Educating the Employed Disadvantaged for Upgrading. A Report on Remedial Education Programs in the Paper Industry.

A study to determine the impact of adult basic education programs on the upward mobility of disadvantaged workers is presented. The paper industry was chosen for case analysis because of the nature of the upgrading problems, the vast adjustments required by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the fact that these ABE programs have been operational for several years. The programs studied were utilized by companies in an attempt to increase the potential for promotion of Negroes who were originally employed for unskilled jobs and consigned to permanent occupation of those jobs. The objective was to improve the educational qualifications of such employees so that they could handle jobs on progression lines or in maintenance. Results were: (1) The ABE programs promised more than they could deliver; and (2) The relation of training to promotion was neither brought out carefully beforehand nor demonstrated after the programs were in effect. The following points were also brought out: (1) Relatively few Negro disadvantaged workers completed the courses; (2) Those who completed the courses showed little improvement in arithmetic and virtually none in reading; (3) There was no relationship between the taking of courses, improvement in test scores, and job advancement; (4) The packaged courses disregarded the cultural characteristics of the trainees; (5) Programmed teaching methods were largely unsuccessful; and (6) The particular conditions and incentives were not such as to produce successful literacy training. (Author/CK)