ksmith1@aol.com