From the Horse’s Mouth
Report on a study that asked high-level ABE students
what they need to transition to college-level classes
Terry Cox, MBA, EdDC
Dean of Business, Engineering, and IT
North Seattle Community College
Seattle, Washington
What’s going to happen…
How the study idea was born
 Overview of Integrated Basic Education
and Skills Training
 Methods
 Outcomes
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In their own words – basic skills students speak
Results of the Focus Groups
Results of the Survey
DISCUSSION
How the idea was born

Experience as a practitioner

Experience as a student
Alphabet Soup
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ABE=Adult Basic Education
ESL=English as a Second Language
DevEd=Developmental Education
IBEST=Integrated Basic Ed and Skills Training
SBCTC = State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
CASAS = Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems
GED = General Educational Development
CCRC =Community College Research Center at Columbia
University
CTC = Community and Technical College
OMH = Oh my heavens, what am I doing up here?
Whew!
First question….
HOW MANY OF YOU
KNOW WHAT I-BEST
IS?
Rationale for IBEST:
Prince (SBCTC) and Jenkins (CCRC; Columbia)
5 year study of almost 35,000 Washington
adults, mostly in ABE/ESL classes
 Findings:

◦ Only 30% ABE and 13% ESL students get to
college level coursework at all.
◦ Only 4-6% of the total ABE/ESL population get
through 45 credits in the period of the study.
 Only 1% of ESL students who started with
less than a HS education earn a GED or
diploma in the 5 year period.
The “Tipping Point”
One year of college-level coursework, and a
credential (college or industry certification) =
ABE
$8,500/year
ESL
$7,000/year
GED
$2,700/yr
H.S. Diploma $1,700/yr
IBEST Programs…
In the classroom it looks like contextualized
learning:

Content Instructor – full time

ABE/ESL Instructor- half time

Support Course
I-BEST as it fits with education
College-level classes
(numbered 100 an above)
Developmental Education
Some overlap &
movement
between – e.g.
students in ABE
Math level 6
often test out of
Math 094, a
DevEd class
(content is the
same)
Grade 9-12 work
Academic in nature; prep for college
ABE 5&6 - GED Prep (practical)
ABE levels 1-4 (education thru 8th grade)
ESL levels 4-6
Traditionally focused on life skills
English as a Second Language – literacy in the
first language (ESL levels 1-3)
Some overlap
& movement
between
(students may
take some
developmental
classes while
taking collegelevel classes)
North’s IBEST Pathways:
NAC - 1 qtr
Phlebotomy – 2 qtr
Accounting – 2 qtr
HVAC – 3 qtr - hybrid
Most popular = NAC (every
quarter)
Excellent retention in all (over 80%)
Closing the loop - Assessment
Regression‐Adjusted Estimates of Probabilities of Outcomes for First‐Time I‐BEST,
Non‐I‐BEST Workforce, and Non‐I‐BEST Non‐Workforce Students
Outcome
I‐BEST
Non‐IB Workforce
Received College Credit
Received CTE College Credit
College Credits Earned
CTE College Credits Earned
Persisted to Next Year
Received Award
Achieved Basic Skills Point Gain
Difference in Log Wages (Post‐Prior)
Difference in Adjusted Quarterly Hours Worked
(Post‐Prior)
0.57
0.55
18.2
17.2
0.40
0.26
0.53
‐0.03
‐17.54
0.18
0.18
9.1
7.6
0.48
0.03
0.40
‐0.02
‐24.06
Note: From CCRC Working Paper # 20 (Zeidenbert,Cho, and Jenkins, 2010)
Non‐IB
Non‐Workforce
0.01
0.01
1.1
0.5
0.28
0.00
0.33
‐0.04
‐20.83
The best reason for I-BEST
Study “Increasing Transitions to
college for returning adults with low
academic skills”
Mixed methods
 Stage 1: focus groups at 3 colleges

◦ Transcribed the recordings
◦ Created themes and aggregated
◦ Built a survey from the data
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Stage 2: Surveys to students
Proctored in upper level ABE classes
At Washington State CTCs
Research Questions
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How should community colleges design and offer
programs for low-skilled adult ABE students to best
mitigate the multiple barriers to college success?
How many students used, or plan to use, I-BEST for
transitioning into college programs?
What reasons do ABE students give for not using IBEST programs?
What would a perfect program be that would fit into
the students’ lives?
When and how would it be offered?
Are there ABE students who are not interested in
accessing college-level courses/programs? What
reasons are given for this? How could these
students be served?
Focus group voices
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Do you want to continue into college-level courses?
(Probe on why or why not)
What do you know about I-BEST programs? Are you
planning to use an I-BEST pathway? If not, why not?
What factors do you think will help you transition
into college-level classes? (Probe on life
circumstances; support at the college; personal
attributes)
What difficulties or challenges are you facing now
with staying in school?
If you could design a program to fit your life better,
how would that look? When, where, and how would
it be offered? What supports would you need?
Results

589 returned surveys from 13 institutions
◦
◦
◦
◦
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Demographics
College Knowledge
I-BEST Knowledge
Expected Barriers
Designing the Perfect Program
Results

Why don’t more students go to I-BEST
programs?
◦ They just don’t know enough about them to
choose them.
Results, cont.
Upper level ABE students don’t
understand the processes for basic
college entry requirements – for example,
how to fill out a FAFSA or how to pick
the classes they need that quarter.
 Students feel a fair amount of concern
about this

Results, cont.

Former ESL students also struggle with
understanding the American higher
education system. The number of choices
baffle them.
Results, continued
The systems and supports that the students
identified as being most important for them in
transitioning show that the most worrisome
areas for Washington student are:
1. the costs of college,
2. concern about their own abilities as
college students,
3. their concerns about getting good
advising and planning assistance.
The Perfect Program
Days 4-5 days per week, a few hours per
day
 Include advising and registration help

◦ Instructors would clearly explain what they
want
◦ Instructors would care about them
◦ Tutoring would be available for them
References
Bloomer, T. (January 2008) Increasing Student Achievement for Basic Skills Students. SBCTC
Research Report No. 08-1
Prince, D. & Jenkins, D. (November 2005) Building Pathways to Success for Low Skill Adult
Students: Lessons for Community College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal Student
Tracking Study SBCTC Research Report No. 06-2
Prince, D. (April 2005) I-BEST: A Program Integrating Adult Basic Education and Workforce
Training SBCTC Research Report No. 05-2
SBCTC website - Fall Reports – Selected Program Student Characteristics
SBCTC website – I-BEST fact sheet
http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/abepds/ibest_factsheet_10.09_001.pdf
Zeidenbert, M., Cho, S.W., & Jenkins, D. (2010). Washington State’s Integrated Basic
Education and Skills Training Program (I-BEST): New Evidence of Effectiveness. New York:
CCRC, Teacher’s College, Columbia University. Retrieved from
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=805
Thank you!
questions?