Maine College Transitions
“Lessons Learned”
National College Transitions Network Conference
November 15/16, 2010
How accessible is
Maine Adult
Education?
Maine Adult Education is
comprised of 100+ programs
serving over 85% of Maine’s
municipalities
Adult Education: First Step
Educating Maine’s Workforce
• By 2020, Maine will need 40,000 more workers with
college degrees to catch up with the rest of New
England.
• 10,000 of these degrees will need to come from
existing workers – 85% of whom are currently
working and have been out of school for many years.
Our Goal: Positive Impact on
Maine’s Workforce!
• Create a more unified statewide system
• Expand awareness that Adult Education is an effective
pathway to higher education
• Build partnerships to support Maine’s economic
development
Adult Education is a great value for Maine
people and its communities!
Background/History
• 1987: UMaine ITV system for delivering courses
managed at Adult Education sites.
• 2001:Nellie Mae Education Foundation funded
NELRC Demonstration projects
• 2003: Maine Compact for Higher Education: Goal 3
• 2006/07: Legislatively approved one year State
funded pilot program
Background/History continued
• 2006: MELMAC Education Foundation “Connecting
Aspirations to a Plan” grants for Adult Education 2005
• 2007/08: Legislative action resulting in state funding
• 2007/08: Legislative rule changes that allow local
programs to access state subsidy for locally funded
programs
• Currently, 22 programs delivered in over 40
communities
Maine Program Model
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Offered through Adult Education Programs
College Preparation and Advising
Comprehensive Program
2 Distinct Scheduling Designs
Must enroll in college in 12-18 months
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Reference: NCSALL Occasional paper, 2006 “Transitioning Adults to College: Adult
Basic Education Program Models”
Required Program Components
• Career planning & assessment
• College experience
• Tracking and follow up
• Instruction in college preparation coursework
• Accuplacer testing
• Technology
Delivery schedule
There are two (2) schedules:
• Students take set classes as a group scheduled in one day,
evening, or over a few hours over several days. Academic
and career counseling, college life skills, and other classes
are included in the curriculum
• Students select the classes, based on assessment scores, that
meet their academic and career goals, with college life skills
classes and academic and career counseling mandatory
supports
• Programs are offering both models to attract and
accommodate student schedules
Who are we serving: Trends over
the last three years
• Around 1,300 students each year
• Most students (62-67%) are over the age of 25
• Around half are employed, half unemployed or are
not in the workforce
• 67% are female
• 66% are first generation college candidates
• Most are referred through the adult education
system
Persistence trends postsecondary
• Almost half of students are changing their enrollment
status (full or part time) to stay in college
• A growing number of students are enrolling in more
than one school, and may increase as online courses
are more the norm
• Those enrolling in more than one school are more
often at satellite centers of the University of Maine
system or Community College system, or at adult
education programs that offer community college or
college courses on site
Curriculum/Teaching
Promising Practices
• Academics aligned with post secondary partner
• Academic rigor: Classes based on developmental courses and
run like college class
• Accuplacer pre and post testing
• Use standards based curriculum: College Ready standards
• Comprehensive programming including self management
skills
Curriculum/Teaching
Promising Practices Continued
• Integrated technology into all classes, and some
programs utilized Moodle, Blackboard, Ning, Goggle
Docs or other web sites
• Classes mesh with student needs, aligned with
assessments
• Research and research papers assigned. All written
assignments submitted using technology (no
handwritten papers accepted) Writing prompts often
focus on career awareness
Curriculum/Teaching
Promising Practices
• College Application completed; College visits
preceded by information and introduction to
campus enabling students to ask informed
questions
• College Financial Aid forms submitted
• Partner agencies provide core services such as
financial aid, college readiness, time
management, self esteem, etc.
