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Prior Learning Assessments: Pathways to Apprenticeship

This presentation discusses the challenges and opportunities for career and education advising for student veterans, with a focus on Prior Learning Assessments (PLA) as a pathway to apprenticeship. It also highlights growing industries and jobs in Seattle, and the research findings on the value of PLA in terms of graduation rates, cost savings, and time to degree. Presented by Holly Moore and Lauren Hadley from South Seattle Community College.

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Prior Learning Assessments: Pathways to Apprenticeship

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  1. TAC Making Learning Count: Prior LearNinG AssessMents Pathways to Apprenticeship October 24, 2012 Presented by: Holly Moore & Lauren Hadley South Seattle Community College

  2. Student Veterans on the Rise • Growing numbers as they come home: • 523,344 in 2007 • 819,281 in 2010: a 56% increase ( U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) American Council on Education: Military Service Members and Veterans in Higher Education http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CPA/Publications/MilService.errata.pdf

  3. Who Are Student Veterans? • Younger than veterans in general, but older than traditional undergraduates Source: American Council on Education: Military Service Members and Veterans in Higher Education http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CPA/Publications/MilService.errata.pdf

  4. Veteran Students are: More likely to be: • First generation college students • Married • Have at least one dependent Source: American Council on Education: Military Service Members and Veterans in Higher Education http://www.acenet.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/ProgramsServices/CPA/Publications/MilService.errata.pdf

  5. Findings • Some lingering issues around the educational benefits themselves • Many colleges and universities are just beginning to focus on veterans • What’s missing from the larger picture: career and education advising for veterans

  6. Challenges

  7. Career and Education Advising • Labor market information • Career pathways • Prior Learning Assessment • Navigating higher education and apprenticeship • How to select the right school and right program

  8. Growing Industries & Jobs in Seattle Seattle’s Top Employing Industries: • Trade, Transportation, and Utilities • Government • Professional and Business Services • Education and Health Services • Leisure and Hospitality WA Promoting Growth for these “Key Industries” : • Workforce Development • Manufacturing • Maritime • Life Sciences • Information and Communication Technologies Sources: The Greater Seattle Datasheet, City of Seattle, Office of Intergovernmental Relations via http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-West/Seattle-Economy.html; Seattle Office of Economic Development Key Industries https://www.seattle.gov/economicdevelopment/maj_ind_sectors.htm

  9. One Response: PLA Prior Learning Assessment is a process for evaluating knowledge and skills in order to award college credit or advanced placement (RSI) for learning from:

  10. PLA Methods • Standardized exams • Advanced Placement (AP) • College Level Examination Program (CLEP) • Excelsior College Exams • DANTES Subject Standardized Tests (DSST) • Challenge exams • Individual student portfolios • Evaluation of non-college training • Corporate or military training • Evaluation of non-credit instruction

  11. PLA Takes Many Forms College and Apprenticeship Credit

  12. What is a Portfolio? • A formal, written communication describing, illustrating, and documenting what a student has learned – and requesting college credit. • Typical components (may vary from school to school): • Identification of prior learning- List and describe learning experiences • Essay or narrative- Describe goals and reasons for seeking credit for prior learning; demonstrate how prior learning relates to education goals • Documentation of knowledge and skills

  13. Standards of Quality • Credit or its equivalent should be awarded only for learning, and not for experience • Credit awards and competence levels must be made by appropriate subject matter and academic or credentialing experts

  14. Research Findings on the Value of PLA

  15. CAEL’s Fueling the Race Research The Study: • 48-institution study of PLA and academic outcomes (funded by Lumina Foundation for Education) • 62,475 total adult students in our sample (adult = age 25 or older) • 15,594 (25%) had earned PLA credit between 2001 and 2008 Council for Adult and Experiential Learning 2011

  16. CAEL’s PLA Research Graduation Rates Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success, CAEL, March 2010 Council for Adult and Experiential Learning 2011

  17. Money Saver An adult student who earns 15 credits from PLA applied to a degree saves $1605 to $6,000 on tuition costs.

  18. CAEL’s PLA Research Graduation Rates: PLA students in this study had better graduation rates than non-PLA students: • regardless of institutional size, level (two-year or four-year) or control (private for-profit, non-profit, or public) • regardless of the individual student’s academic ability or grade point average • regardless of the individual student’s age, gender, or race/ethnicity • regardless of whether or not the individual student receives financial aid

  19. CAEL’s PLA Research Persistence: • PLA students have higher rates of persistence compared with non-PLA students Time to Degree Savings: • Bachelor’s degrees: between 2.5 and 10.1 months • Associate’s degrees: between 1.5 and 4.5 months

  20. Boots on the Ground:A Developing Program with IBEW

  21. Major Components • Fast Track Veterans into Family Wage Careers • Direct and Advanced Placement • Optimize Earned Benefits

  22. Making it Work • Pre-screen applicants (World of Work Inventory & Employment Readiness Scale) • Crosswalk and PLA to accelerate process • Address challenges before PLA course begins • Utilize all Partners

  23. IBEW Local 46

  24. Aerospace Joint Apprentice Committee Industrial Manufacturing Academy I-BEST, Math I-BEST, Math

  25. Future Directions • Crosswalk JST (Joint Services Transcript) with degree and apprenticeship outcomes • Commissioner approved training • Expand to other programs • Use PLA to reduce related supplemental instruction (RSI) and overall length • Degree progression – Bachelors' (online)

  26. Questions & Discussion

  27. Holly Moore Georgetown/South Seattle Community College Holly.Moore@seattlecolleges.edu Lauren Hadley Georgetown/South Seattle Community College Lauren.hadley@seattlecolleges.edu

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