The Designing Instruction for Career Pathways initiative was recently launched by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education’s (OVAE) Division of Adult Education and Literacy. This three-year project is designed to provide technical assistance resources that support OVAE’s goals for increasing the quantity and quality of available career pathways instructional programming for low-skilled adults. The project will assist state and local adult education providers in developing and delivering courses that enable low-skilled adults to progress on a career pathway in addition to preparing them for success in postsecondary education.

Over the next three years the project will make available resources such as:

• an online collection of adult career pathways (ACP) instructional resources
• policy briefs
• “how-to” resources on topics such as creating bridge courses to facilitate transitions along career pathways, contextualizing instruction, and integrating career counseling
• regional professional development workshops
• an online community of practice
• bimonthly e-newsletters to highlight new resources available for local use

A Technical Workgroup (TWG) comprised of adult education and workforce development professionals from across the nation has been assembled to guide the work of the project. The TWG will provide advice and input by drawing on their varied implementation experiences with career pathways for adults. The TWG was convened for the first time on January 21, 2011 to begin identifying existing models, program elements/components, and definitions that will be used by the project, with the ultimate goal of establishing common terminology that can be used by state and local educators, workforce development professionals, and employers when describing career pathways for low-skilled adults.

Resources from the Field

ACP News will be devoted to highlighting resources of value to local practitioners. This first issue features recently published resources that have been recommended by the TWG members. As the project Web site is built and expanded, resources such as these will be linked for easy reference.

Reports

Bridge Programs in Illinois: Summaries, Outcomes, and Cross-site Findings
Office of Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois

A report of the Shifting Gears-Illinois project that evaluates the programs of 10 community colleges selected to develop and implement bridge program instruction in their developmental education or adult education divisions. Profiles of each program include bridge program description and goals, students served, promising practices, barriers and policy change, and student outcomes. The Illinois’ Shifting Gears initiative is aimed at implementing policy changes that support bridge programs that help adult learners transition to postsecondary educational opportunities and provide training and credentials to enter the workforce in high-demand middle skill jobs. http://occrl.illinois.edu/files/Projects/shifting_gears/Report/SG_PP_6_Sites_Report.pdf

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

Commissioned by the Joyce Foundation, Workforce Strategy Center conducted the BridgeConnect Survey to examine bridge programs throughout the U.S. with a goal of quantifying the number and types of programs in operation to assist policymakers and funders in their efforts to improve policy and practice related to adult education. The report synthesizes bridge program elements, target populations, industry sectors, partner organizations, funding models, and program outcomes of the hundreds of sites responding to the survey. http://www.workforcestrategy.org/images/pdfs/publications/bridge_connect_report_2010-11.pdf

Ohio Stackable Certificates: Models for Success
Community Research Partners (Ohio)

This publication is the result of research on program models that create a fast-track to removing barriers adults face to college success by connecting pre-college academics to career-technical coursework. The report includes a discussion of legislation and stakeholder perceptions, barriers adults must overcome to succeed in postsecondary education, national and Ohio best practices for engaging adults in postsecondary education, a framework for Ohio Stackable Certificates, and case studies of national and Ohio program models. http://communityresearchpartners.org/uploads/publications/Ohio_Stackable_Certificates_Models_for_Success.pdf

Toolkits/Guides

How to Build Bridge Programs that Fit into a Career Pathway
Instituto del Progreso Latino (Chicago, IL)

This manual offers tools and information to help local practitioners develop successful bridge programs. The manual summarizes key elements of Instituto’s Carreras en Salud program to assist others in adopting similar initiatives. Topics addressed include identifying and developing successful partnerships, essential elements of a bridge program, contextualizing bridge curriculum, teaching methodologies, program logistics, funding, and sustainability. http://www.idpl.org/images/publicationsPDFs/Instituto2010_HowToBuildBridgePrograms%20final.pdf

Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges
CLASP Center on Postsecondary and Economic Success

This toolkit is designed to help states understand potential components and tasks involved in developing, implementing, and maintaining career pathways and career pathway bridges; identifying how federal resources can support these efforts; and pinpointing state policy changes or other actions needed to fully realize federal funding opportunities for pathways and bridges into them. While the toolkit is designed for state-level teams, the federal program summaries are very useful for local teams who need a clear understanding of the federal resources that can support career pathway and career pathway bridge efforts. The toolkit is divided into two main sections: a funding options worksheet and summaries of federal programs. http://www.clasp.org/postsecondary/pages?id=0003

Contextualization Toolkit
Jobs for the Future

Developed as part of the Breaking Through initiative, this toolkit is designed to help community colleges and other educators serve low-skilled adults through the use of contextualized instruction. The toolkit describes how to integrate career subject matter with precollege skills development, allowing adult learners to get started more quickly on their chosen career path. The kit features examples of contextualized instruction, strategies for student engagement, and suggestions for sustaining a contextualized course or program. http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/BT_toolkit_June7.pdf

ABE Career Connections: A Manual for Integrating Adult Basic Education into Career Pathways
U.S. Department of Education (OVAE)

The Adult Basic Education Career Connections (ABECC) project, an initiative of the Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education, focused on connecting ABE to postsecondary education, with the goal of improving adults’ basic skills so they can advance in their education, careers, and employment. As part of the project, five local demonstration 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 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. http://www.policy2performance.org/wp-content/uploads/ABE_Career_Connections_Manual.pdf