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The purpose of this study was to examine how adult education providers in Chicago, Houston, and Miami are designing and implementing career pathways (CP) programming, especially for adults who are immigrants or have barriers to employment and education. The researcher-practitioner partnership included the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University and three community partners serving as liaisons for each city: Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition, Houston Center for Literacy, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The project included three research phases: (1) a survey of adult education providers (n=147); (2) focus groups with adult education providers (n=18); and (3) case studies of six programs (two per city). The report includes detailed findings from survey data regarding adult education and career pathways provision in each city (e.g., organizational type, funding sources, enrollment, types of classes and services, occupational sectors); coordination and planning across CP providers (e.g., opportunities for planning and coordination, perceived effectiveness); student characteristics and demographics; program design and delivery (e.g., partnerships, entry requirements, instructional approaches, support services); student outcomes (e.g., type of outcome measure). Findings from the qualitative data focus on program design and implementation (e.g., contextualized instruction, support services, access for lower-level students); practices and policies that shape CP programming (e.g., partnerships, measurement and data collection, policies); citywide CP coordination; and factors that contributed to success at one or more sites. The following are appended: data collection instruments and additional survey responses.

This paper reports findings from a researcher-practitioner partnership (2015-18) that examined how adult education providers in Chicago, Houston, and Miami are designing and implementing career pathways (CP) programming, particularly for immigrants and adults with limited education. This Institute of Education Sciences-funded study was the first to map the landscape of CP in these cities. The study employed a sequential, mixed-methods design that included a survey of 106 adult education providers, focus groups with 18 providers, and qualitative case studies of six organizations (two per city). The study examined the key features of CP in each city, the measurement of student outcomes, which policies and practices shape CP programming and coordination across provider systems, how selected programs design and implement CP programming, and which programmatic features, policies, and other factors contribute to student success. We found that 83% of responding agencies offered CP programs and another 11% were developing them. However, many CP classes are new, and adult education agencies are still discerning how to design, implement, and evaluate them. Both new and established programs are responding to changes related to funders and state and federal policies. The findings underscore the great variation in CP design and implementation, as well as common and distinctive features that are promising strategies for supporting student success. [Paper published by the New Prairie Press at Kansas State University.]

"Changing the Course of Family Literacy" re-examines the importance and value of family literacy programming and offers several policy recommendations to focus attention on the four-component model used in Even Start. This paper explores the current status of Family literacy and, after gathering information from 47 states, found that 11 states and the District of Columbia funded family literacy programs in 2015-16. These states and local programs have fostered partnerships and braided funding to preserve and support family literacy programs and services. This paper poses a rationale and recommendations to support family literacy programs as an essential strategy for assisting low-income families in improving their education and employment prospects.

Launched in 2011, the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative aims to increase the ability of students with low basic skills to earn valued occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. AO encourages states to change the delivery of adult education for students interested in learning career skills by enrolling them in for-credit career and technical education courses at local community colleges as they improve their basic education and English language abilities. The initiative promotes and supports the development of career and college pathways that incorporate contextualized and integrated instruction, team teaching between adult education and college instructors, and enhanced support services at community colleges. AO is also designed to change how states and colleges coordinate with government, business, and community partners and reform policy and practice to fundamentally change how students with low basic skills access and succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce. Four states--Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina--received grants to begin implementing the AO model in the 2012 spring semester and oversaw the development of career pathways in 33 community and technical colleges. A fifth state--Louisiana--began implementation in the 2012 fall semester at nine additional colleges. In the first year of implementation, these 42 colleges enrolled nearly 2,600 students and built capacity to provide team teaching with college and adult education instructors, offer comprehensive support services, and develop and strengthen partnerships to support the sustainability and scaling of AO. As a part of a rigorous evaluation of the AO initiative, this first report assesses the implementation of the initiative during its first year, which consists of the spring, summer, and fall semesters of 2012 in the original four states and the fall 2012, spring 2013, and summer 2013 semesters in Louisiana. The data presented in this report come from a survey of all AO colleges, site visits to the five states, grant documents, and quarterly calls with AO states and colleges. This report provides key findings from the early implementation that have helped the AO initiative develop strategies for its continuation and offers lessons for other states and colleges considering the AO model. The following is appended: Required Elements of AO and Theory of Change.

