Reading, writing, and work readiness.
Excel Philadelphia
More than 52% of the city’s working age-adults - about 550,000 people - are considered low literate; that is, they are lacking the basic skills needed to effectively compete in an increasingly knowledge-based economy or successfully complete a post-secondary degree. Developing their workforce literacy is critical to their being able to engage in meaningful employment and advance in their careers. Today’s jobs demand the ability to read and write at a high school level if not higher and also the ability to manipulate numbers, read maps, parse and follow complex directions, explain directions and processes to others, transfer knowledge from and to a variety of situations, and to understand when further learning is necessary. Excel Philadelphia is an initiative of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board that was created in partnership with the Philadelphia Literacy Coalition to generate new knowledge and advocate for the issue of adult literacy. The purpose of Excel Philadelphia is to inform, engage, and mobilize the full community — employers, educators, adult literacy providers, government, other stakeholders, and, of course, adult learners — to create the conditions necessary to support literacy gains, particularly among working adults. For more information on Excel Philadelphia, contact Lauren Hirshon at lhirshon@pwib.org.
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