Publications

  • A Cross-Case Analysis of Career Pathway Programs that Link Low-Skilled Adults to Family-Sustaining Wage Careers

    Released by the University of Minnesota’s National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, this study examines the following guiding research question: What programs, policies and practices, particularly curricular, institutional and support strategies, are currently being implemented to support the transition of low-skilled adults through career pathways that align with postsecondary career and technical education? <more>

  • A Typology of Community College-based Partnership Activities

    This report released by the Community College Research Center presents a typology of the various types of collaborations (or partnerships) in which community colleges can engage to provide guidance for fiscal and regulatory policy change. <more>

  • ABE Career Connections: A Manual for Integrating Adult Basic Education into Career Pathways

    To further the efforts to connecting Adult Basic Education (ABE) with postsecondary career pathways, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), funded the Adult Basic Education Career Connections (ABECC) project in 2006-2010, a demonstration project involving five sites across the country. Between 2008-2009, the sites developed and implemented work plans focused on improving adults’ basic skills to prepare them to enter career pathways. To help other ABE programs undertake similar work, this manual, Adult Career Pathways: Providing a Second Chance in Public Education, provides an overview of career pathways and describes approaches used by the ABECC sites to align basic skills training and partnership efforts with local career pathways. <more>

  • Adult Career Pathways: Providing a Second Chance in Public Education

    Released by the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD), this report is an excerpt of the book Adult Career Pathways: Providing a Second Chance in Public Education. The book aims to challenge educators, community leaders, and business people to work together in finding a solution and addressing the difficulties that prevents many U.S. citizens from obtaining the education that today’s workplace demands. The authors provide readers with practical strategies to develop career pathways for low-skill adults. <more>

  • Assessing Developmental Assessment in Community Colleges

    This publication, a working paper in the Assessment of Evidence Series released by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, broadly examines assessment and placement in community colleges. In this paper, the authors review and analyze the research on assessment and placement in community colleges to: 1) explore consensus regarding the use and the role of placement testing in community colleges; 2) evaluate the research on the most commonly used assessments, especially as a predictor or improver of student outcomes; and 3) consider alternative tools for assessment or models of assessment that might improve student outcomes. <more>

  • Beyond Basic Skills: State Strategies to Connect Low-Skilled Students to an Employer-Valued Postsecondary Education

    This publication gives an overview of low-skilled student success trends in educational programs, the public costs of those trends, and the status of existing services. The authors review six policy recommendations for states. <more>

  • Breaking Through: Helping Low-skilled Adults Enter and Succeed in College and Careers

    This report, released by Jobs For the Future and the National Council for Workforce Education, looks at whether and how community colleges are playing a role in helping improve the chances that low-income, low-skilled adults earn college-level occupational and technical credentials. <more>

  • Bridges to Opportunity for Underprepared Adults–A State Policy Guide for Community College Leaders

    The Community College Central’s guide, Bridges to Opportunity for Underprepared Adults--A State Policy Guide for Community College Leaders, is based on lessons from the Community College Bridges to Opportunity initiative, a multi-year initiative that supports state-level reform to bring about changes in state policy to improve education and employment outcomes for educationally and economically disadvantaged adults in six states: Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, and Washington. <more>

  • Building a Career Pathways System: Promising Practices in Community College-Centered Workforce Development

    The Workforce Strategy Center’s report, Building a Career Pathways System: Promising Practices in Community College-Centered Workforce Development, introduces the career pathways model and outlines the role community colleges can play in establishing and supporting career pathways on a local and regional level. <more>

  • Building a Higher Skilled Workforce: Results and Implications from the BridgeConnect National Survey

    Bridge programs, defined in this report as programs designed to help prepare low-skilled individuals for jobs that require more education, are growing in number across the country. Bridge programs aim to assist students in obtaining the academic and technical skills needed to enter and succeed in postsecondary education and training programs and career track employment. [...] <more>

  • Building Effective Green Energy Programs in Community Colleges

    In this paper, Workforce Strategy Center (WSC) examines how community colleges are leading the field in green energy education by developing green workforce development programs geared toward low-income and low-skilled adults. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for training anticipates widely forecasted growth in green jobs; Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading government consulting firm, reports that green building will support as many as 7.9 million U.S. jobs between 2009 and 2013. <more>

  • Building Pathways to Success for Low-Skill Adult Students: Lessons for Community College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal Student Tracking Study.

