Adult Education Transitions - NIIC 2010

8/8/2019 Adult Education Transitions - NIIC 2010

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Adult Education Transitions

Summary of the issue: The demand for adult ESOL has been growing: With comprehensiveimmigration reform, one study showed there would be a demand for an additional 2.5 billion instructional

hours of ESOL, on top of the current 1.6 billion instructional hours. If the Dream Act passes, manyadditional youth and adults will enter the ABE/ESOL system. Minorities and other nontraditional studentsare increasingly the norm in public community college context, but this doesnt mean colleges are preparedto serve them well.

Carolyn Teich, from the Office of Economic Development of the American Association ofCommunity Colleges, provided national statistics about community college students. In 2007, there were11.8 million students enrolled in community college. Of those, 6.8 million were enrolled in credit classesand 5 million in noncredit. The average age of students was 28. Forty-two percent (42%) of communitycollege students were the first in their family to attend college, and minorities represented forty percent(40%) of community college students.

Community Colleges are open enrollment, but students need to test into credit-bearing classes.Nationally, eighty percent (80%) of students need remediation before they can enroll in credit-bearingclasses. Since 2007 almost all community colleges have experienced double-digit increases, for variousreasons: High school students cant get into the state 4-year school because it is full, or someone in thestudents household has lost a job, or their 529 plan lost money. These factors have led to an influx of verybright kids into credit programs, students who 10 years ago wouldnt have been found in communitycollege, increasing the gap between more-prepared and less-prepared students.

Adding to the complexity of the issue is that there are at least 50 different community collegesystems in the country, with funding looking very different in different states. For example, Texas funds

non-credit courses the same as credit courses, but in other states there is no funding for non-credit courses.

Johan Uvin, Senior Advisor at the Office of Vocational and Adult Education of the US Departmentof Education, told participants of an almost-complete two-year descriptive study of adult educationtransitions by the American Institutes for Research and OVAE. The study finds that successfullytransitioning English Language Learners are diverse ethnically, diverse in their prior L1 experiences, areable to transfer skills from their L1, are motivated, and have clear goals. Johan said there is a great need forresearch: As of yet there is no hard evidence from random-assignment studies that anything we are doingworks. He mentioned two articles about adult education transitions:

Zafft, C., Kallenbach, S., & Spohn, J. (2006). Transitioning adults to college: Adult basic education program

models. NCSALL Occasional Paper. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mathews-Aydinli, J. (2006). Supporting Adult English Language Learners' Transitions to Postsecondary Education. Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) brief.


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Promising Practices or Developments: The New England College Transitions Network at WorldEducation supports ABE staff, programs, and state agencies in establishing and strengthening ABE-to-college transition services through technical assistance, professional development, collegial sharing,advocacy and increased visibility for this critical sector of the adult basic education system. Sandy Goodman,

Director of the New England College Transition Network, presented about Program Design andInstruction for ESOL Transitions Learners. Adult student readiness for college encompasses a range offactors: Academic readiness and study skills (self awareness), college knowledge (admissions, financial aid,navigating forms and processes), career and education plan (students do better if they have a clear goal), andpersonal readiness (child care backup plans, transportation, financial issues).

Sandy listed the following key strategies and practices at community-college ESOL programs,derived from the ESOL model in Transitioning adults to college: Adult basic education program models (Zafft,Kallenbach and Spohn, above) and from Passing the Torch: Strategies for Innovation in Community College ESL(Chisman, F., and Crandall, J.): 1) Managed enrollmentmake program look more like college byenrolling by semesters, 2) Modeling collegeattendance expectations, syllabus, 3) Partnerships

Partnering with post-secondary educational institution, or with employers, 4) Dual enrollmentSomeprograms have worked out relationships with colleges so that a student can have access to campus supportsor classes while still enrolled in ABE, 5) Academic EnglishTeach terminology, 6) Integrated instruction,7) Career and educational counseling, 8) Wrap-around supportsback-up plans for barriers such as childcare, 9) Spanish GED, 10) Extended learningPractice outside the classroom, 11) ContextualizedInstructionbest model out of Washington State, integration of content expertise in a technical careerpathway with English language skills.

