Strategies for Developing Effective Community College Partnerships to Support Career Pathways Judith A. Alamprese Princi

1. Strategies for Developing Effective Community College Partnerships to Support Career Pathways Judith A. Alamprese Principal Scientist, Abt Associates 2013 NCWE Conference October 16, 2013 judy_alamprese@abtassoc.com

2. Today’s Presentation • Role of partners in adult basic skills career pathways programs • Strategies for developing and maintaining partnerships • Case studies of community colleges’ partnerships to support basic skills career pathways • Policies to strengthen partnerships

3. Data Sources for Presentation Abt Associates work on: • Adult Education Coordination and Planning Project, US Dept. of Education (2004-2009) • Oregon Pathways for Adult Basic Skills Transition to Education and Work (OPABS), Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (2006-2013) • Reading for Transition to Postsecondary Education Project, US Department of Education (2007-2012) • Policy to Performance Project (with Kratos Learning), US Department of Education (2009-2012) • Points of Entry Project (with Kratos Learning), Open Society Foundations, 2011-2013)

4. Why Community College Partnerships for Adult Basic Skills Career Pathways? • Linchpin to career pathways services—linking systems and services • Multiple components of coordinated services required for effective adult basic skills (ABS) career pathways • Can result in leveraged expertise and resources that support development and delivery of local career pathways services

6. Partnerships to Support Local Career Pathways Partnerships WithinCommunity CollegeExternal to Community College Career & Technical Education (CTE) American Job Centers AdultBasic Skills Non-College AdultBasic Skills Academic Depts. Local Employers & Business Advising & Counseling Community Agencies Other Departments

7. Role of Partners in ABS Career Pathways • Design and deliver integrated basic skills and occupational instruction • Collaboration between basic skills and CTE or academic faculty in designing contextualized courses • Co-teaching of courses by basic skills and postsecondary faculty • Use of CTE guest speakers in ABS transition courses • Provide career awareness and planning • Coordination between ABS (within, outside of college) and college advising or counseling departments • Coordination between ABS (within college) and other college departments offering college orientation and success courses

8. Role of Partnerships in ABE Career Pathways • Provide mentoring, shadowing, and internships • Coordination between ABS and CTE/local employers • Place clients into jobs • Coordination between ABS and employment services, American Job Centers

9. Strategies for Developing and Maintaining Partnerships • Forming partnerships • Developing strong interpersonal relationships • Building a process and structure

10. Strategies for Developing and Maintaining Partnerships • Forming partnerships • Set goals and objectives that are concrete and attainable • Develop a shared vision with agreed-upon objectives and strategy • Examine data to identify and/or support shared vision • Developing strong interpersonal relationships • Establish mutual respect, understanding, and trust • Work to ensure that benefits of partnership are perceived as offsetting costs—what partners have to gain in working together is greater or equal to the effort they exert • Be able to compromise and be flexible

11. Strategies for Developing and Maintaining Partnerships • Building a process and structure • Ensure that partners “own” the process and structure • Involve multiple organizational levels in the partnership • Develop clear roles and guidelines • Provide feedback on progress and outcomes from partnerships

12. Case Studies of Partnerships to Support ABS Career Pathways • Virginia: Plugged In VA—PIVA model (state and local partnerships; college ABS and business) • Washington: Renton Technical College’s Allied Health I-BEST program (college ABS and CTE) • Maryland: Montgomery College’s ESL Customer Service Course (college ESL and American Job Center) • Minnesota: Rochester School District and Rochester Technical College • California: Elk Grove Adult and Community Education, Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC), and Cosumnes River College (CRC)

13. PluggedIn VA (PIVA) Career Pathways Model • Intervention developed by local ABE community college grantee and ABE professional development provider • Initial intent to develop technology skills of adults in southwestern VA to meet industry needs along with GED credentialing; aligned with governor’s initiative to encourage public-private partnerships & state’s promotion of GED completion • Local development team needed to customize curriculum to address industry’s needs • Four components of PIVA services (6-month intensive courses) • GED curriculum/Career Readiness Certificate • Occupationally contextualized curriculum (e.g., Allied Health) • Professional soft skills • 21st Century skills • Earn GED, Microsoft Certification, industry certification, community college credit

14. VA State Expansion of ABE Career Pathways • State ABE office and state partners participated in US Dept. of Education’s Policy to Performance Project • State Vision: ABE strategic plan outlined vision of ABE learners participation in further education, employment; positioned ABE as part of the state’s career pathways system • Initial Partnerships: Strengthened partnership with Virginia Community College System (VCCS); worked within state Dept. of Education & other agencies on longitudinal state tracking system

