Breaking Through: Building Opportunity and Changing Lives

Breaking Through:Building Opportunity and Changing

LivesDr. Darlene G. Miller, Executive Director – NCWE

Nate Anderson, Senior Project Manager, Jobs for the Future

Dr. Stacey Sherwin, Director Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Salish Kootenai CollegeDonna Davis, System Director Workforce SolutionsKentucky Community and Technical College System

AGENDA

What is Breaking Through Kentucky Breaking Through Tribal Colleges Breaking Through Accelerating Opportunity Kentucky Accelerating Opportunity Questions

WHAT IS BREAKING THROUGH?

A career pathway redesign initiative for advancing more low-skill adults (<8th grade) into and through to professional/technical degree programs.

A multi-site, multi-state initiative aimed at impacting both practice and policy

A framework for developing effective career pathway programs in pre-college and college-level programs that improve completion

WHAT IS BREAKING THROUGH?

Partnership between National Council for Workforce Education and Jobs for the Future

Funders Include: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Walmart Foundation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation

BREAKING THROUGH PARTICIPANTS:22

STATES, 43 COLLEGES

Tacoma Community College, WASouth Seattle Community College, WANorthwest Indian College, WAPortland Community College, OR

City College of San FranciscoCerritos College,

College of Southern NevadaCommunity College of Denver

Central New Mexico Community College

Southeast Arkansas Community College

Houston Community College SystemSt. Phillips CollegeSouth Texas College

Gateway Community Technical CollegeOwensboro Community Technical CollegeSoutheast KY Community Technical College

Cuyahoga CommunityCollege, OH

North Shore Community College, MA

York County Community College, ME

Tallahassee Community College

Piedmont VA Community College

Davidson County Community CollegeForsyth Technical Community CollegeDurham Technical Community CollegePitt Community CollegeSouth Piedmont Community CollegePamlico Community College

Grand Rapids Community CollegeHenry Ford Community CollegeLake Michigan CollegeMacomb Community CollegeMott Community CollegeSt Clair County Community CollegeWashtenaw County Community College

LaGuardia Community College, NY

Northhampton County Community College, PA

Salish Kootenai College, MTLittle Big Horn College, MT

Comanche Nation College, OK

Sitting Bull College, ND

Leech Lake Tribal College, MN

BREAKING THROUGHRESEARCH FINDINGS

Programs are disconnected, making it hard for students to make progress on a pathway

Realign programs and divisions

It takes too long to go from remediation to career training

Accelerate the pace of learning

Students don’t have access to supports that will help them overcome obstacles

Provide comprehensive supports

Labor market payoffs don’t come early enough to make the investment in education worthwhile

Create strong labor market connections and payoffs

FOUR BREAKING THROUGH

STRATEGIES

Strategy ResultRealigned Programs and Divisions: Blended Funding, Strong Articulation Agreements

More students entering and succeeding in credit-level occupational and technical coursework

Compressed, Contextualized, Customized, and Accelerated Learning

Faster progress to and through career pathway programs

FOUR BREAKING THROUGH

STRATEGIES

Strategy ResultIntensive Student Supports

Greater retention and persistence to completion

Strong Labor Market Connections and Payoffs: Meaningful, Stackable Interim Credentials

Greater labor market payoffs for students and more workers trained to meet employers’ needs

REALIGN PROGRAMS AND

DIVISIONSImplementation Practices Examples of Success

•Develop articulation agreements•Remove barriers to entry and advancement•Create on-ramps•Redesign occupational and technical programs to create stackable credentials•Blended funding streams

Lake Michigan Community College: transitions unemployed workers into “workers who study” with non-credit training that articulate to credit post-secondary programsPamilco Community College: integrated credit and noncredit programs into one instructional division eliminating the silo

ACCELERATE PACE OF LEARNING

Implementation Practices Examples of Success

•Compress curricula•Compress courses and instructional time•Customize Instruction

Community College of Denver: FastStart 2-4 semesters of developmental education compressed into one semesterLaguardia Community College: GED Bridge programs contextualized for allied health and business

COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT SUPPORT

SERVICES


•Ensure access to a variety of supports•Hire coaches and advisors•Train staff

Portland Community College: MOTT (Moving On Towards Tomorrow) advisors hired to proactively support studentsTacoma Community College: Transition to College course which includes online learningDurham Tech Community College: Provides a financial incentive program to students who pass academic milestones critical to continued progress and success

STRONG LABOR MARKET

CONNECTIONS AND PAYOFFS


•Create short-term, stackable credentials•Work with labor market actors•Partner with economic development agencies•Provide career exploration

Community College of Denver: Career exploration built into academic and college success coursesLake Michigan Community College: Training HQ: Quick Jobs for Lasting Careers program offers instruction aligned with local labor market data in a multifaceted delivery modality including career exploration.

