I MPROVING T RANSITIONS FROM A DULT B ASIC E DUCATION TO P OSTSECONDARY E DUCATION AND T RAINING Ed Strong Corporation for a Skilled Workforce Presentation to Maryland’s Sector Academy

G ENERAL O VERVIEW OF A DULT L EARNING Introduction State Strategies to Improve Transitions Conclusion/Questions

I NTRODUCTION Each year more than 1.2 million people drop out of high school (NCAL, 2008) 20% of American adults have low prose literacy (ETS, 2007) 46% of adults have no college experience and 65.6% lack a college degree (U.S. Census, 2007) More than 24 million adults speak English “less than very well” (U.S. Census, 2007) The knowledge economy increasingly requires postsecondary education and training (ETS, 2007) In 2004, males with a BA earned 96% more than those with just a HSD

W HAT ARE S TATES D OING ? Align Adult Basic Education and Postsecondary Policies Connect Basic Skills Curriculums with Relevant Skills Partner for Comprehensive Service Delivery Link Learning with Opportunities for Employment Increase Adult Basic Education Program Flexibility and Access Collect Data Based on Transitions and Employment

A LIGN A DULT B ASIC E DUCATION AND P OSTSECONDARY P OLICIES Promote Dual Enrollment strategies between basic skills and postsecondary education and training programs Build Career Pathways between basic skills courses and postsecondary programs Develop clear Articulation Agreements between basic skills and postsecondary education programs Cross-walk assessments and entry/exit standards across programs Example: Ohio Career-Technical Credit Transfer Initiative (CT 2 )

C ONNECT B ASIC S KILLS C URRICULUMS WITH R ELEVANT S KILLS Contextualize basic skills courses to in-demand sectors Integrate basic skills curriculums with soft- skills development Make postsecondary education and work readiness the goal of basic skills curriculums Foster entrepreneurial thinking through basic skills development Example: I-BEST in Washington State

P ARTNER FOR C OMPREHENSIVE S ERVICE D ELIVERY Support student success by partnering with wrap-around service providers, increasing student access to child care, transportation and other services Partner to increase program capacity and service delivery Share information across agencies and programs Develop regional adult learning strategies Work with employers to ensure that learners are gaining skills needed in the workplace Example: Michigan’s Adult Learning Transformation

L INK L EARNING WITH O PPORTUNITIES FOR E MPLOYMENT Partner with employers to ensure that there are employment opportunities available to students Provide academic and career counseling to guide learners along the pathway to their goals Ensure that programs lead to industry- recognized credentials Example: California Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS)

I NCREASE A DULT B ASIC E DUCATION P ROGRAM F LEXIBILITY AND A CCESS Offer programs during non-traditional and traditional hours Utilize open entry/open exit programming to allow learners to enter and exit programs easily Allow students to enroll in distance learning programs Address participants’ barriers to participation through intensive wrap-around services Make adult basic education affordable to low- income adult learners Example: Project IDEAL

C OLLECT D ATA B ASED ON T RANSITIONS AND E MPLOYMENT Ensure that transitions and employment are the goals of adult basic education Establish shared and linked data procedures across adult basic education and postsecondary education programs Utilize measures that focus on transitions to postsecondary education, employment, wage increases and improvements in basic skills Longitudinally track participants through adult basic education, postsecondary education and training and into employment Example: Florida Data Warehouse

Q UESTIONS ?