• Advising, Advising and advising some more
Statewide Administration
• Statewide Program Coordinator, technical
assistance, focus
• Data Collection system
• Data reports used for program improvement
process
• National Student Clearinghouse data reports
• Consistent messaging and outreach
Local Program Administration
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Mirrors statewide administration
Comprehensive intake process important
Assessment
Advising
Follow up
Relationship with Post Secondary
• Co-location allows students to access campus services
such as advising, library, food services
• Co-location allows participants to mingle with and meet
enrolled students
• Strong, positive partnership beneficial for staff and
results in increased collaboration and coordination:
computer labs, library resources, shared staff
• Agreements with higher education for placement,
scholarships, credits
Relationship with Post Secondary
Continued
• MOU statewide and local
• Culture changes in how Adult Education
programs look at college ready and other
programming
• Scholarships, admissions
• Analysis of clearinghouse data—looks like
relationship between AE/CT and Post Secondary
Institution the most important
Professional Development
• Initial and ongoing professional development is
critical to success of MCT
• PD topics covered administration, data collection,
promising practices, resilience research, CT research,
program implementation and curriculum development
• Delivery of PD in various formats
• Include partners from secondary education and other
partners
Professional Development
Formats
PD was delivered through statewide meetings, workshops,
and conferences and in partnership with other agencies
Examples:
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MELMAC Education Foundation peer learning sessions
Maine Adult Education Association pre-conference
Maine Adult Education Association conference strand
Topic at all Adult Education Director’s meetings
Use of National College Transitions Network Tool kit
Request for more professional development that includes
partners from secondary education and other partners
Collaborations/Partnerships
Community partnerships strengthen local and state
programming
Examples:
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Maine Education Opportunity Center
Post-Secondary Institutions
Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community
Maine Department of Labor CareerCenters
Others
Outreach
• Partnered with Maine Adult Education Association
and Maine Department of Education
• Consistent message and visuals
• Templates so local programs could be consistent
Evaluation
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Needed at all levels
Purpose for local program improvement
Technical Assistance program improvement process
Third party evaluator for statewide analysis and
feedback
Evaluation Design/Methodology
Based on Logic Model
The Evaluation Questions:
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Based on data collected from local programs, what is
the demographic picture of Maine College Transitions
Program? What are the common characteristics across
the state? What are the unique characteristics?
What elements of established best practices are in
place? What new ones have emerged?
Evaluation Data
• Maine Adult Education Management
Information System (MAEMIS) Data
• National Student Clearinghouse Data
• Program Qualitative Reports
• Student Surveys
• Professional Development/Conference
Evaluations
• Advisory Board minutes
• Coordinator updates
MCT Student Survey
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Mirrors Persistence Research
Completers have confidence in college and career success
Counseling key to building self esteem
Goal setting and incremental achievement helps build
confidence and is a retention factor
• Student relationships with family and friends important factors
for success
• Student relationships with other students key factor in student
motivation, retention and success
• Relationships with teachers and counselors important factors in
building self-efficacy
Lessons Learned Conclusions
• For those going on in their education, the model of their
CT program seems to slightly impact the rates of post
secondary enrollment, with the set entry/exit schedule
having a higher %, on average, of those matriculated and
counted in this database.
• Alignment with and/or co-location with a post
secondary school does influence enrollment rates and
where students enroll
Lessons Learned Continued
• Program staff (including teachers and program
directors) have shifted their thinking about adult
education as a result of providing CT
programming, attending CT professional
development, and observing student progress
Resources
• www. Maineadulted.org
• www.collegetransition.org
• www.collegeforme.com
• www.maine.gov/education/aded/dev/transitions.htm
Contact Information
Jeffrey A. Fantine, Director
Adult and Family Literacy
Maine Department of Education
SHS 23 Augusta, Maine 04333
207-624-6755
Jeff.Fantine@maine.gov
Larinda Meade, Coordinator
Maine College Transitions
32 Willow Lane
Portland, Maine 04102
207-756-8560
MaineCollegeTransititons@gmail.com