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Address to the Maine Adult Career Pathways Institute
Judith C. Taylor March 3, 2011
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
The best strategy for advancing low-income adults
Effective approach for promoting economic development in the region
“Do-able” -- you can do it!
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Many millions of American adults lack the skills to get, keep, and advance in jobs in today’s economy
The current structure of programs for low-income adults profoundly fails them
Career Pathways are designed to remedy the flaws in the current structure of programs
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Measured by Educational Attainment
25 million Americans 18-64 have no secondary credential52 millions Americans 18-64 have no postsecondary credential
Total = 77 million adults
Data from Crosley & Roberts, 2007
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
“Post secondary competencies and credentials have become the threshold requirement for middle-class earning and status.”
Anthony P. Carnevale et al, 2009
We cannot halt the current “decline in economic growth and national prosperity… unless higher percentages of working adults… complete college credentials with labor market value.”
Brian Bosworth, 2010
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Examples from recent research
Precision machining
Computer ability
Composing emails
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Examples from recent research
Health care
Headstart
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Formally assessed literacy/numeracy levels are the gatekeeper to further education and training for adults.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
8th grade TABE score is minimum requirement for entry to most publicly funded training programs in the United States.
A passing score on college entrance exam (e.g., Accuplacer) required for admission to most post secondary programs.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Publicly-funded training
◦ Applicants who score below cut-off aren’t admitted, maybe referred to a program somewhere else
◦ Programs generally are “one shot” (i.e., no easy next step for progression)
◦ Programs rarely include literacy along with technical instruction (so participant unable to qualify for instruction at higher levels)
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Post-secondary instruction◦ Entrance requirements set beyond GED levels,
especially in math◦ Non-credit programs rarely “count” toward
degrees◦ The developmental education “solution” is
expensive, piles up debt, results in high drop out rates
◦ “Smorgasbord” approach◦ Time period to degree too long for most people to
forego jobs◦ Weak connections to local jobs/employers
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Provide intensive, short-term remediation tailored to program goal
Integrate academic and technical instruction
The next steps are built in: “chunked” and “stacked”
Designed and maintained with local employers
Jobs are available for students who obtain the credential(s)
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
The Federal Government is Promoting
Major Foundations Are Supporting
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
The Department of Education/OVAE and the Department of Labor/ETA are, for the first time in a long time, in agreement
Issues about use of funds appear to have been resolved◦ June 8, 2010 letter from OVAE approving use of
AEFLA $$ in integrated training
Both DOL and OVAE have issued several large Solicitations for Career Pathways
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Examples:
The Joyce Foundation: Shifting Gears
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Completion by Design
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Assess Needs in Your Area
Where/what is demand among local/regional employers? ◦ Employers who are hurting can often be
mobilized.
What do people in your region want? ◦ People in your classes and outside.◦ The importance of supportive screening.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Assess your own strengths and challenges
Do the same for related programs in the region
Pinpoint areas you can’t cover and seek partners strategically
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
You don’t want to fail. You’ll rarely get a second chance.
By offering a “pilot” you are making clear that you intend to learn and build on what you learn.◦ That is, setbacks are inevitable. In an
“implementation program” setbacks start to look like failure.
◦ In a pilot, setbacks are occasions for continuous improvement.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Currently:
Most programs report data that they never see back.
The programs themselves only have “anecdotal” data. No one knows whether the three (or whatever) great stories represent success rates of the total population in the program, or are the only three successes the program’s ever had.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
First, establish your goals. Define what success would look like. For
example: Students complete work for (at least) one training
program for which local employers have identified demand and have the skills needed to enter the next higher program in the pathway.
Completers who want jobs get them. Their employers are pleased.
Completers who want to continue education/training are accepted into the next “chunk” and are successful there.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Then consider what rates (of program completion, entering employment, enrolling in further education/training) would constitute success.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
For example-recruitment:◦ Start with this question: How many completers
would be viable in the labor market at one time?◦ Then: How many program starters do you need to
recruit? What are promising recruitment sites?◦ How will you screen for necessary foundational
skills, commitment, and needed supports?◦ How will you counsel candidates who don’t make
the cut (supportive screening)?
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Data Collection. No one will know whether you succeeded unless you collect the data to demonstrate your achievement
◦ What data elements will be necessary?◦ How will you collect the necessary data? ◦ Who will do the data collection?◦ Where/how will the data be recorded/stored?◦ Who will analyze the data? ◦ (Remember “interns”)
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Maine Adult Career Pathways Guide: Support services Integrated remediation Chunking Accelerated learning Contextualized learning Modularization Employer & Community-based Partnerships
Draft #2 (pp. 5, 8-9)
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Learnings from Breaking Through: (Breaking Through = multi-year, multi-college
demonstration initiative to connect low skilled adults to post secondary training.)