Kentucky Breaking Through

KCTCS MISSIONOur mission is to improve the quality of life and employability of the citizens of the Commonwealth by serving as the primary provider of:

• College and Workforce Readiness • Transfer Education • Workforce Education and Training

KY Breaking Through: Overview

Kentucky Community and Technical College System

16 colleges with 68 Campuses 106,664 Credit Students in FY 10 51,897 Workforce Solutions Students 5,974 Businesses Served


Kentucky’s initiative aligned to the Governor’s Workforce Emphasis.The overarching objectives align with the Commonwealth’s goals of increasing college access and completion programs for low income and under skilled adults that lead to workforce competitiveness and economic success of Kentucky’s employers.

• Develop seamless pathways into post-secondary professional/technical credentials

• Focus workforce development on emerging industries and employers that represent Kentucky’s future

• Strengthen our career readiness certificate program• Help adults and youth gain access to employment with good wages• Create an integrated workforce training delivery system


• Developing public/private partnership models which strategically address regionally targeted industry sectors,

• Developing/strengthening programs in two of the three targeted industry sectors,• Developing at least one new program component in the targeted sector(s) that

strengthens/completes a pathway into post-secondary professional/technical education and good employment,

• Working collaboratively with post-secondary and workforce partners in the three partnerships to maximize sharing of learning, relevant work product, and minimize duplication in the use of resources,

• Leveraging collective partnership resources to implement programmatic goals and objectives, • Utilize the National Career Readiness Certificate in the program,• Include career awareness activities and workplace preparedness training• Designing readily understandable career maps for use by program participants and key

stakeholders,• Provide professional development for project partners on foundational skills, contextual

curriculum development and delivery, career pathway strategies and student support, and• Reinforcing the concepts of partner interdependence and genuine collaboration as the most

effective strategies to address regional workforce issues.

Kentucky Critically Desired Outcomes:

KY Breaking Through

Accelerated Pace of Learning

Best Practices/Initiatives• Paired courses

• Contextualized curriculum

• Rolling enrollment windows

• Training HQ

Lessons Learned• Importance of faculty buy in

• Planning time for faculty to collaborate, funding

KY Breaking Through

Comprehensive Supportive Services

Best Practices/Initiatives

• Success coach/intrusive advising

• Intake process

• GEN 102 Redesign

Lessons Learned

• Academic advising Vs. Success Coach

KY Breaking Through

Labor Market Payoffs


• Career Exploration & Career Pathway Maps

• Industry Relationship

• Stackable Credentials

Lessons Learned

• Importance of Labor Market Data

• Tracking students after they leave college

KY Breaking Through

Aligning Programs for Low-Skilled Adults


• Collaborating across departments

Lessons Learned

• Institutional silos

• Policies: real or perceived?

• Compass Testing Requirements – Placement in Developmental

Education

• High School Diploma/GED

KY Breaking Through

Importance of Collaboration/PartnershipsInternal

• Student Services

• Academic Affairs

• Workforce Solutions

External

• Workforce Investment Boards

• Business & Industry

• KY Adult Education

• Economic Development

KY Breaking Through

Cultural Transformations• Breaking Through is a way of doing business

• New way of thinking

• Breaking down institutional silos

• Innovative curriculum development

• Innovative program delivery across the board

• Increases visibility of low skill adults

• Workforce Solutions seen as R&D, preparation for matriculation

• Retention is everyone’s business!!!

KY Breaking Through

Statewide Opportunities

• Consistent interpretation of policy

• Policy… Perception… Politics

• Braided/leveraged funding

• Success coach

• College Ready vs. GED/HS Diploma

• TABE, Compass, & WorkKeys Alignment

• Professional Development

KY Breaking Through

Adapting Breaking Through to Reservation Environments:

The Tribal College Breaking Through Program

34 tribal colleges serve more than 30,000 students from more than 250 tribes from across the U.S., Mexico,

and Canada.

Tribal Colleges have unique missions:

Provide quality education to meet reservation workforce needsCommunity DevelopmentUnique: Perpetuate the cultures, languages, and lifeways of the TribesPromote tribal sovereignty

Unique ChallengesA young population: CSKT’s youth population (under 18) represents 26.5% of the on-reservation populationHigh unemployment rates (10 to 70%)Rural LocationFew JobsNo industry, No unionsStudents are Place-Based

23%77%

Academic Need of Students Entering

SKC in fall 2009

Non-DVSP StudentsStudents Needing at least One DVSP Course

CNC started the Tatsinupi GED program.

