If curriculum and materials are to be tailored for each program, how can pre-scripted courses like GED preparation satisfy particular needs and interests related to work? GED preparation is a common request from both managers and workers whether or not it is actually the appropriate course. Wor kers may want to get their diploma to satisfy their own personal goals. Managers often see the GED as the answer to what they perceive to be educational problems and workers then find themselves caught in the grade 12 requirement for hiring or promotion. Good practice suggests that we make clear to the employer and the union what type of educational activities can satisfy their particular needs, interests and desired outcomes. New developments in a workplace GED and in materials that combine GED and workplace (6) have tried to bridge the two different needs. In the end, educators will have to judge how best to satisfy competing needs and recommend options that offer a range of possible results.

The notion of transferability of skills might lead us to think that we can satisfy a wide variety of needs across different contexts: the GED will address specific workplace issues; or, incorporating production forms in learning materials will help people tackle other forms at home. For educators who see literacy as a situated practice, (7) transferability is questionable. The purpose and use of forms plus the necessary background knowledge about how and why they are actually used help shape literacy practices. Strategies for dealing with standard printed forms and for understanding their contexts might offer more avenues for catering to both work and personal interests.

Evaluation

Ongoing and final evaluations are universally recognized as essential to good practice. There is also agreement that evaluation measures the progress toward the goals established at the outset or redefined along the way. There is “demonstrable evidence of substantial progress toward anticipated and unanticipated goals for all stakeholders” (Massachusetts Department of Education, 2001, p. 9). The literature and educators agree on the involvement of all partners in establishing success factors and how to measure them at the beginning of the initiative (McLeod, 1995). O’Connor defines the evaluation as a collective effort, “responsive to the multiple objectives, motives and needs of everyone involved” (1992, p. 29).