4 High Leverage Strategies Accelerating the pace of learning Providing comprehensive support services Labor market payoffs Aligning programs
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Accelerating the Pace of Learning Compression
◦ Adapting strategies developed for adults wanting advanced professional study (1970s->) for low skilled adults
Customization◦ “Differentiated instruction” for low skilled adults
Contextualization (i.e., integrated instruction)◦ Contextualization Toolkit
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Providing Comprehensive Support Services
Assessments & Intake◦ Identifying individuals student’s strengths and
challenges Connecting students with supports,
academic and non-academic◦ Both academic and non-academic are essential.
Every setting has a different set of supports available, but usually a thorough search is required
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Providing advisors/coaches◦ “Instrusive”◦ Role is to prevent/mitigate crises
Training staff◦ Good mentoring is a learned skill◦ Burn-out is almost inevitable unless there’s an
intervention◦ Breaking Through has an Advisor Training
Curriculum and Program
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Labor market payoffs Provide career exploration opportunities
◦ Many/most students have little familiarity with the range of jobs/careers and what’s needed to succeed in them; ditto for the regional labor market
Establish connections with key labor market actors◦ I.e., identify and connect with employers, WIB
personnel, community college program staff, etc. ◦ Maine adopted EFF a number of years ago.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Chunk training to create career pathways◦ To a large extent, this is the community colleges’
bailiwick—e.g., Portland Community College◦ But there are emerging ABE models—South Texas
College Participate in regional economic
development efforts◦ A skilled workforce is a major selling point—by
participating, educators can promote employers/sectors with good jobs for their customers
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Aligning Programs
Make sure that the way forward for students is clearly defined and formally clear.
◦ Clearly defined: “maps” can help◦ Formally clear: Programs in a sequence have
agreed on the sequence
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Formal sequences are needed when program/institution rules create a blockage.
One common divide is between “non-credit” and “for-credit” programs in community colleges. It is fairly easy to get into a non-credit program, but usually very difficult to transition into a for-credit program in the same field in the same college.
Mott Community College—one example of a pathway created using the articulation process.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Pre-college to College: The South Texas College Health Care
Pathway
ABE coordinates with the Nursing/Allied Health for-credit department
In Texas, a CNA certificate is required for nursing programs
STC ABE integrates the CNA curriculum with GED prep; completers are ready for college and the nursing program
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
GED Complete
TSI Complete
GEDGED
© 2009 South Texas College
CNA Nursing Home $7.50 to $8.00/hrCNA Hospital $8.00 - $8.50/hr
or
or
or
College
Ready Acade
my
College
Ready Acade
my
RECENT RESEARCH Increasing Skill Requirements Brian Bosworth, “Certificate Pathways to Postsecondary Success and Good
Jobs,” paper for the American Enterprise Institute, February 11, 2011 (cited by permission)
Anthony P Carnevale, Jeff Strohl, Nicole Smith, “Help Wanted: Postsecondary
Education and Training Required,” New Directions for Community colleges no 146, Summer 2009
Impact of Literacy Lee Bruno, Ying Jin, Dwayne Norris, American Institutes for Research “Building
Career Ladders for the Working Poor Through Literacy Training,” July 2010 Stephen Reder, Portland State University Adult Literacy Development and
Economic Growth, August 2010.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
POLICY Program Memorandum to State Directors June 8, 2010, Use
of Funds Provided Under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act for Integrated Education and Training.
Definition: IET combines occupational skills training with adult education services to increase the educational and career advancement of participants.
US DOE regional community college summit February 28, 2011 “Transitioning Adult Learners to Community Colleges and the Workforce”
OVAE/DOL/ETA grants and TA Institute Nov/Dec 2010, To Develop Career Pathway Systems for Low Skilled Adults and Dislocated Workers
Crosley, A. & Roberts, B. (2007). Strengthening state policies to increase the education and skills of low-wage workers. Chevy Chase, MD: Working Poor Families Project.
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute
Technical Assistance Partnering with Employers to Promote Jobs Advancement for
Low-Skill Individuals, National Institute for Literacy, Karin Martinson/CLASP
Funding Career Pathways, A Toolkit for States, CLASP US Department of Labor technical assistance website at:
https://learnwork.workforce3one.org/find/career_pathways NCWE.org and JFF.org: The Breaking Through Practice Guide Contextualization Toolkit, A Tool for Helping Low skilled Adults
Gain Postsecondary Certificates and Degrees
04/19/23J. C. Taylor Maine Career
Pathways Institute