LBHC developed a work readiness program.

SBC piloted a Breaking Through GED cohort with acceleration and incentives to increase persistence.

LLTC focused on changes to several workforce development programs.

Breaking Through at NWIC is incorporated into a larger workforce development redesign effort at the college.

SKC's ProjectEs Xcimi:“Making Oneself Ready”

Peer Learning and Networking

Guidance and Feedback through JFF and NCWE

Outcomes From the TCBT Project:

What’s Next?

Career Pathways Stacked Credentials

Certifications Revamp Career Services

More Certificate Programs

Expand the Bridge Program Train advisors

Contextualize developmental education

What will the Breaking Through Program offer to Tribal Communities?

Millions of adults need access to postsecondary education and training to advance their careers

and support their families.

National Necessity

How Accelerating Opportunity Addresses a Critical National Need:• Institutional transformation and state policy analysis• Program design and instructional strategies that improve ABE

delivery• Providing comprehensive support services• Linking program development with current and projected labor

market demands

Through innovative adult education that provides a valuable credential, Accelerating Opportunity will ensure that more workers have the skills they need for today’s good jobs.

Accelerating Opportunity’s Solutions

Programs lack supports and are ill-equipped to meet the needs of non-

traditional students

The “black hole” of developmental education:

Low completion rates for underprepared students

Remediation not customized to career pathway

requirements

Lack of alignment with career/technical credential programs postsecondary entrance requirements

Traditional ABE/GED Programs

Developmental Education

Postsecondary Career

Programs

Multiple Loss PointsLow rates of program completion and credential attainment

Disconnected Educational Pathways

• Accelerated skill-building integrated with credit coursework

• Support through gate-keeper courses

• Intensive transition counseling

• Comprehensive supplemental services

• Intensive counseling• Flexible program options• Job placement

More Adult Learners Succeeding in ABE to Credential Pathways

Articulated Career Pathways

Stackable Credentials with

Labor Market Value

Accelerated and Integrated ABE and GED programs

• Career exploration• Contextualized learning• Skill-building for

postsecondary/career success • College and career counseling

Streamlined Adult Education Pathways

Design Phase: 11 states with ABE governed through postsecondary education received grants to develop pathways from ABE to marketable credentials and develop blueprints for action.

Implementation Phase: Four states (IL, KY, NC, KS) will pilot, refine, and scale Accelerating Opportunity pathways in a critical mass of colleges statewide.

Four-Year Initiative

Potential impact: At least 18,000 students nationwide earning marketable credentials

States will adopt policies and financing models to ensure that effective ABE to Credential programs are sustained and expanded.

States will engage other community colleges in a learning network to promote adoption and scale of effective approaches.

At least 8 colleges in each state implementing ABE to credential pathways at scale

At least 450 students per college earning a marketable credential.

Funders:Accelerating Opportunity is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the Open Society FoundationsPartners:Jobs for the Future (JFF)•Managing Partner•Convene bi-annual peer learning meetings; TA to states

The Washington State Board of Community And Technical Colleges (SBCTC)• Lead state & co-host of annual integrated basic skills pathways institutes with JFF• TA to states on I-BEST and “I-BEST-like” implementation

The National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE)• A partner in Breaking Through since its inception in 2004• TA provider for states; leadership engagement and promotion of the initiative

The National College Transitions Network (NCTN) •Specialized TA provider for states and institutions•Expertise in curriculum redesign and best practices in instruction

Accelerating Opportunity Funders & Partners

Closing Kentucky’s Workforce Skills Gap

Why Accelerating Opportunity?

National Statistics:

Over 26 million adults lack a high school degree

93 million adults have low literacy levels and are unprepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary and education programs

Another 1.3 million young people drop out of high school every year

By 2018, over 60% of available jobs will require postsecondary education

Kentucky Statistics: For the GRS cohort (first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students) entering KCTCS in 2006: 71% needed remediation in one

or more areas Students with no remedial

needs had a 29.3 % three-year graduation rate, compared to 20.1 % for students with remedial needs.

Among these most-prepared and most-traditional of our students, those with remedial needs were 30 %less likely to graduate than those without.