Julio Rodriguez is the Manager of Program Services at the Illinois Office of Employment andTraining. He described the Shifting Gears Initiative, which was an Illinois-based multi-state project tostudy effective instruction for career pathways. The focus was how to leverage the two systems of education

and workforce development. For the state policymakers, the goal of both ABE and community college issustainable employment. The state matched funding from the Joyce Foundation.

Each state is different in what policy looks like on the ground, which complicates comparisonsamong states. Illinois doesnt have a centralized community college systemthere are 46 independentcolleges, and in Illinois, state funding for adult education is almost nonexistent, in spite of the fact that 44%of Illinoiss adult population has no college at all.

The Shifting Gears project was a series of pilots which created a common definition of bridgeprograms for the state. The common definitions enabled them to use WIA funding at community collegesto support career pathways.

Julio referred participants to the website of the Shifting Gears project, part of the IllinoisCommunity College Board website, for additional details and materials:http://websrvr1.state.il.us/shifting_gears.html

Carolyn Teich asked the question, What are great programs, and can we scale them? She gaveWashington States Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) as an example. According an I-BEST curriculum document, that program began as a pilot at 10 community and technical colleges and has


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since been implemented in all 34 colleges in the Washington State Board for Community and TechnicalColleges (SBCTC) system. The program was developed in response to studies performed by theWashington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges SBCTC that indicated that students wereunlikely to complete a long-term basic skills class and then successfully transition to college level vocational

programs. The I-BEST model challenges the traditional notion that students must first complete adult basiceducation or ESL before moving to college level course work. The I-BEST model pairs ESL or ABEinstructors with vocational or content area instructors to co-teach college level vocational courses.

Carolyn mentioned a new Community College Consortium, with a website in development.

Johan Uvin told participants of efforts at the federal level to advance the work around adult ESOLcollege transitions. Priorities at OVAE include access to college and career pathways, access to effectiveteachers and methods, and promoting innovation. There is much to be done to build stronger linkages withthe workforce development system, including developing performance standards for career pathways,increasing employer engagement, and adding work/career readiness as a measure. Many states are taking

action to further adult ESOL transition to college. Policy to Performance: Transitioning Adults toOpportunity, a many-state initiative, assists states in increasing college and career readiness among low-skilled adults and adult learners.

Issues for the future:

The Shifting Gears initiative in Illinois showed a need for supportive services to help adultstudents navigate through community college and beyond. There was discussion with thecommunity college board to increase reimbursement for bridge programs versus traditional ABEprograms, because of additional costs of bridge programs. What does case management mean for

the community college system? Who pays for it? There are exciting state-based initiatives such as I-BEST. How can we scale them? In many states, community colleges have trouble connecting with the Workforce Investment

Boards (WIBs). Julio suggested that in states without a centralized community college system,connection is by individual relationships at the program level. Partners need to articulate clearlywhere the handoff occurs and how reimbursement happens. On the WIA side there is a lot offrustration about how long things take. Educators want training to be applicable outside of aparticular narrow job, but training and education are always secondary to employment inworkforce development.

Every state has the same challenge of negotiating relationships among ABE, community colleges,and the WIB. Who owns these learners, and whos going to pay for them? Negotiation needs tohappen on Federal level.

Stackable credentials are new development in community colleges. Students can go in and out ofcollege, adding to credentials.

MOUs between a CBO and a college are a lever for funders, but their formality can hold apartnership back.


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Teacher quality and effectiveness is an underlying issue. Researchshows that the classroom teacher is a strong predictor of success. Strong local leadership is neededto help programs recruit, identify, and support effective teachers.

Moderator: Margie Mc Hugh, Co-Director of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy,Migration Policy Institute

Panelists:Sandy Goodman, New England College Transitions Director, World EducationJulio Rodriguez, Manager of Program Services, Office of Employment and Training, State of IllinoisCarolyn Teich, Office of Economic Development, American Association of Community CollegesJohan Uvin, Senior Advisor, OVAE, US DOE

Documents

Adult Education Transitions - NIIC 2010