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Rising employer demand for skilled workers has driven efforts to better align occupational training programs to industry needs. Yet, even as the demand for skilled workers increases, less than half of students who enter occupational training programs receive a credential within six years. Community colleges are working to find faster and more effective ways to train those in need of basic skills instruction in math, reading, or job skills. Traditionally, basic skills courses are offered in a sequence that must be completed before students can begin college-level occupational training. However, most students referred to basic skills training never enroll in college-level courses. As its name implies, Washington State's "Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training (I-BEST)" provides integrated basic skills and occupational training that allows students to complete their training program faster, and provides supports designed to ensure students stay engaged in training. Washington State's "I-BEST" program was developed by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and was first implemented in the 2006-2007 school year. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "I-BEST" on education and labor market outcomes. The WWC identified 12 studies of "I-BEST." Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "I-BEST" on students in career and technical education programs--including African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and White students--in a variety of school settings, including urban, suburban, and rural community colleges. This intervention brief provides an overview of the full report. [For the full report, see ED607980. For the Intervention Report Snapshot, see ED607982.]

Rising employer demand for skilled workers has driven efforts to better align occupational training programs to industry needs. Yet, even as the demand for skilled workers increases, less than half of students who enter occupational training programs receive a credential within six years. Community colleges are working to find faster and more effective ways to train those in need of basic skills instruction in math, reading, or job skills. Traditionally, basic skills courses are offered in a sequence that must be completed before students can begin college-level occupational training. However, most students referred to basic skills training never enroll in college-level courses. As its name implies, Washington State's "Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training (I-BEST)" provides integrated basic skills and occupational training that allows students to complete their training program faster, and provides supports designed to ensure students stay engaged in training. Washington State's "I-BEST" program was developed by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and was first implemented in the 2006-2007 school year. Since its creation, "I-BEST" has been replicated in other locations, sometimes under different names. "Accelerating Opportunity" was launched in four states in 2011 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With support from the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF), the "Accelerating Connections to Employment (ACE)" program was implemented in four states in 2013. Both "Accelerating Opportunity" and "ACE" programs note that they are based on the "I-BEST" model, with the same core commitment to integrated basic skills and occupational training. Supports provided by these programs differ slightly, and these differences are described in this report. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "I-BEST" on education and labor market outcomes. The WWC identified 12 studies of "I-BEST." Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "I-BEST" on students in career and technical education programs--including African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and White students--in a variety of school settings, including urban, suburban, and rural community colleges. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED607981. For the Intervention Report Snapshot, see ED607982.]

This report describes the implementation and early impacts of the Washington State Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program at three colleges: Bellingham Technical College, Everett Community College, and Whatcom Community College. I-BEST is a nationally known program that aims to increase access to and completion of college-level occupational training in a variety of in-demand occupational areas. Its signature feature is team teaching by a basic skills instructor and an occupational instructor during at least 50 percent of occupational training class time. Colleges operated I-BEST programs in one or more occupational areas including automotive, electrical, office skills, nursing, precision machining, and welding. I-BEST is one of nine career pathways programs being evaluated under the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) study sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families. The I-BEST program was launched in Washington in the 2006-07 academic year by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. I-BEST aims to help students in basic skills programs (e.g., Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language), who otherwise might have spent time in remediation, to enroll and succeed in college-level occupational training courses. Each I-BEST program is a course of study within a structured career pathway, and it offers students the opportunity to obtain credentials and college credits in in-demand occupations. Besides the team teaching, the I-BEST program evaluated in PACE also included two enhancements: financial support for tuition and associated materials; and additional advising services focused on supporting students' academic needs, navigating college procedures, and career planning. Using a rigorous research design, the study found that the I-BEST programs at the three colleges increased participation in college level courses, number of credits earned and credential attainment. Future reports will examine whether the I-BEST program resulted in gains in employment and earnings.

The main parameters of state self-employment assistance (SEA) programs for unemployed workers were tested in two experimental demonstrations authorized by the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act. The Washington State and Massachusetts Unemployment Insurance (UI) Self-Employment Demonstrations evaluated the ability of the employment security and economic development systems to work together and help UI recipients create their own jobs by starting businesses. The classical experimental design randomly assigned applicants to either a treatment or a control group. Design differences between the two demonstrations were a requirement in the Massachusetts authorizing legislation that eliminated those with a low predicted probability of exhausting UI benefits and eligibility of Washington participants to receive a lump-sum payment of remaining benefits. The demonstrations were initiated in six Washington and seven Massachusetts sites. Relatively few new UI claimants in both states chose to pursue self-employment when the opportunity arose. Findings from a follow-up survey approximately 31 months after assignment in Massachusetts and approximately 33 months in Washington, indicated that both demonstrations increased the likelihood of self-employment, increased the total time in employment, and reduced the length of unemployment. Both programs were cost effective from the nonparticipant and government perspectives. (Appendixes include definitions of independent variables, significant coefficients, and effects on subgroups.) (YLB)