Kentucky’s Commitment: Selected 8 community colleges to test integrated basic skills model

3,600 students with marketable credentials by Oct. 2014

State and institutional policy support – especially finance

Postsecondary data base modifications for student tracking

Scale the model across the state

Documentation of program costs

Accelerating Opportunity Grant Overview

Partners

The Accelerating Opportunity initiative is engaging a number state and local partnerships to ensure more workers have the skills they need for today's good jobs through innovative educational opportunities for adults that provides a valuable credential.

Kentucky Cabinet for Education & Workforce Development

Kentucky Chamber of Commerce

Kentucky Community & Technical College System

Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education/Kentucky Adult

Education

Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment

Kentucky Workforce Investment Board

Business and Industry Partners

Kentucky’s Vision:To implement a collaborative career pathways model that prepares students to be college and career ready.

ABE to Credentials

PHASE 1: MENTOR COLLEGE

1a. Bluegrass CTC2a. Gateway CTC3a. Jefferson CTC4a. Madisonville CC5a. Maysville CTC6a. Owensboro CTC7a. Southeast CTC8a. West Kentucky CTC

PHASE 2: PARTNER COLLEGE1b. Somerset CC2b. Ashland CTC3b. Elizabethtown CTC4b. Henderson CC5b. Big Sandy CTC6b. Bowling Green TC7b. Hazard CTC8b. Hopkinsville CC

AOKY Planning Process

Identified State Level & Local Teams All partners represented on the teams both state and local teams State teams conducted regional information sessions with local

teams Meeting timelines were established KCTCS funded AO Coordinators for each college Bi-weekly conference calls for AO Coordinators Created SharePoint site to post all documents Developed committees at the state level for

Finance & Sustainability Curriculum & Student Services Policy Data Workforce & Labor Market Marketing & Communication

AOKY Planning Process

Professional Development Conducted training on a regional basis for contextualized instruction

and adult advising Building capacity with train-the-trainer strategies Statewide meting with Washington State Board for CTC Target training for AO Coordinators

Labor Market Analysis Conducted an analysis of local labor market trends, including the

identification or confirmation of the growth industries and occupations in the state that pay a family-supporting wage and that have career advancement ladders that start with less than a two-year degree

Select at least two career pathways for target population to enroll in Work with local business and industry

Kentucky Policy Framework

Data and Analysis The P20 data warehouse will enable KY to • measure student progress from precollege programs to

postsecondary career pathways to employment• track individuals and their progress towards the

benchmarks set out by the initiative

ProgramRedesign

Standardize practices for Adult Services to include: intake and assessment, assessment and placement, credit for prior learning, and financial aid for the target population

Alignment Aligning adult education curricula with KYAE Common Core Standards, higher GED requirements and college readiness

National Aspirations: New Directions

Accelerating Opportunity seeks to:

Replace linear pathways with career pathways – multiple entry/exit points, stackable credentials, integration, compression, and self-paced competency based learning models (online learning)

Focus on institutional transformation and state policy

Create program designs that acknowledge non-traditional adult learners

Link all program development with labor market demands

Kentucky’s Core Values:

Changed economy by putting more educated people to work In-demand workforce credentials Cohesive policy framework shared by all partners Meaningful state and local partnerships Collaborative academic model that includes:

• A student-first approach • A model grounded in differing learning styles with recognition of

learning disabilities• 21st century skills• Blended learning approach that uses state-of-the-art technology• Good formative assessment• Relevant instruction with purpose

Comprehensive support services to prevent “drop-off” points Holistic advising services

Accelerating Opportunity Kentucky

Focus on adult education student population - build on Kentucky’s career pathways investments and capacity-building efforts to increase credential attainment for lower-skilled adults.

Use institutional transformation and state policy analysis to better align programs and “braid” funding sources.

Strengthen Instructional delivery - integration, acceleration and co-enrollment, to improve the overall adult education instruction and sequencing.

Link adult education curriculum to labor market - include employer input.

Implications for Kentucky

7 Colleges started first pathway More than 100 students enrolled Front Line training underway at each college (no wrong door) Prepared to launch statewide marketing campaign Preparing instructors for the second pathway Site visit to Washington state Continued State Level Planning Team meetings Working on Policy Levers Addressing program/policy barriers – Pell Grant Changes

Where Are We Today?

AOKY….. The Kentucky Journey

“Random Acts of Progress”

“Best Practices”

“Strategic Systems”

www.jff.org/projects/current/workforce/breaking-through

[email protected]@jff.org

[email protected]@kctcs.edu

QUESTIONS

Documents

Breaking Through: Building Opportunity and Changing Lives