Transition Team and Career Pathways Recommendations

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Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3071] Economic recovery and I-BEST
From: Jackie A. Taylor jackie at jataylor.net
Date: Mon Feb 23 08:29:32 EST 2009

Hello!

My first question today goes to Lennox McLendon, who works in Washington, D.C. as special advisor to the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE), the professional association of state ABE directors. I welcome responses to Q#2 from any of our guests and subscribers.

1. Lennox, last December the Obama Transition Team contacted you for recommendations about how adult education can contribute to economic recovery and what would that look like. Please tell us about your experience working with the Transition Team. For example, what was it like? What was the genesis of the discussion with them? What did they want to know? What was the state directors' response and how did you arrive at these recommendations? What was the role of the I-BEST and other models in the state directors' recommendations?
2. Tell us more about "Career Pathways". What are some challenges adult learners and programs face following a traditional "transitions" model? What are the advantages, from both a policy and practice standpoint, of career pathways?

~ Jackie

Jackie Taylor, PD List Facilitator, jackie at jataylor.net

Terms:
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/professionaldevelopment/09ibest_te rms.html

From the National Coalition for Literacy's Workforce Investment Act

(WIA) Recommendations:

Career and College Pathways Services:

Career and College Pathway Services are defined as integrated adult education services and postsecondary education and training content or which dually or concurrently enroll students in adult education services and postsecondary education and training that lead to industry-based certification or institutionally-granted certification, diplomas, or degrees necessary for high demand jobs.

From Washington State's I-BEST:

Career Pathways:

Career pathways have been described as "a series of connected education and training programs and support services that enable individuals to secure employment within a specific industry or occupational sector, and to advance over time to successively higher levels of education and employment in that sector. Each step on a career pathway is designed explicitly to prepare the participant for the next level of employment and education." Ultimately, a fully developed pathway will demonstrate success all along the way with students starting, stopping, and rejoining it at multiple access points and with each stop-out clearly marked by students who have increased knowledge, skills, and employment. (Source: SBCTC Student Achievement & Success Initiatives).

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3072] Transition Team
From: Lennox McLendon lennox422 at gmail.com
Date: Mon Feb 23 09:31:38 EST 2009

Greetings,

1. Transition Team

Tell us about your experience working with the Transition Team. For example, what was it like? What was the genesis of the discussion with them? What did they want to know? What was the state directors' response and how did you arrive at these recommendations? What was the role of the I-BEST and other models in the state directors' recommendations?

"It is not what you know but who you know." After the election, everyone in town was trying to get to the Transition Team. As it so happens, a colleague of mine, who had been the policy director for OVAE under the Clinton administration, was coaxed out of retirement to work on the job training team. He called me and asked me to talk with the team about what adult education could do to put people to work quickly, especially young adults.

Aside: as it turns out, there was not one Transition Team but multiple teams*perhaps hundreds. In the transition headquarters on 12th street in DC, every conference room on every floor was filled with meetings of teams and practitioners. At first I thought it must just be show*asking all these people to come in and give advice*you know the "benevolent dictatorship"*ask people what they think and then go on and do what you intended from the start. However, when I got into my team meeting along with a dozen other practitioners, I soon learned that the team members were asking hard questions and they really wanted to know what we practitioners thought. Needless to say, it was refreshing to the point of elation because the former administration had asked for no input from outside the administration for eight years.

The stimulus/recovery mission was to get people to work quickly. So we were advised not to think about our long term programs which were effective in their own right, but to think about what we could do to get people to work quickly.

Naturally, I-BEST and the integrated adult education and occupational training came to mind. After a short description everyone was quiet and pensive for a few moments.

I left feeling like I had been heard and was pleased. That night, a Tuesday night, the team called and asked for a plan by noon on Thursday that identified what it would take to make integrated training happen*two pages maximum. Wednesday I surveyed the states and got responses from thirteen states. Using their recommendations I put together a plan in two pages and sent it by noon on Thursday as directed. That night the phone rang again with the team asking me to send it first thing Friday morning to four Senate staff members who were writing the stimulus legislation.

We had done training with state directors at the November National Training Institute using NCEE's integrated training principles--having converted those principles into decision points for states. I assumed very few states had adapted or adopted such programming. However, my urgent survey identified at least thirteen states with some form of integrated basic skills and occupational training services. I have since heard from others but at the time I had a twelve hour turn around.

This spring NCEE will release their report on integrated programs and their work will be of great benefit to all of us.

Aside: The sad part is that we have limited champions in Congress. So when push came to shove, only two Senators and no Representatives banged on the table and said "This is important to me." As a result, adult education did not get direct funding in the stimulus package.

Lennox

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3073] Career Pathways
From: Lennox McLendon lennox422 at gmail.com
Date: Mon Feb 23 09:30:10 EST 2009

Greetings,

2. Career Pathways

Tell us more about "Career Pathways". What are some challenges adult learners and programs face following a traditional "transitions" model? What are the advantages, from both a policy and practice standpoint, of career pathways?

