Final Paper Assignment for Adult Language & Literacy

Three Models of Adult Education: SCANS, EFF and I-Best

Responding to a growing concern that the U.S. workforce will not be able to meet the needs of an increasingly complex, technological and global workplace, in 1989 President Bush and the nation’s governors met in a bipartisan conference in Virginia. Out of this summit came “American 2000” and the President’s ambitious statement that by the year 2000 “Every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise rights and responsibilities of citizenship” (Swanson 1). Congress enacted legislation to formalize this mandate by passing the “Goals 2000: Educate America Act” in 1994.
SCANS and Workplace Competencies
In 1990 the Department of Labor responded to this call with an invitation to the nation’s leaders in education, industry and labor to form a committee, the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills or SCANS as it is known. The Committee’s assignment was to determine “what work requires of schools” (Marshall 3). Specifically, the Committee wanted to identify how schools prepare young people for work and what skills are needed, and to propose acceptable levels of proficiency. To carry out this task, the Committee, over the following twelve-month period, interviewed business owners, labor union organizers, employers in both the public and private sectors, and workers on the job. The results of this research are summarized in their report, “What Work Requires Of Schools: A SCANS Report For America 2000” which was published in 1991.
The Committee found that more than half of high school students leave school without “workplace know-how,” specifically, the knowledge and foundation required to find and hold a good job (SCANS iii). Good jobs require workers who can put their knowledge to work. The 21st century workplace demands a higher level of literacy and technological skills than is currently evident in the workforce. Thus, the Committee states, “All American high school students must develop a new set of competencies and foundation skills if they are to enjoy a productive, full, and satisfying life” (SCANS i). To this end they identified five competencies and three foundational skill sets that are essential skills and attributes needed for “solid job performance” in today’s workforce.

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