15. VA State Expansion of ABE Career Pathways • Local Career Pathways Services: Expanded PIVA under Policy to Performance Project—two additional pilot sites • Provided technical assistance • Collected implementation and outcome data • Technical Assistance • Developed PIVA implementation manual • Identified need to provide technical assistance in local partnership development, work with business & industry to customize curriculum (ways to leverage developed curricula)

16. VA State Expansion of ABE Career Pathways • Policies • New Request for Application (RFA) for ABE services for 2012—moved to regional service delivery model in 8 areas; included career pathways requirements • RFA: partnerships with employers, local workforce systems; promotes integration of ABE transition activities into operation of ABE services • Leveraging Resources through Ongoing Partnerships • Virginia Community College System (TAACCCT grant)—providing career navigators who are expected to work with ABE learners • ABE working Virginia Employment Commission (TAACCCT grant) & VCCC to expand PIVA to lower skill levels of learners • Line item in governor’s budget to fund PIVA sites—planning, start-up, & maintenance in all 8 regions

17. WA: Renton Technical College’s Allied Health I-BEST Program • Approach for accelerating instructional time for ABS learners to obtain Allied Health credentials • Staff Partners: Nursing faculty and ABS reading faculty • Instruction: • Use of Reading Apprenticeship® (RA) in context of Allied Health professions • RA used in ABE instruction and in I-BEST Allied Health courses—Certified Nursing Assistant and Phlebotomy • ABE and nursing instructors both trained in RA and co-teach Allied Health courses • Emphasizes understanding medical vocabulary, navigating medical textbooks, chart writing • Includes college preparation class (note taking, time management, college navigation)

18. MD: Montgomery College’s ESOL Customer Service Course • Goals: Increase ESOL learners’ potential for employment and provide educational opportunities for ESOL clients at Job Center • Data Examined: • ESOL clients’ employment goals • Local labor market data • Community college’s training programs • Partners: • Montgomery College ESOL instructors • Montgomery Works Sales and Service Learning Center staff

19. MD: Montgomery College’s ESL Customer Service Course • Partnership Activities: • Developed new recruitment strategies at Job Center involving college • Revised Sales and Service Course developed by National Retail Federation to increase ESOL content (MD ESOL standards) in context of sales and service applications; incorporated job readiness content • Offered college course at Sales and Service Learning Center—8 weeks, 100 hrs. • Developed new component “Support for Education and Employment”—facilitate use of Job Center and job interviews • College participated in job fairs conducted by Sales and Service Learning Center Staff • Outcomes: • CASAS Reading and Listening Assessments: Pre-post gains after 100 hours of instruction were statistically significant • 43% of clients looking for work were hired or received a job offer

20. Rochester School District and Rochester Technical College • Goals: Transition ABE participants to postsecondary education • Partners: ABE Program, Rochester, MN School District and Rochester Technical College (RTC)’s Developmental Education Department • Partnership Activities: • Sharing of reading faculty to facilitate preparation of GED learners’ development of college-ready reading skills • ABE program’s delivery of college and career awareness course that is co-taught by ABE and college instructors • ABE program part of RTC’s FastTrak state grant to develop enhanced CNA program for the Mayo Clinic

21. Elk Grove ABE Program, Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, and Cosumnes River College • Goals: Transition inmates from GED program to postsecondary education and employment through the implementation of career pathways services • Partners: Elk Grove ABE Program, Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) and Cosumnes River College (CRC) • Partnership Activities: • Elk Grove ABE provided ABE and GED instruction, and case management at RCCC (facilitated by Sheriff’s Department) • CRC sent two outreach specialists to RCCC monthly to provide overview of college, assist learners with college assessment & application • Articulation agreements set up between CRC and RCCC for RCCC’s Horticulture and Welding courses

22. Policies to Strengthen Partnerships • State policies or guidance to support career pathways services (depend on state approach to policy) • WIA, Title II—state ABS office can embed requirements for partnerships to support career pathways in Request for Application for local adult education services—e.g., specify types of partners and required partnership activities • State partner activities: • Participate in longitudinal database development & implementation for tracking ABS participants • Use WIA, Title II, State Leadership monies or monies leveraged from partners to test “models” of career pathways services in local programs

23. Policies to Strengthen Partnerships • State policies or guidance to support career pathways services at local level • Target population (Pre-Bridge, Bridge); whole system of learners (overlapping populations with partners) • Services to provide in addition to instruction (requires partners’ expertise) • Instructional services • College & career awareness/readiness • Accelerated instruction (expedited time & level of difficulty) • Dual enrollment in ABE/ESL and CTE courses • Data collection requirements—states developing longitudinal data systems to track postsecondary outcomes can promote local use of tracking systems to monitor services