    This study, conducted by the staff of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), with assistance from the Community College Research Center, seeks to fill information gaps about older community college students. <more>

  • Certifying Adult Education Students: A Survey of State Directors of Adult Education on Certificate Programs in Use

    This brief summarizes the results of a survey administered in 2010 to state directors of adult education in all 50 states and the District of Columbia commissioned by the Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL). The goal of the survey was to determine the role of the states (via state directors of adult education) in awarding certificates for both academic achievement and for the application of academic skills to employment settings as well as how states were managing their certificate programs. <more>

  • Changing the Odds: Informing Policy with Research on How Adult Learners Succeed

    This paper deepens the discussion started during the symposium Changing the Odds: Informing Policy with Research on How Adult Learners Succeed, hosted by the American Institutes for Research on September 16, 2009. The symposium panelists and participants discussed new approaches to support today’s low-skilled adult learners. Topics included national challenges to improving adult education and workforce development outcomes. <more>

  • Charting a Path: An Exploration of the Statewide Career Pathway Efforts in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin

    The principal question set forth by the Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI) and The Working Poor Families Project was what role could a state play in instituting career pathways? Also examined were what strategies a state could employ to bring colleges, workforce and economic development agencies, community organizations, and employers to the table to accomplish this. To answer these questions, the author explored the statewide career pathway efforts underway in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. <more>

  • Framing New Terrain: Older Adults and Higher Education

    Produced by the American Council on Education (ACE), Framing New Terrain: Older Adults and Higher Education focuses on the needs and challenges facing the ever-increasing number of older adult learners who seek out postsecondary educational opportunities. The report cites statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau indicating that more than 70 million people will be aged 65 and older by 2030. Based on these and other projected demographic changes in the population, Framing New Terrain calls for a reframing of educational policies across various sectors including postsecondary education, workforce development, and community service. <more>

  • Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes

    This study focuses on Prior Learning Assessment, or PLA, as an important but often overlooked strategy for helping adults progress towards a degree. PLA is the process by which many colleges evaluate, for academic credit, the college-level knowledge and skills an individual has gained outside of the classroom (or from non-college instructional programs), including employment, military training/service, travel, hobbies, civic activities, and volunteer service. <more>

  • Getting What We Pay For: State Community College Funding Strategies that Benefit Low-Income, Lower-Skilled Students

    This publication reviews the current state funding allocations for community colleges and makes recommendations for how states might change their funding priorities to improve student outcomes of low-income and/or lower-skilled students. In most states, funding for community colleges has remained steady; however, swelling enrollment has resulted in a net decrease in funding per student. <more>

  • Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018

    This paper offers a projection of jobs and their associated education requirements to provide guidance in aligning postsecondary educational choices with careers. The authors also lay out a case for why postsecondary education and training is critical. The goal of the report is to help individuals successfully navigate transitions by outlining connections between education, training, and occupations. <more>

  • Helping Adult Learners Make the Transition to Postsecondary Education

    As part of a series funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this background paper discusses the challenges Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs must address in developing and implementing transition services. The paper provides compelling evidence showing the importance of postsecondary education for potential employees in the current job market. <more>

  • It’s Not About the Cut Score: Redesigning Placement Assessment Policy to Improve Student Success

    This publication highlights the effect that assessment policies have on student placement rates in community colleges and details state placement assessment policy patterns for developmental education at enrollment; the usage of an approved placement exam (namely, COMPASS, ACCUPLACER, and ASSET); and the usage a standardized cut score or range for placement purposes. <more>

  • Learning to Achieve: A Review of the Research Literature on Serving Adults with Learning Disabilities

    This literature review presents the current knowledge base on adults with learning disabilities (LD), and served as a foundational document in the development of the Learning to Achieve professional development training program. The six topics covered in this review are: assessment, English language learners, accommodations, teaching methods, transition, and impact of LD. <more>

  • Making it Worth the Stay: Findings from the New England Learner Persistence Project

    This study examines the effectiveness and impact of different persistence strategies through data collected by the New England Learner Persistence (NELP) Project. Eighteen adult education programs from five New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island) participated in the NELP Project. <more>

  • Moving Beyond the GED: Low-Skilled Adult Transition to Occupational Pathways at Community Colleges Leading to Family-Supporting Careers (Research Synthesis)

    This literature review is part of a broader study which focuses on the role of community colleges in providing education, specifically occupational training. Exemplary community college programs that employ innovative curriculum and instructional practices in order to help low-skilled adults attain a family sustainable wage were identified through this work. <more>

  • Pathways to Results Project Profile Compendium

    This publication examines Illinois’ Pathways to Results project, implemented in 2009 to improve the state’s existing Programs of Study initiative. Illinois’ Programs of Study is a key component of the state’s efforts to increase college and career readiness through integrating and aligning curriculum and instruction. Pathways to Results engages secondary schools, community colleges, four-year universities, adult education providers, businesses and industries, and other organizations to further improve the Programs of Study efforts. Pathways to Results is designed as a five-phased process for local practitioners and partners to engage in systematic problem-solving that identifies solutions to improve student outcomes. <more>

  • Performance Incentives to Improve Community College Completion: Learning from Washington State’s Student Achievement Initiative

    This state policy brief gives an in-depth overview of the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI), a Washington State initiative to create performance incentive policies for community colleges. SAI employs data and performance funding to motivate colleges to implement systemic changes in practice that lead to improved student outcomes. <more>

  • Policies to Promote Adult Education and Postsecondary Alignment

    This policy brief outlines approaches to help adults with lower skills and/or limited English proficiency earn postsecondary credentials that open doors to family-supporting jobs. Prepared for the National Commission on Adult Literacy, the report argues that the widespread problem of low-wage work and looming skill shortages are critical reasons for aligning federal and state adult education, job training, and postsecondary education policies. <more>

