Improving Transitions from Adult Basic Education to Postsecondary Education and Training

1. Improving Transitions from Adult Basic Education to Postsecondary Education and Training Ed Strong Corporation for a Skilled Workforce Presentation to Maryland’s Sector Academy

2. General Overview of Adult Learning • Introduction • State Strategies to Improve Transitions • Conclusion/Questions

3. Introduction • Each year more than 1.2 million people drop out of high school (NCAL, 2008) • 20% of American adults have low prose literacy (ETS, 2007) • 46% of adults have no college experience and 65.6% lack a college degree (U.S. Census, 2007) • More than 24 million adults speak English “less than very well” (U.S. Census, 2007) • The knowledge economy increasingly requires postsecondary education and training (ETS, 2007) • In 2004, males with a BA earned 96% more than those with just a HSD

4. What are States Doing? • Align Adult Basic Education and Postsecondary Policies • Connect Basic Skills Curriculums with Relevant Skills • Partner for Comprehensive Service Delivery • Link Learning with Opportunities for Employment • Increase Adult Basic Education Program Flexibility and Access • Collect Data Based on Transitions and Employment

5. Align Adult Basic Education and Postsecondary Policies • Promote Dual Enrollment strategies between basic skills and postsecondary education and training programs • Build Career Pathways between basic skills courses and postsecondary programs • Develop clear ArticulationAgreements between basic skills and postsecondary education programs • Cross-walk assessments and entry/exit standards across programs • Example: Ohio Career-Technical Credit Transfer Initiative (CT2)

6. Connect Basic Skills Curriculums with Relevant Skills • Contextualize basic skills courses to in-demand sectors • Integrate basic skills curriculums with soft-skills development • Make postsecondary education and work readiness the goal of basic skills curriculums • Foster entrepreneurial thinking through basic skills development • Example: I-BEST in Washington State

7. Partner for Comprehensive Service Delivery • Support student success by partnering with wrap-around service providers, increasing student access to child care, transportation and other services • Partner to increase program capacity and service delivery • Share information across agencies and programs • Develop regional adult learning strategies • Work with employers to ensure that learners are gaining skills needed in the workplace • Example: Michigan’s Adult Learning Transformation

8. Link Learning with Opportunities for Employment • Partner with employers to ensure that there are employment opportunities available to students • Provide academic and career counseling to guide learners along the pathway to their goals • Ensure that programs lead to industry-recognized credentials • Example: California Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS)

9. Increase Adult Basic Education Program Flexibility and Access • Offer programs during non-traditional and traditional hours • Utilize open entry/open exit programming to allow learners to enter and exit programs easily • Allow students to enroll in distance learning programs • Address participants’ barriers to participation through intensive wrap-around services • Make adult basic education affordable to low-income adult learners • Example: Project IDEAL

10. Collect Data Based on Transitions and Employment • Ensure that transitions and employment are the goals of adult basic education • Establish shared and linked data procedures across adult basic education and postsecondary education programs • Utilize measures that focus on transitions to postsecondary education, employment, wage increases and improvements in basic skills • Longitudinally track participants through adult basic education, postsecondary education and training and into employment • Example: Florida Data Warehouse

11. Questions?