A study reviewed the efforts of six states (California, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, and Washington) to create new policies and strategies to support low-income individuals as they work. The study found the following: (1) working steadily initially after leaving welfare is linked to being employed in later years but is not linked to higher wages in later years; (2) starting out in better jobs is linked both to being employed and to having higher wages in later years; (3) educational skills and credentials are strongly linked to obtaining better jobs; and (4) motivation, social skills, and labor market opportunities colored the outcomes but are difficult to observe. The study determined that "work first" strategies work in the short term but not in the long run; that "mixed strategies" of pre-employment services and job placement are more likely to produce long-term success; and that "work-based strategies," such as supported work for the harder to employ or on-the-job training for more employable workers, are most effective in increasing employment and earnings. The study concluded that work force development strategies should include removal of barriers to employment through access to services, emphasis on upgrading skills through postsecondary education, and use of combinations of work and learning. Recommendations were made to develop state policy so that full-time workers earn incomes above the poverty level, to provide supportive services for low-wage workers, and to encourage greater response from educational institutions. (Contains 25 references.) (KC)

Over the past two decades, an innovative approach to workforce development known as sectoral employment has emerged, resulting in the creation of industry-specific training programs that prepare unemployed and underskilled workers for skilled positions and connect them with employers seeking to fill such vacancies. In 2003, with funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) launched the Sectoral Employment Impact Study to rigorously assess whether mature, nonprofit-led sector-focused programs could increase the earnings of disadvantaged workers and job seekers. P/PV selected three organizations to participate in the study--a community-based organization focused on medical and basic office skills in Boston, a social venture focused on information technology in the Bronx, and an employer-union partnership focused on healthcare, manufacturing and construction in Milwaukee. The study's findings show that program participants earned about $4,500--18 percent--more than the control group over the course of the two-year study period and $4,000--29 percent--more in the second year alone. Study participants were also more likely to find employment, work more consistently, work in jobs that paid higher wages, and work in jobs that offered benefits. Furthermore, there were earnings gains for each subgroup analyzed, including African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, formerly incarcerated individuals and young adults. "Tuning In to Local Labor Markets" also examines the strategies employed by the three organizations that took part in the study, as well as the common elements that likely contributed to their success. Implications for practice, policy and future research are explored; a forthcoming piece will provide detailed recommendations for policymakers. Appendices include: (1) Selection of the Study Sites; (2) Sample Selection, Randomization and the Follow-Up Sample; (3) Study Methodology; (4) Employment Outcomes for Selected Subgroups; (5) Supplementary Tables, WRTP; (6) The Question of Displacement; and (7) Regression Tables for the Overall Sample. (Contains 30 tables, 16 figures and 30 endnotes.)

Public funding for employment and training has dwindled over the past several decades. Yet in communities all over the United States, there has been considerable development of alternative approaches to help low-income people gain skills for particular industry sectors. In 2003, with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) launched the Sectoral Employment Impact Study to test the efficacy of one such approach. Using a random-assignment design, P/PV researchers set out to answer the question: "Can well-implemented, sector-focused training programs make a difference to the earnings of low-income disadvantaged workers and job seekers?" Three organizations were selected to participate in the study: Jewish Vocational Service in Boston, Per Scholas in the Bronx and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership in Milwaukee. This issue of "P/PV In Brief" summarizes the outcomes of a rigorous evaluation of one of these approaches--sector-focused skills training--and demonstrates the positive impact that three programs using this approach have been able to achieve. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, and 14 endnotes.) [For Issue 6 of "P/PV In Brief," see ED503244.]

The Literacy Education Action (LEA) program was established in the fall of 1985 under the initiative of the president of the El Paso Community College (Texas). During 1985 and 1986, LEA concentrated on developing its own literacy tutoring program, including recruiting and training volunteers and community members with reading skills below the sixth grade level. Using a language experience approach, assistance was provided for native English-speakers, Spanish-speakers, and bilingual individuals. In fall 1986, LEA opened a literacy center on the Rio Grande campus of El Paso Community College, and drop-in tutoring, computer-assisted instruction and small group instruction were added to the program. Program staff, offerings, and support were expanded with grant funding. Since 1986, LEA has developed a network of community literacy groups and provided support to other groups involved in literacy activities, assisting with fund raising from public and private sources and with leadership in establishing English as a Second Language and family literacy classes, a computerized referral program, and community literacy awareness activities. In October 1987, the state funded a program of live interactive televised instruction. Prevocational and worksite literacy programs emerged through this program and the involvement of the Levi Strauss company. In 1988, efforts focused on improving and expanding the volunteer tutoring program, open-entry/open-exit vocational courses, development of an instructional model for teaching literacy to vocational students, and short-term job training for individuals with learning disabilities. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)