Address to the Maine Adult Career Pathways Institute Judith C. Taylor March 3, 2011 9/3/2015 J. C....

Address to the Maine Adult Career Pathways Institute

Judith C. Taylor March 3, 2011

04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career

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The best strategy for advancing low-income adults

Effective approach for promoting economic development in the region

“Do-able” -- you can do it!


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Many millions of American adults lack the skills to get, keep, and advance in jobs in today’s economy

The current structure of programs for low-income adults profoundly fails them

Career Pathways are designed to remedy the flaws in the current structure of programs


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Measured by Educational Attainment

25 million Americans 18-64 have no secondary credential52 millions Americans 18-64 have no postsecondary credential

Total = 77 million adults

Data from Crosley & Roberts, 2007


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Measured by Assessed skill levels


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“Post secondary competencies and credentials have become the threshold requirement for middle-class earning and status.”

Anthony P. Carnevale et al, 2009

We cannot halt the current “decline in economic growth and national prosperity… unless higher percentages of working adults… complete college credentials with labor market value.”

Brian Bosworth, 2010


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Examples from recent research

Precision machining

Computer ability

Composing emails


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Examples from recent research

Health care

Headstart


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Formally assessed literacy/numeracy levels are the gatekeeper to further education and training for adults.


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8th grade TABE score is minimum requirement for entry to most publicly funded training programs in the United States.

A passing score on college entrance exam (e.g., Accuplacer) required for admission to most post secondary programs.


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Publicly-funded training

◦ Applicants who score below cut-off aren’t admitted, maybe referred to a program somewhere else

◦ Programs generally are “one shot” (i.e., no easy next step for progression)

◦ Programs rarely include literacy along with technical instruction (so participant unable to qualify for instruction at higher levels)


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Post-secondary instruction◦ Entrance requirements set beyond GED levels,

especially in math◦ Non-credit programs rarely “count” toward

degrees◦ The developmental education “solution” is

expensive, piles up debt, results in high drop out rates

◦ “Smorgasbord” approach◦ Time period to degree too long for most people to

forego jobs◦ Weak connections to local jobs/employers


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Provide intensive, short-term remediation tailored to program goal

Integrate academic and technical instruction

The next steps are built in: “chunked” and “stacked”

Designed and maintained with local employers

Jobs are available for students who obtain the credential(s)


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The Federal Government is Promoting

Major Foundations Are Supporting


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The Department of Education/OVAE and the Department of Labor/ETA are, for the first time in a long time, in agreement

Issues about use of funds appear to have been resolved◦ June 8, 2010 letter from OVAE approving use of

AEFLA $$ in integrated training

Both DOL and OVAE have issued several large Solicitations for Career Pathways


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Examples:

The Joyce Foundation: Shifting Gears

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Completion by Design


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Assess Needs in Your Area

Where/what is demand among local/regional employers? ◦ Employers who are hurting can often be

mobilized.

What do people in your region want? ◦ People in your classes and outside.◦ The importance of supportive screening.


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Assess your own strengths and challenges

Do the same for related programs in the region

Pinpoint areas you can’t cover and seek partners strategically


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You don’t want to fail. You’ll rarely get a second chance.

By offering a “pilot” you are making clear that you intend to learn and build on what you learn.◦ That is, setbacks are inevitable. In an

“implementation program” setbacks start to look like failure.

◦ In a pilot, setbacks are occasions for continuous improvement.


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Currently:

Most programs report data that they never see back.

The programs themselves only have “anecdotal” data. No one knows whether the three (or whatever) great stories represent success rates of the total population in the program, or are the only three successes the program’s ever had.


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First, establish your goals. Define what success would look like. For

example: Students complete work for (at least) one training

program for which local employers have identified demand and have the skills needed to enter the next higher program in the pathway.

Completers who want jobs get them. Their employers are pleased.

Completers who want to continue education/training are accepted into the next “chunk” and are successful there.


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Then consider what rates (of program completion, entering employment, enrolling in further education/training) would constitute success.


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For example-recruitment:◦ Start with this question: How many completers

would be viable in the labor market at one time?◦ Then: How many program starters do you need to

recruit? What are promising recruitment sites?◦ How will you screen for necessary foundational

skills, commitment, and needed supports?◦ How will you counsel candidates who don’t make

the cut (supportive screening)?


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Data Collection. No one will know whether you succeeded unless you collect the data to demonstrate your achievement

◦ What data elements will be necessary?◦ How will you collect the necessary data? ◦ Who will do the data collection?◦ Where/how will the data be recorded/stored?◦ Who will analyze the data? ◦ (Remember “interns”)


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Maine Adult Career Pathways Guide: Support services Integrated remediation Chunking Accelerated learning Contextualized learning Modularization Employer & Community-based Partnerships

Draft #2 (pp. 5, 8-9)


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Learnings from Breaking Through: (Breaking Through = multi-year, multi-college

demonstration initiative to connect low skilled adults to post secondary training.)

