Fixing the Leaky Pipeline

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) CT2 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 • 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) • 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 • Match courses/programs to the agreed upon learning outcomes • Submit course/program materials based on learning outcomes for review • A formal submission process is being developed • 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