Minnesota and The Alliance for Quality Career Pathways

1. Minnesota and The Alliance for Quality Career Pathways ABE Summer Institute 7/22/2013

2. Recent Federal Support for [Adult] Career Pathways • Grants • Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HHS, 2010) • Workforce Innovation Fund and TAACCCT (round II) grants (DOL, summer/fall 2012) • Advancing Career and Technical Education in State and Local Career Pathway Systems (OVAE, 2012) • Guidance and TA • Federal Career Pathways Institute (DOL and ED, 2010-2011) • Joint letter of commitment to promote use of career pathways (DOL, ED, and HHS, April 2012) • Evaluation • ISIS evaluation of career pathway programs (HHS, launched in late 2007; 10 year initiative) • Looking forward • Spring 2013: WIF “Pay for Success” model • Rounds III and IV of TAACCCT • $8b Community College to Career Fund in the President’s FY14 budget • $12.5b Pathways Back to Work in the President’s FY14 budget • All indications are that the federal government will continue to support and promote career pathways

3. State and Foundation Support for Career Pathways • ~17 have explored or adopted career pathways for educationally underprepared adults and youth: AR, CA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MN, NC,OH, OR, PA, VA, WA and WI • Several states have explored or adopted career pathways for high school-to-college • Major national initiatives including: • Ford Bridges to Opportunity • NGA Pathways to Advancement • Breaking Through • Shifting Gears • Accelerating Opportunity

4. The Alliance for Quality Career Pathways • National initiative funded by the Joyce Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation; CLASP is the lead and facilitator • The goal of AQCP is to identify a framework that defines high-quality career pathway systems • 10 Alliance States: AR, CA, IL, KY, MA, MN, OR, VA, WA, WI, • National Advisory Group of ~15 national organizations and experts including NYEC, JFF, NSC, CORD, CEWD, Working Poor Families Project, Abt Associates, ConnectEd, and adult education and CTE state directors. • The final product will be a customizable framework of criteria, indicators, metrics and a self-assessment tool that can be used to • Enhance the quality of existing career pathway efforts • Develop high-quality new career pathway efforts; and • Inform evaluation(s) of career pathway efforts.

5. Two Parts of the Framework: Criteria/Indicators + Metrics

6. Who’s Tracking the Alliance? • Federal Agencies • Federal Interagency Group on Career Pathways (Labor, OVAE, HHS) – Jan. 2013 presentation + CLASP asked to do regular updates • OMB meetings • CLASP aiming to coordinate closely with OVAE Advancing CTE • Other States • Presentation at NGA winter workforce meeting – Feb. 2013 • The Field • National Coalition for Workforce Education – Oct. 2012 • Adult educators – March 2013 COABE presentation; Oct. 2013 USCAL • Community colleges – February 2013 presentation at AACC/ACCT meeting • CTE directors – April 2013 presentation • Funders • CLASP presentation to workforce funders – Feb. 2013 • National Fund for Workforce Solutions – June 2013

7. Working Definition of “Career Pathways” Career Pathways: An approach to connecting progressive levels of basic skills and postsecondary education, training, and support services in specific sectors or occupations in a way that optimizes the progress and success of individuals – including those with limited skills and experiences – in securing marketable credentials, family-supporting employment, and further education and employment opportunities. [Add: In our state, career pathways include…]

9. Career Pathway Metric Goals • Allow career pathway systems to measure key results and communicate these results to stakeholders • Capture milestones that are not captured by current performance reporting requirements; • Support continuous improvement of pathway programs and systems; • Provide a basis for a shared performance accountability framework across multiple fund sources, • Are a “common language” across a variety of basic skills, workforce, and postsecondary programs

10. Existing Metrics by Funding Stream

11. What metrics should be used? Alliance Convening Working Session Results Consensus:

12. What metrics should be used? Alliance Convening Working Session Results Less than Consensus…

13. How can we measure career pathway results? Alliance states have a series of choices to make about how career pathway metrics would be applied: • Who is “on a career pathway?” • How can we determine when someone has entered or exited a career pathway? • How can we determine which metrics are appropriate for a specific career pathway, or program in a pathway? • Do career pathways work better than non-career pathway programs?

14. Next Steps for career pathway metrics • A beta framework will be field tested from July – December 2013 • Final work will be completed in 2014 after Alliance states have tested the appropriateness and usefulness of the criteria, indicators, and metrics.

15. Minnesota’s AQCP Team CP Alliance Traveling Team Melanie Burns – MnSCU Marguerite Dummer – Hennepin Technical College Alyssa Klein – DEED/VR, youth, disabilities Judy Mortrude – DEED/MN FastTRAC staff Mark Toogood – TANF, DHS Annie Welch – DEED/WDD CP Alliance Home Team Doug Binsfeld – Central Lakes College Leslie Crichton – DEED Rich Davy – DLI Julie Dincau – MDE ABE Meredith Fergus – OHE Larry Hosch – DHS Karen Hynick – MnSCU Anne Kilzer – MWCA George Kimball – DOC Brian Paulson – GTCUW Pat Pawlak – DOC Nola Speiser – DEED/MN FastTRAC staff Deb Serum – DEED/PPM Tony Thomann – Central MN Jobs and Training Katie Vacarie - MnSCU