From the Horse’s Mouth

From the Horse’s Mouth Report on a study that asked high-level ABE students what they need to transition to college-level classes Terry Cox, MBA, EdDC Dean of Business, Engineering, and IT North Seattle Community College Seattle, Washington

What’s going to happen… • How the study idea was born • Overview of Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training • Methods • Outcomes • In their own words – basic skills students speak • Results of the Focus Groups • Results of the Survey • DISCUSSION

How the idea was born • Experience as a practitioner • Experience as a student

Alphabet Soup • ABE=Adult Basic Education • ESL=English as a Second Language • DevEd=Developmental Education • IBEST=Integrated Basic Ed and Skills Training • SBCTC = State Board for Community and Technical Colleges • CASAS = Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems • GED = General Educational Development • CCRC =Community College Research Center at Columbia University • CTC = Community and Technical College • OMH = Oh my heavens, what am I doing up here?

Whew!

First question…. How many of you know what I-BEST is?

Rationale for IBEST: Prince (SBCTC) and Jenkins (CCRC; Columbia) • 5 year study of almost 35,000 Washington adults, mostly in ABE/ESL classes • Findings: • Only 30% ABE and 13% ESL students get to college level coursework at all. • Only 4-6% of the total ABE/ESL population get through 45 credits in the period of the study. • Only 1% of ESL students who started with less than a HS education earn a GED or diploma in the 5 year period.

The “Tipping Point” One year of college-level coursework, and a credential (college or industry certification) =

IBEST Programs… In the classroom it looks like contextualized learning: • Content Instructor – full time • ABE/ESL Instructor- half time • Support Course

I-BEST as it fits with education

North’s IBEST Pathways: NAC - 1 qtr Phlebotomy – 2 qtr Accounting – 2 qtr HVAC – 3 qtr - hybrid Most popular = NAC (every quarter) Excellent retention in all (over 80%)

Closing the loop - Assessment

The best reason for I-BEST

Study “Increasing Transitions to college for returning adults with low academic skills” • Mixed methods • Stage 1: focus groups at 3 colleges • Transcribed the recordings • Created themes and aggregated • Built a survey from the data • Stage 2: Surveys to students Proctored in upper level ABE classes At Washington State CTCs

Research Questions • How should community colleges design and offer programs for low-skilled adult ABE students to best mitigate the multiple barriers to college success? • How many students used, or plan to use, I-BEST for transitioning into college programs? • What reasons do ABE students give for not using I-BEST programs? • What would a perfect program be that would fit into the students’ lives? • When and how would it be offered? • Are there ABE students who are not interested in accessing college-level courses/programs? What reasons are given for this?How could these students be served?

Focus group voices • Do you want to continue into college-level courses? (Probe on why or why not) • What do you know about I-BEST programs? Are you planning to use an I-BEST pathway? If not, why not? • What factors do you think will help you transition into college-level classes? (Probe on life circumstances; support at the college; personal attributes) • What difficulties or challenges are you facing now with staying in school? • If you could design a program to fit your life better, how would that look? When, where, and how would it be offered? What supports would you need?

Results • 589 returned surveys from 13 institutions • Demographics • College Knowledge • I-BEST Knowledge • Expected Barriers • Designing the Perfect Program

Results • Why don’t more students go to I-BEST programs? • They just don’t know enough about them to choose them.

Results, cont. • Upper level ABE students don’t understand the processes for basic college entry requirements – for example, how to fill out a FAFSA or how to pick the classes they need that quarter. • Students feel a fair amount of concern about this

Results, cont. • Former ESL students also struggle with understanding the American higher education system. The number of choices baffle them.

Results, continued • The systems and supports that the students identified as being most important for them in transitioning show that the most worrisome areas for Washington student are: • 1. the costs of college, • 2. concern about their own abilities as college students, • 3. their concerns about getting good advising and planning assistance.

The Perfect Program • Days 4-5 days per week, a few hours per day • Include advising and registration help • Instructors would clearly explain what they want • Instructors would care about them • Tutoring would be available for them

References Bloomer, T. (January 2008) Increasing Student Achievement for Basic Skills Students. SBCTC Research Report No. 08-1 Prince, D. & Jenkins, D. (November 2005) Building Pathways to Success for Low Skill Adult Students: Lessons for Community College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal Student Tracking Study SBCTC Research Report No. 06-2 Prince, D. (April 2005) I-BEST: A Program Integrating Adult Basic Education and Workforce Training SBCTC Research Report No. 05-2 SBCTC website - Fall Reports – Selected Program Student Characteristics SBCTC website – I-BEST fact sheet http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/abepds/ibest_factsheet_10.09_001.pdf Zeidenbert, M., Cho, S.W., & Jenkins, D. (2010). Washington State’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (I-BEST): New Evidence of Effectiveness. New York: CCRC, Teacher’s College, Columbia University. Retrieved from http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=805

Thank you! questions?

From the Horse’s Mouth