We are just now developing a vocabulary to talk about the various options so I am taking liberty in creating language as I go.

The language distinction between 'transition' and 'integrate pathways."

Transition to post secondary is 'sequential." First you get your GED or improve your English to a certain point, and once you have completed that benchmark, you move on to the next component in the sequence*occupational training or associate of arts/science degree at the community college.

So this pathway is a 'sequential' pathway.

The second pathway is an "integrated" pathway in which you are enrolled in basic skills (e.g. GED or ESOL) and occupational training at the same time--either concurrent enrollment or dual enrollment. Dual enrollment connotes being enrolled in the two programs (e.g., basic skills and occupational training) in the same institution with team teaching like the I-BEST model.

Concurrent enrollment connotes being enrolled in a basic skills program in one institution (say a public school or CBO program) and enrolled in occupational training at the community college or regional voc/tech center. The two teachers may share ideas but they do not team teach. The tie between the curricula is not as tight.

There are probably multiple options but the distinction I wanted to make is between a) sequential programs and b) integrated programs.

The goal of each is to get the student to earn an industry based certificate in a high demand job area.

On the instructional side, we all know it is easier teach carpentry math (or reading or English) that it is to teach math from a work text set in a context that may be foreign to the learner.

We have added 'college and career pathways' a) purpose and b) definition to the proposed amendments to WIA in order to 1) legitimize and support the integrated approach and 2) to remove any barriers from programs setting up such services.

Lennox

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3074] Re: Transition Team
From: George Demetrion gdemetrion at msn.com
Date: Mon Feb 23 10:25:19 EST 2009

Thanks Lennox and thank you for taking the time to discuss this important topic with us.

It is unfortunate that there wasn't some stimulus funds for adult education, but the hope is that with the new administration there is some hope not only for some new ABE funding over the next few years, but a broadened focus on the purposes and values of adult education in which, of course, employment is a critical issue. Yet, hopefully the policy discourse will extend to the other critical areas of health, family, civic, consumer literacy as well as the metacognitive purpose of enhancing student capacity of learning to learn which is now embedded both in CASAS and EFF and a good deal of the writing of Tom Sticht on funnctional-context theory. If the NCEE white paper titled, "Rethinking and Redesigning Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: What Contemporary Research and Theory Suggest is any indication, I think we're going to be looking forward to a very important document. I heartily recommend that thiose interested in the interface between curriculum, instruction, and assessment take a close look at the NCEE paper which can be accessed here http://www.skillscommission.org/pdf/commissioned_papers/Rethinking%20and%20Redesigning.pdf

Best,

George Demetrion

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3076] Re: Transition team
From: tsticht at znet.com tsticht at znet.com
Date: Mon Feb 23 15:08:16 EST 2009

Lennox: Are there any written documents prepared for the transition team that can be shared with the list members? Tom Sticht

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3078] Re: Transition team
From: Jackie A. Taylor jackie at jataylor.net
Date: Mon Feb 23 15:35:35 EST 2009

Hi Tom, (Lennox, and All)

1. Tom, here is a copy of the State Decision Points for Getting Started with Career Pathways, though Lennox may have more to pass along:

http://tinyurl.com/b72vur

2. Question for Lennox: would you please clarify what you mean by "adult education did not get direct funding"? Does this mean that stimulus funding may come from different channels and if so could you say more about that?
3. Last, here is a related news article that may be of interest to the group:

Demand for GED Increases

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090223/ap_on_re_us/meltdown_ged_demand

Thanks,

Jackie

Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 3084] Re: Transition team
From: Lennox McLendon lennox422 at gmail.com
Date: Mon Feb 23 19:52:42 EST 2009

Greetings Tom,

I have attached the brief developed for the transition team and subsequently delivered to the Senate staff. I think Jackie had posted this document before but a little explanation might be helpful.

The first two pages are the brief I prepared for the Transition Team. The second set of pages lists decision points state directors need to consider when planning pathway services. The decision points grew out of some draft work being done by the National Center for Education and the Economy. They are completing a detailed report on pathway services and they allowed us to use a draft of their principles as a base to which we added the decision points for state directors. NCEE's final report will be out this summer I believe.

The two page brief was in response to the request from the Transition Team--"What would make integrated education and training (Adult Basic Education/GED/ESL and occupational training) work in the context of economic recovery? What factors are important?" * *

In the thirty six hours I had to prepare the brief I received recommendations from the states and territories listed at the top of the brief. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of states responding. I know other states have pathway programs and some of them contacted me later.

At that point, the Transition Team was focusing on youth; ergo this brief focuses on youth but pathways apply to all ages.

I hope this helps and I look forward to any comments or thoughts.

Lennox

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