CAEL CONFERENCE Philadelphia November 2008

1. CAEL CONFERENCE Philadelphia November 2008

2. Breaking Through A partnership of the National Council for Workforce Education and Jobs for the Future supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation, and the Office for Vocational and Adult Education.

3. Breaking Through/Background Our target population: Low-skill adults: scoring <8th grade in Reading/Math Rationale: 8th grade TABE scores are the cut-off for most non-credit workforce training programs in the U.S.—i.e., the threshold for skill advancement.

4. Millions of Americans have low reading/math levels 88 million lack literacy skills needed to enroll in college-level occ/tech degree programs 36 million lack HS credential 52 million ended their education with a high school diploma 50 million have skills too low even to qualify for non-credit training(TABE/ 8th grade)

5. Breaking Through/Background Our goal: Connect low-skill adults to community college professional/technical certificates/degrees Rationale: Community college certificates/degrees are the threshold to family-supporting wages.

6. THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES Community college degree programs are the threshold to family supporting wages Male Female Male Female Male Female

7. IMPACT ON EARNINGS--WASHINGTON STATE “The Tipping Point”: One year’s college credits plus a certificate Compared with students who earned <10 credits, those who reached the tipping point had an average annual earnings advantage of: • Entered as ESL students $7,000 • Entered as ABE/GED $8,500 • Entering w/ a H.S. credential $2,700-$1,700 *David Prince and Davis Jenkins, Community College Research Center

8. Increasing Recognition of Impact on State Economies North Carolina “We’re not training enough people to fill the jobs of the 21st century….And if we don’t adjust quickly ….we’re going to have a shortage of skilled workers for decades to come….It’s going to be hard for our children and grandchildren to find the kind of jobs that will be generated in the world’s economy.” --Scott Ralls, new President of the North Carolina Community College System, in Facing Brutal Facts: North Carolina Community Colleges in the New Economic Landscape

9. Breaking Through/Background Breaking Through program: Connect low-skill adults to community college professional/technical certificates and degrees Rationale: Despite the great need for such programs, our 2004 research very low success rates for low-skill adults entering and completing college

10. DATA FROM WASHINGTON STATE Cohort entering community colleges in mid 90s. Associate’s Degree After 5 Years Prince and Jenkins, 2005

11. WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOW SUCCESS RATES? Our 2004 research suggested four problematic areas at the institutional level: • Programs for adults are profoundly disconnected • Support services generally unavailable, but extremely important • The pace of learning is too slow • Lack of labor market payoffs

12. WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOW RECORD OF SUCCESS (cont)? Little interest in the low-skill adult issue in think tanks and academic. Some practitioners in community colleges were working on these problems, but (a) none had an entire pipeline in operation, and (b) they were isolated— no forums in which to share innovations and challenges.

13. 2005 PROGRAM DESIGN FOR BREAKING THROUGH • Framework of four “high leverage” strategies: • Create clear pathways into college professional/technical programs • First “chunk” aimed at <8th grade adults • Industry/occupational focus • Seamless transitions from each “chunk” • Accommodate part-time/working students • Provide comprehensive support services

14. 2005 PROGRAM DESIGN FOR BREAKING THROUGH • Accelerate the pace of learning • Most programs contextualize remedial curriculum around their selected industry(ies) • Create labor market payoffs for success in remedial pathway • Fund demonstrations sites at selected colleges • Hold regular peer learning meetings for practitioners to learn from each other

15. PROGRESS TO DATE • Over 30 community colleges in the Breaking Through network, 7 of them funded demonstration sites • Over 1200 adults enrolled in the demonstration programs • Very high retention rates • High levels of certificate/degree attainment

16. COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF DENVER FOCUS: Test accelerated learning strategies for developmental education students SIGIFICANT LEARNING: is very intense, and requires careful screening of students for readiness EVALUATORS: More than 40% of Breaking Through participants completed gatekeeper English and Math courses relative to 10% of the comparison group. Breaking Through students have completed midlevel English developmental classes at a much higher rate than a comparison group (e.g., 90% compared to 63%).

17. SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOCUS: Establish career pathway to prepare low-skill adults as LPNs SIGNIFICANT LEARNING: It was essential to get approval from the state licensing board EVALUATORS: first two cohorts of LPN students retained at much higher levels through the developmental education sequence than traditional students (96% vs. 50-60%) in half the time of the traditional delivery mode.

18. OWENSBORO COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOCUS: Create pathways to certificates and degrees for incumbent workers benefitting from customized training SIGNIFICANT LEARNING: Piloted new methods in “ABE” to attract attention of developmental education and college-level faculty

19. OWENSBORO COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE EVALUATORS: 180 students in three pathways (industrial maintenance, nursing, and management/supervision). Of them, 46 enrolled in the manufacturing program, and 61% are still taking courses toward a higher certification level, with 3 students having completed the AAS degree and another 12 having completed certificate(s). 78 students started the business program. 69% have completed and the rest are continuing.

20. Breaking Through Background Information & Resources

21. BREAKING THROUGH DEMONSTRATION COLLEGES Central New Mexico CC, Albuquerque NM CC of Denver, Denver CO Cuyahoga CC, Cleveland OH Durham Technical CC, Durham NC Owensboro CTC, Owensboro KY Portland CC, Portland OR Southeast Arkansas CC, Pine Bluff AR

22. BREAKING THROUGH LEARNING COLLEGES Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA CC of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA CC of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, NV Houston CC, Houston TX LaGuardia CC, NYC, NY North Shore CC, Danvers, MA Northampton CC, Bethlehem, PA Piedmont Virginia CC, Charlottesville, VA South Seattle CC, Seattle, WA St. Philips’ College, San Antonio, TX Tacoma CC, Tacoma, WA Tallahassee CC, Tallahassee CC York County CC, Wells, ME

23. BREAKING THROUGH COLLEGES North Carolina • Davidson CCC, Lexington • Durham Technical CC, Durham • Forsyth Technical CC, Winston-Salem • Pamlico CC, Grantsboro • Pitt CC, Winterville • South Piedmont CC, Polkton Michigan • Grand Rapids CC, Grand Rapids • Henry Ford CC, Dearborn • Lake Michigan College, Benton Harbor • Mott CC, Flint • Macomb CC, Warren • St. Clair CC, Port Huron

24. Resources Breaking Through: Helping Low-Skilled Adults Enter and Succeed in College and Careers Jobs for the Future (2004) breakingthroughcc.org Reach Higher, America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce. Jun 26, 2008. www.nationalcommissiononadultliteracy.org/report.html North Carolina Insight. Facing Brutal Facts: North Carolina Community Colleges in the New Economic Landscape. by Scott Ralls …www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/External_Affairs/President/brutal%20facts%20article.pdf Adult Learning in Focus: National and State-by-State Data. CAEL and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems www.cael.org/adultlearninginfocus.htm