Skills For Life
A
collaborative venture between Saint-Gobain Corporation, Training
Resources of America, Inc. (TRA) and participating school districts,
the Skills for Life (SFL) Program began in school year 1989 at South
High Community School in Worcester, MA as part of a larger effort to
combat dropout and literacy problems in the Worcester Public Schools.
The program is designed to target intermediary and high school
students who are defined as "at risk" of failing to succeed
in school based upon a list of indicators including low academic
average, previous repetition of a grade, low test scores, and poor
attendance. In particular, the program targets youth who are doing
poorly in school because of academic and/or language deficiencies.
The objective of the remediation program is to determine where
students are deficient, and then bring their basic skills up to a
level where they can succeed in their regular classes. The objective
of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program is to improve
English speaking/comprehension ability to the point where bilingual
students can mainstream into the regular school program.
Skills
for Life features TRA's individualized, self-paced, open-entry/open
exit, competency-based basic skills instructional system. The
program integrates varied materials, methods and technologies to meet
the needs of learners from elementary grades to high school and all
levels of English as a Second Language.
The
Skills for Life program at South High Community School achieved such
a high level of success that Saint- Gobain Corporation, in concert
with Training Resources of America, Inc., decided to expand the model
to other locations across the nation where Saint-Gobain and its
subsidiaries have plant sites. The following is a synopsis of SFL's
development:
-
July 1989 Worcester, MA - Established South High Community School Remedial Lab and ESL Lab
-
Sept. 1994 Brownsville, TX - Established Rivera High School Remedial Lab and Cummings Intermediate School ESL Lab
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Sept. 1995 Brownsville, TX - Established Rivera High School ESL Lab
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Sept. 1996 Worcester, MA - Established Worcester Alternative School Combined Lab
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Sept. 2000 Niagara Falls, NY - Established Lasalle Middle School Remedial Lab
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Sept. 2002 Auburn, WA - Established Cascade Middle School Remedial Lab
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Sept. 2005 Kansas City, KS - Established Fairfax Campus Alternative School Remedial Lab
-
Sept. 2007 Lake Charles, LA - Established F.K. White Middle School Remedial Lab
Further
expansion plans are underway.
While the program still targets at-risk students, over the years, Skills for Life has expanded its focus to include helping participants to meet the state standards of "high-stakes" tests required for high school graduation or advancement to the next grade as well as to meet the basic skills needed for full participation in the workforce. Since its inception in 1989, in aggregate, SFL has served over 5,000 participants.
FUNDING SOURCE: Saint-Gobain Corporation and participating school districts.
For more information on the Skills for Life Program, contact Thomas F. O'Connor, Vice President Education. Email: toconnor@tra-inc.org
Training Resources of America, Inc. 390 Main St., Suite 806 Worcester, MA 01608
Phone: (508) 797-0060 Fax: (508) 756-8967