The first and longest section of this publication is a comparative analysis summarizing the impacts of the two Unemployment Insurance (UI) Self-Employment Demonstration Projects in Washington State and Massachusetts. Based on the first wave of post-project follow-up surveys, this evaluation report provides results on the net impacts of each project on the following: business formation and survival rates; participants' employment and earnings from both self-employment and wage and salary employment; participants' duration of unemployment and receipt of UI benefits; and job creation. In the Washington and Massachusetts demonstrations, self-employment assistance promoted rapid reemployment of project participants, directly increased job creation, and significantly increased participants' total employment. One additional result is reported for the Massachusetts demonstration: self-employment assistance significantly increased total earnings of participants. The second part of the publication focuses on the recent national legislation authorizing self-employment assistance (SEA) programs. This section includes the text of the legislation itself, North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act SEA Programs, and a Department of Labor program letter providing guidance to the states in developing their SEA program. A listing of 80 papers in the UI Occasional Paper Series is appended. (YLB)

The Washington State Self-Employment and Enterprise Demonstration (SEED) was the first federally sponsored self-employment demonstration program for unemployed workers in the United States. Its primary purpose was to determine the viability of self-employment as a reemployment option for recipients of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits who do not have immediate job prospects. The SEED Demonstration was implemented in six sites, representing both rural and urban areas of Washington, from September 1989 through March 1991. It was implemented as a classical experiment, in which eligible program applicants were randomly assigned either to a treatment group (N=755) or to a control group (N=752). Those assigned to the treatment group were offered business startup training, a waiver of the UI work search requirement, and periodic payments equal to their regular UI benefits. Those who achieved all project requirements were also eligible for a lump-sum payment equal to their remaining UI benefits. Interim impacts were based on data from a follow-up telephone survey approximately 21 months after assignment. Results indicated the SEED Demonstration dramatically increased the likelihood of being self-employed (by 25 percentage points), accelerated entry into self-employment (by 6 months), and increased earnings from self-employment (by about $3,000). It delayed reemployment in a wage and salary job (by 1 month) and reduced earnings from such jobs (by about $2,500). (An appendix defines independent variables.) (YLB)

Rising employer demand for skilled workers has driven efforts to better align occupational training programs to industry needs. Yet, even as the demand for skilled workers increases, less than half of students who enter occupational training programs receive a credential within six years. Community colleges are working to find faster and more effective ways to train those in need of basic skills instruction in math, reading, or job skills. Traditionally, basic skills courses are offered in a sequence that must be completed before students can begin college-level occupational training. However, most students referred to basic skills training never enroll in college-level courses. As its name implies, Washington State's "Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training (I-BEST)" provides integrated basic skills and occupational training that allows students to complete their training program faster, and provides supports designed to ensure students stay engaged in training. Washington State's "I-BEST" program was developed by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and was first implemented in the 2006-2007 school year. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "I-BEST" on education and labor market outcomes. The WWC identified 12 studies of "I-BEST." Three of these studies meet WWC standards. Findings on "I-BEST" from three studies that meet WWC standards are shown on this snapshot. A table reports an effectiveness rating, the improvement index, and the number of studies and students that contributed to the findings. The improvement index is a measure of the intervention's effect on an outcome. This intervention snapshot provides a brief summary of the full report. [For the full report, see ED607980. For the Intervention Brief, see ED607981.]

The federal Experimental Schools (ES) project was not successful in the rural school district of Quilcene, Washington. The ES project was not helped by the pervasive and powerful social split between "public employees" and "locals." Each group had its own world-views, values, symbols, and life styles, and the school provided an arena for their conflict. The schools also served to emphasize and solidify Quilcene's other major social dividers: age-grade and sex. However, school sports activities provided vital school-community coherence. The ES program caused Quilcene residents to feel the pressure of external evaluation and to resent the externally imposed requirements. Still, once the program was in its implementation year, enthusiasm was at a peak. Much-needed plant improvements were made and many new curriculum components (reading improvement, expanded vocational education, career awareness) were implemented. Thereafter, teacher morale remained high but general enthusiasm for the program faded. Administrative conflict continued, resulting in an administrative style change but not a structural change. The sociocultural messages delivered in the school were the same. The cosmetic changes did not really affect education in the district but perhaps less tangible results of the ES program did. (SB)