Essential Skills for the Care Team. External Evaluation Final Report.

The Professional Development Program (PDP) of Rockefeller College of the State University of New York, in partnership with the Eddy/Northeast Health of Troy, New York, conducted a 3-year demonstration project to provide and foster institutionalization of a functionally contextual workplace literacy curriculum and training program to upgrade the basic skills of paraprofessional health care workers in geriatric institutions. Data collected during extensive onsite investigations and job analyses were used to develop a three-stage workplace literacy intervention consisting of the following: learning strategies workshop; 17-hour program devoted to easing into the job of certified nursing assistant; and 20-hour program devoted to new directions in customer service. In all, 1,452 trainees and employees of Eddy/Northeast Health participated in the program. An external evaluator, Performance Plus Learning Consultants, Inc. (PPLC), was hired to evaluate the demonstration program's effectiveness. The PDP-Eddy/Northeast Health workplace literacy program model for eldercare workers was determined to be effective for the project's specific context, and its instructional design and materials were deemed transportable across the industry. (Appendixes constituting approximately two-thirds of the document contain pre- and postassessment data; PPLC and PDP/Eddy data collection instruments; and U.S. Department of Education data collection instruments.) (MN)