Breaking Through: Helping Low-Skilled Adults Enter and Succeed in College and Careers Jobs for the Future National Council for Workforce Education

Slide 2 Project Goals Analyze programs that help low-income, low-skill adults advance to occupational associate degrees and certificates Identify barriers facing low-income, low skill adults, and educational institutions that serve them Assess promising program and institutional innovations for advancement to credentials with labor market value Identify opportunities for scale-up and institutionalization

Slide 3 Research Approach Secondary research –Barriers facing low-income, low-skill adults –Barriers facing colleges and their partners –Promising programs, approaches Field expert interviews and focus groups Identification of sites for research visits –Focusing on colleges and partners that are innovators in linking adult education, non-credit workforce programs, and developmental education with occupational degree programs Site visits to 19 colleges

Slide 4 Scope of Problem: Huge Number of Adults Have Weak Skills and Credentials 88 million adults have a high school education or less –36 million lack HS credential –52 million ended their education with HS diploma 65 million adults lack basic skills for success in college or the modern workplace

Slide 5 Scope of Problem: Huge Number of Adults Have Weak Skills and Credentials Latino and African- American adults disproportionately affected –60% of African American and 75% of Latino adults have twelve or fewer years education –Completion rates are significantly lower for students of color Completion Rates * Bailey ** Price White Black Hispanic White Black Hispanic

Slide 6 Occupational Credentials Have a Big Payoff Earnings difference between community college occupational majors and high school graduates MaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale

Slide 7 Yet Most Low-Skill Adults Don’t Make It to College Only 10% of ABE and 25% of ESL students take classes continuously for one year Only 7% of ABE students earn GEDs Only 30-35% of these enter college 10-15% of GED recipients finish one year of college, 4% earn an AA degree Only half of all CC students complete their first year 68% of occupational students complete less than a year of courses over five years

Slide 8 Life Circumstances Keep Success Rare for Non-Traditional Students Need to work full time to support families Low income, low skill adults attend part- time, intermittently Can’t afford quality childcare, health care, housing, etc. Have significant skill development needs

Slide 9 No Easy Way for Non-Traditional Students to Reach and Succeed in College ABE and ESL rarely connected to workforce programming or to mainstream college programs Developmental and degree programs sequential, not integrated Advising and academic and social supports are insufficient, uncoordinated, and difficult to access Each step takes too long Economic payoff comes too late

Slide 10 Our Field Research Found Sites that Change this Picture Dramatically ABE program that almost doubled the number of students wanting to go to college (from 50% to 90%) GED lab where adults with 7th grade skills earn a GED in 4 months Integrated ABE/Developmental Ed program where 85% of students enroll in credit-level programs

Slide 11 Four Synergistic High-Leverage Strategies Increase Access and Success Re-organize colleges: Establish links among programs so that low-income students can navigate them easily for advancement Accelerate Learning: Help students learn more and faster and complete programs more quickly Labor market payoff: Offer students intermediate credentials, jobs, and other quick economic payoffs Comprehensive Supports: Help students develop realistic plans and provide supports that keep them enrolled and attending, particularly through difficult transition points

Slide 12 Re-Organize Colleges Create an institutional focus on success for low income, low skilled students by aligning programs and funding to create clear paths from low basic skills to degree programs –Connect ABE and ESL to workforce programming and mainstream college programs by aligning course content and credentials –Integrate developmental and degree programs to align content, and to avoid sequencing that discourages students –Integrate a broad range of public and private funding sources to expand access from multiple entry points to degree programs –Provide students with clear road maps from multiple entry, exit, and reentry points to help them navigate

Slide 13 Accelerate Learning Various approaches are being experimented with in the field: –Create sequential credentials leading to degrees, rather than “all or nothing” approach –Use diagnostic assessments to create individualized, competency-based instruction that gives students what they need to learn, when they need it –Deliver short-term intensive learning programs that enable adults to make rapid progress and increase persistence –Contextualize course content with occupational focus to help students learn more, faster

Slide 14 Labor Market Payoff Focus on high-demand occupations with high wages and opportunities for advancement Employers are actively engaged so that: –Adults develop skills for real jobs and employer skill needs are met –Education is linked to career ladder advancement –Students earn credentials valued in labor market Math and English skill development tied to the workplace

Slide 15 Comprehensive Supports Innovative colleges are implementing various approaches to supporting non-traditional students Partnerships with community-based organizations expand access to support services low-income adults need Career counseling, case management, advising, and coordinated support services helps students develop individualized education and career plans, promote advancement and access services they need

Slide 16 Comprehensive Supports Cohorts and learning communities create support networks of colleagues and faculty Specialized programs focus on overcoming specific barriers for multiple at-risk populations

Slide 17 Moving to Scale-Up and Institutionalization Deepen work in the field –Support early adopters with demonstrated institutional commitment –Document results and innovations –Promote peer learning Broaden work in the field –Disseminate research and promising practices –Supporting learning institutes for broader field Identify and Promote supportive state policies –Identify and document critical supportive state policies –Target early adopters in promising state environment –Support state policy change efforts in early adopter states