1. Fixing the Leaky Pipeline Working Poor Families Project Academy on State Postsecondary Policy Julie Strawn Center for Law and Social Policy jstrawn@clasp.org June 2006

2. Four main leaks in pipeline for low income adults Adult education/English as a Second Language into job training or other postsecondary programs—those that do transition typically find they then must take college remedial courses first College remedial education (sometimes called developmental education) into for-credit college coursework Non-credit workforce education into for-credit certificate and degree programs Community college programs into 4 year programs

3. Transitions: adult ed/ESL and college remediation Accelerate, contextualize, support success Make transitions to postsecondary and attainment of marketable credentials a central goal of state adult ed/ESL policy—GED not enough for family-supporting wages Align adult ed/ESL and college remediation content with entry criteria for demand occupational programs and crosswalk assessments—goal becomes cutoff score for next level of education in career pathway

4. Transitions: adult ed/ESL and college remediation Fund dual enrollment/dual credit models to increase basic & job skills and attainment of occupational credentials, in a compressed timeframe Create “bridges” into occupational programs by customizing adult ed/ESL and college remediation to content of career pathways Shine light on transition rates from college remediation into for-credit courses, connect remediation to workforce education at college—too often isolated on academic side

5. Dual enrollment adult ed/ESL and job training: WA’s I-BEST WA state goal: Increase number of adult ed/ESL students who reach “tipping point” Piloted integrated job training/adult ed. model I-BEST tracked results, decided to go statewide State offering colleges 1.75 FTE to expand I-BEST to take into account extra costs of two instructors, coordinating instructions, additional student support To do this have to rethink content/goals of adult ed/ESL—not GED, not entering dev. ed, but rather skills needed for next occupational program in pathway All I-BEST programs have to be part of a one-year certificate program or other occupational program with proven ability to place grads in higher wage jobs

6. Dual enrollment adult ed./college remediation: KY’s Adult Ed.-College Transitions Partnership State reform legislation gave adult ed. and comm. colleges common mission around workforce dev., also federal adult education goal of college transition Needed state leadership to send signal that collaboration between colleges and adult ed was encouraged and allowed Convened statewide transitions workgroup, regional meetings, sharing of models, ideas Crosswalk of college/adult ed assessments Funded joint transitions pilots with WIA Gov.’s funds, expanded to four year institutions State goal of having 40% of GED completers go on to postsecondary (12% originally, 22% in 2004)

7. KY’s Adult Ed.-College Transitions Partnership Key features: Colleges refer students to adult ed for remediation Adult ed students can also choose this path Share web-based instructional software and assessments as well as traditional curricula Help students without GED dual enroll in adult ed and developmental ed Help students receive credit and obtain financial aid for dev. ed. taught by KYAE Rebranding adult ed.: differing roles invisible to student, e.g. adult ed.’s Education Enrichment Services in Louisville appear to be part of the college

8. Bridge programs for low skilled adults Bridge programs help lower skilled adults gain occupational credentials and access to further training or jobs relatively quickly by-- –Tailoring basic education instruction to general workplace needs and to the knowledge and skills needed in a specific occupation. E.g. bridge programs in manufacturing cover blueprint reading, statistical process control. Those in health care cover intro to human biology, vocabulary for health jobs. –Preparing people to enter specific jobs and specific job training programs. –Covering “soft skills,” basic education skills, and specific job skills needed for an entry level job in a career pathway.

9. Adult ed/ESL bridges into workforce education: AR’s Adult Ed. Bridges into Career Pathways WAGE is adult education customized to prepare individuals to enter specific occupational pathways Business, Education, EMT/Paramedic, Manufacturing, Nursing and Allied Health, Welding In 2005 set aside $16 million of TANF funds to expand WAGE career pathways model to 11 community colleges, start spring 2006 IL also funding many adult education bridge programs jointly with economic dev. agency

10. Connecting college remediation to workforce ed. Next frontier—states just starting to tackle this Interesting local examples, e.g. Mt. Hood Community College (Portland, OR) “Summer Fast Pass” Fast Pass is a primer for career pathways < 6 months Schedule blocks of career program’s initial courses packaged with college remediation in math, reading and writing, and immediately earn 10-14 credits Fast Pass is eligible for Pell and other aid Students take Fast Pass in cohorts Wrap around services (if WIA or TANF eligible)

11. Transitions: noncredit programs to credit ones Guiding philosophy has to be to minimize “dead ends” – may need to legislate this Create formal articulation agreements to award credit for noncredit occupational training, e.g. OH Career-Technical to Credit Transitions project, OK Co-Enrollment pilots Adopt WIA state policies that encourage training that is part of a pathway –Use state WIA funds to encourage local WIBs to fund training in articulated career pathways and to work out agreements for giving credit for non-credit training Adopt state incumbent worker/customized training policies that encourage training that is part of articulated career pathways that can lead to a certificate or degree

12. OH Career-Tech. to Credit Transfer Major legislative incentives/catalysts: HB 95 (2003 – 2005) Colleges and Universities working together to develop 38 Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs) HB 66 (2005-2007) CT 2 begins the process of articulating agreed upon adult/secondary career technical courses to state supported institutions of higher education

13. OH Career-Tech. to Credit Transfer 1.Define learning outcomes based on industry standards Faculty panels w/ representation all educational partners Two pilots are currently underway –Nursing –Engineering Technologies (Electrical & Mechanical/Manufacturing) 2.Institutions agree to the standard based outcomes All institutions will have the opportunity to review the learning outcomes

14. OH Career-Tech. to Credit Transfer 4.Match courses/programs to the agreed upon learning outcomes 5.Submit course/program materials based on learning outcomes for review A formal submission process is being developed 5.Course/program review process Joint faculty panels review course/program materials for equivalency of rigor and applicability to major Very valuable to have faculty panels but also a challenge for them to agree on what is equivalent

15. Oklahoma Cooperative Alliances Pilots Beginning in 2005 adult students can earn college credit transferable statewide while completing a program of study or courses at OK Technology Centers. Starting as pilots, goal is to go statewide. E.g. in Oklahoma City, students that enroll at the Technology Center can co-enroll with OK City Community College and earn college credit toward an Associate of Applied Science degree program. The credits appear on an OKCCC official transcript. Once co-enrolled in a cooperatively offered degree program, students receive an OKCCC college ID and have full access to all campus facilities and activities.

16. Fixing the pipeline for low income youth Dual enrollment for out of school youth Portland Community College Gateways to College. Goal is to complete high school, earn associate degree at the same time. Combines K-12 ADA $’s with college FTE’s to enrich services. Integrated adult education, dev. ed. and/or job training for out of school youth Center for Employment Training WA I-BEST, KY adult ed-dev. ed. partnerships also can work for youth

17. Who will lead this work? Who will lead the ongoing work to promote the vision, align policies and funds, and track results across programs? –Need ongoing, institutionalized state leadership for this work and it is easier if the key programs are within some overarching body that oversees the system. –E.g. WA’s Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, KY’s Cabinet for Postsecondary Education