What are factors to consider when planning for, setting up, and evaluating a workplace program for immigrant workers?
As immigrants join the workforce, especially in areas experiencing new and rapid growth of immigrant populations (e.g., Georgia, Nebraska, and South Carolina), teachers, program administrators, and employers are asking for help. Some information can be found by reviewing CAELA’s previous and current writings about this topic. The following guidance is adapted from Grognet (1996), Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Workplace ESL Programs, and from Burt and Mathews-Aydinli, Workplace Instruction and Workforce Preparation for Adult Immigrants. There are three venues in which workplace preparation for immigrant adults takes place — workplace-based programs, vocational ESL programs, and adult ESL programs. Each has its strengths and challenges, but each makes an important contribution to the options available to immigrants entering or in the workforce. (See Burt, 2007, for a description of each of these program types.) To maximize effectiveness of learning in each of these programs, wh