  • Promoting Learner Transitions to Postsecondary Education and Work: Developing Academic Readiness Skills from the Beginning

    Released by the CAELA Network, this brief describes the importance of teaching adult learners postsecondary and workplace readiness skills to transition to and participate successfully in higher levels of education or employment. The target audience is state adult education staff, program administrators, and practitioners who work with adult English language learners (ELLs). <more>

  • Returning to Learning: Adults’ Success in College is Key to America’s Future

    As part of the Emerging Pathways project funded by Lumina Foundation, this paper focuses on the need to recognize adult learners as a diverse and complex set of individuals with widely divergent aspirations, levels of preparation, and degrees of risk . <more>

  • Scaling Up Learning Communities: The Experience of Six Community Colleges

    In an effort to help academically unprepared students improve their ability to complete their studies, community colleges are increasingly adopting a “learning communities” approach. This approach, long used in four-year colleges, co-enrolls a cohort of students together in two or more courses. Models often feature thematically linked courses, aligned curriculum and support services, and [...] <more>

  • Serving Adult Learners in Higher Education Principals of Effectiveness

    Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) partnered with American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) and conducted a benchmarking study of six highly adult learning focused colleges and universities then transformed the benchmarking study findings into principles of effective practice. This publication, Serving Adult Learners in Higher Education Principals of Effectiveness, introduces eight "Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners", which describe processes and approaches which could be adopted by colleges seeking to improve access by and quality for adult students. <more>

  • Setting Up Success in Developmental Education: How State Policy Can Help Community Colleges Improve Student Outcomes

    This brief released by Jobs for the Future describes how the fifteen states participating in Achieving the Dream, a national initiative to improve student success in community colleges, concentrated their policy efforts in four key areas. <more>

  • Shared Goals, Common Ground: State and Local Coordination and Planning to Strengthen Adult Basic Education Services (AECAP Final Report)

    This document is the final report from the Adult Basic Education State Delivery System Strategic Planning and Service Provision Demonstration Project, also known as the Adult Education Coordination and Planning (AECAP) project. AECAP tested processes for state and local planning and interagency coordination as a way of facilitating the expansion and quality of adult education and workforce services in six states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, and Washington). This final report describes the planning processes and technical assistance activities that were conducted during the project <more>

  • State and Local Coordination and Planning to Strengthen Adult Basic Education Services: AECAP Guide for State Leaders

    The Adult Education Coordination and Planning project (AECAP) tested processes for state and local planning and interagency coordination in six states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, and Washington) within 12 local pilot sites. The project aimed at providing state adult education policymakers with skills and knowledge to expand their resources, work collaboratively with other state policymakers whose programs serve undereducated and economically disadvantaged adults, and enhance the capabilities of local adult basic education (ABE) programs and their partner agencies to work together effectively. <more>

  • Systematic Reviews of Research: Postsecondary Transitions – Identifying Effective Models and Practices

    This paper reports on a systematic review of research on transition programs designed to help disadvantaged populations move into and through postsecondary education. The purpose of this literature review is to (1) describe the various transition interventions that exist around postsecondary education, (2) assess the inferential strength of the research on intervention programs which seek to ease transitions into and through postsecondary education and work, and (3) determine the impact that these programs have had on successful student transition. <more>

  • The Career Pathways How-To Guide

    Released by the Workforce Strategy Center (WSC), this report is the second in the “Pathways to Competitiveness” series. It sets out a step-by-step protocol for building career pathways at the local level and discusses how state-level officials can support these efforts. <more>

  • The New England ABE-To-College Transition Project Evaluation Report

    In spring 2003, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation commissioned Julia Gittleman, Ph.D., to evaluate its New England ABE-to-College Transition Project, document the key findings, and provide recommendations for program improvement and further evaluation. The College Transition Project is a comprehensive college transition model that aims to bridge the gap between GED-level and college-level academic work through direct instruction and counseling that addresses the social barriers experienced by nontraditional adult students. <more>

  • Transition Matters: Community College to Bachelor’s Degree

    This report details the proceedings of the Advisory Committee’s Community College Symposium, held on December 10, 2007 in Washington, D.C. The symposium featured community college leaders who described efforts to overcome barriers that adult learners face. The information in this document is a valuable resource to community college leaders at all levels – federal, state, and institutional – who desire change and seek to implement strategies that enhance the community college pathway to a bachelor’s degree. <more>

  • Turning the Tide: Five Years of Achieving the Dream in Community Colleges

    The Achieving the Dream initiative, launched in 2004, aims to improve success among community college students through building a “culture of evidence” — a culture in which colleges routinely use student data to examine students’ performance and identify barriers to academic progress. As a participating community college in the initiative, it is expected that this evidence would be utilized to develop intervention strategies to improve student outcomes, inform further research on student progress, and bring effective programs to scale. <more>

  • Working Together: Aligning State Systems and Policies for Individual and Regional Prosperity

    This paper, presented by the Workforce Strategy Center, examinees policy and system improvements that state policymakers can make to enhance outcomes for students in the educational pipeline and increase the supply of knowledge workers. <more>