4 High Leverage Strategies Accelerating the pace of learning Providing comprehensive support services Labor market payoffs Aligning programs


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Accelerating the Pace of Learning Compression

◦ Adapting strategies developed for adults wanting advanced professional study (1970s->) for low skilled adults

Customization◦ “Differentiated instruction” for low skilled adults

Contextualization (i.e., integrated instruction)◦ Contextualization Toolkit


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Providing Comprehensive Support Services

Assessments & Intake◦ Identifying individuals student’s strengths and

challenges Connecting students with supports,

academic and non-academic◦ Both academic and non-academic are essential.

Every setting has a different set of supports available, but usually a thorough search is required


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Providing advisors/coaches◦ “Instrusive”◦ Role is to prevent/mitigate crises

Training staff◦ Good mentoring is a learned skill◦ Burn-out is almost inevitable unless there’s an

intervention◦ Breaking Through has an Advisor Training

Curriculum and Program


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Labor market payoffs Provide career exploration opportunities

◦ Many/most students have little familiarity with the range of jobs/careers and what’s needed to succeed in them; ditto for the regional labor market

Establish connections with key labor market actors◦ I.e., identify and connect with employers, WIB

personnel, community college program staff, etc. ◦ Maine adopted EFF a number of years ago.


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Chunk training to create career pathways◦ To a large extent, this is the community colleges’

bailiwick—e.g., Portland Community College◦ But there are emerging ABE models—South Texas

College Participate in regional economic

development efforts◦ A skilled workforce is a major selling point—by

participating, educators can promote employers/sectors with good jobs for their customers


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Aligning Programs

Make sure that the way forward for students is clearly defined and formally clear.

◦ Clearly defined: “maps” can help◦ Formally clear: Programs in a sequence have

agreed on the sequence


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Formal sequences are needed when program/institution rules create a blockage.

One common divide is between “non-credit” and “for-credit” programs in community colleges. It is fairly easy to get into a non-credit program, but usually very difficult to transition into a for-credit program in the same field in the same college.

Mott Community College—one example of a pathway created using the articulation process.


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Pre-college to College: The South Texas College Health Care

Pathway

ABE coordinates with the Nursing/Allied Health for-credit department

In Texas, a CNA certificate is required for nursing programs

STC ABE integrates the CNA curriculum with GED prep; completers are ready for college and the nursing program


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October 20, 2009

GED Complete

TSI Complete

GEDGED

© 2009 South Texas College

CNA Nursing Home $7.50 to $8.00/hrCNA Hospital $8.00 - $8.50/hr

or

or

or

College

Ready Acade

my

College

Ready Acade

my

CNA to RN Noncredit to Credit

Articulation

RECENT RESEARCH Increasing Skill Requirements Brian Bosworth, “Certificate Pathways to Postsecondary Success and Good

Jobs,” paper for the American Enterprise Institute, February 11, 2011 (cited by permission)

Anthony P Carnevale, Jeff Strohl, Nicole Smith, “Help Wanted: Postsecondary

Education and Training Required,” New Directions for Community colleges no 146, Summer 2009

Impact of Literacy Lee Bruno, Ying Jin, Dwayne Norris, American Institutes for Research “Building

Career Ladders for the Working Poor Through Literacy Training,” July 2010 Stephen Reder, Portland State University Adult Literacy Development and

Economic Growth, August 2010.


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POLICY Program Memorandum to State Directors June 8, 2010, Use

of Funds Provided Under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act for Integrated Education and Training.

Definition: IET combines occupational skills training with adult education services to increase the educational and career advancement of participants.

US DOE regional community college summit February 28, 2011 “Transitioning Adult Learners to Community Colleges and the Workforce”

OVAE/DOL/ETA grants and TA Institute Nov/Dec 2010, To Develop Career Pathway Systems for Low Skilled Adults and Dislocated Workers

Crosley, A. & Roberts, B. (2007). Strengthening state policies to increase the education and skills of low-wage workers. Chevy Chase, MD: Working Poor Families Project.


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Technical Assistance Partnering with Employers to Promote Jobs Advancement for

Low-Skill Individuals, National Institute for Literacy, Karin Martinson/CLASP

Funding Career Pathways, A Toolkit for States, CLASP US Department of Labor technical assistance website at:

https://learnwork.workforce3one.org/find/career_pathways NCWE.org and JFF.org: The Breaking Through Practice Guide Contextualization Toolkit, A Tool for Helping Low skilled Adults

Gain Postsecondary Certificates and Degrees


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FOUNDATIONS The Joyce Foundation: Shifting Gears http://www.shifting-gears.org/transforming-basic-

skills-services/53-transforming-basic-skills-services.html

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation http://www.completionbydesign.org/


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Address to the Maine Adult Career Pathways Institute Judith C. Taylor March 3, 2011 9/3/2015 J. C....

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