College & Career Readiness

  • Pathways to Results Project Profile Compendium

    Found In: Publications

    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>

  • Assessing Developmental Assessment in Community Colleges

    Found In: Publications

    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>

  • ABE to Credentials: A Breaking Through Initiative

    Found In: Transition Initiatives

    ABE to Credentials is a four-year community college initiative launched in 2011 that seeks to increase credential attainment through scaling up the successes of the Breaking Through Initiative and Washington State’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST). <more>

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

    Found In: Publications

    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>

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

    Found In: Publications

    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>

  • Guide to Adult Education for Work: Transforming Adult Education to Grow a Skilled Workforce

    Found In: Tools

    Based on research from the One Step Forward Initiative and recommendations from the National Commission on Adult Literacy, this Guide outlines specific steps for transforming adult education programs by stepping up service delivery to individuals who lack the fundamental literacy, English language, and work readiness skills needed for family sustaining employment and career advancement. <more>

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

    Found In: Publications

    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>

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

    Found In: Publications

    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>

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

    Found In: Publications

    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>

  • Completion by Design

    Found In: Transition Initiatives

    Completion by Design is an initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Success Strategy, a five-year community college reform effort focused on increasing the number of low-income young adults’ progressing to postsecondary credential and degree completion. The Completion by Design initiative will specifically work with community colleges in order to significantly increase [...] <more>