Accelerating
Opportunity/
Integrated Career
and Academic Prep
System (I-CAPS)
Presenters:
Jennifer Foster, VP Adult Education and
Workforce
Bevan Gibson, Director Southern IL
Professional Development Center
Peggy Heinrich, Dean of Adult Education,
Elgin Community College
Diana Glosser, Director of Perkins Programs,
Lake Land College
Valorie Harris, Associate Dean of Adult
Education, Lewis and Clark Community
College
Lyn Buerkett, Director of Adult Education and
Literacy, Lincoln Land Community College
Accelerating Opportunity
• Gates Foundation Initiative – “A first for the ICCB”
• Uses the Washington State’s “IBEST” - Integrated Basic
Education Skills Training initiative as a model of
implementation in each state.
• Illinois is One of Eleven States selected to participate in the
Design Grant
• Build on the Strengths of the “Shifting Gears” – Joyce
Foundation Initiative
• Builds on the Strengths of the Illinois Adult Education Strategic
Plan
• “Creating Pathways for Adult Learners”
• Brings much needed attention to the Adult Education
Population
• Illinois Model – “I-CAPS”
• Integrated Career and Academic Prep
System
• Selection of 8 colleges to participate:
• City College of Chicago – Daley College,
College of Lake County, Danville Area
College, Elgin Community College, Lake
Land College, Lewis and Clark
Community College, Lincoln Land
Community College, and McHenry
County College
Outcomes and Deliverables:
• Produce a total of 3,600 credential (8 colleges)
• Transcripted college level professional-technical credit in
the semester in which it is earned
• Achievement of marketable, stackable, credit bearing
certificate and degrees.
• Demonstrate college readiness, by passing
developmental education.
• Comprehensive Academic Social and Student Supports
• Acceleration strategies, including contextualized, online,
dual enrollment including paired courses (50% overlap in
instruction)
Students:
• Mostly transfer-focused
• Likely to enter CTE programs
• Lacking in academic and soft skills
• In adult education and English
Language Learners
Successes:
• Additional Colleges Added
• Transitions Academy
• Industry Recognized Credentials
Earned
• Connections with Employers
• Transition Counselors
Challenges:
• Loss of Ability to Benefit
• Tuition Costs
• Support Services
Sustainability:
• Policies
• Flexibility
• Expansion
How AO is working at each
college
Plus:
• Lessons Learned
• Successes
• Challenges
Elgin Community College
• AO Process relative to Career
Pathways and Role of Career
Navigator
• Connection to local employers
• Linking students to employment
• Braided Funding
• Student Support Services
Welding
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Operator
Dental Office Assistant
Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVACR)
Peggy Heinrich, Dean of Adult Education
847-214-6911
pheinrich@elgin.edu
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Support Services
• Career Navigator/Coordinator
• Supplemental Tutoring
• Three credit hour tuition waiver (for I-CAPS entry and
completion of GED/ESL program)
• Loaner Textbooks
• Cohort Design
• Additional tuition support for some
• Employability skills workshops
• Free and mandatory support course
Career Navigator (Program Coordinator)
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One-on-one assistance with job search, resume, linkages
with employers
Articulation of clear career
pathway
Conduct recruitment and
student pre-screening
Personal student case
management; registration,
college requirements, etc.
Academic support services
Individual/Group workshops focusing on job-readiness
Coordination with CTE/Adult Ed. faculty
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Initial Signs of Success
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Braided Funding
• ICCB Adult Education & Family Literacy
Performance Grant
• WIA Adult & Dislocated Worker Grant
• Perkins Grant
(revised guidelines)
• TAACCCT (iNAM)
Grant
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Early Signs of Success
Successes
• First cohorts to complete one-year program:
• 6 of 8 (75%) Dental students (1 additional nearly
completed but elected to change program of study)
• 11 of 11 (100%) CNC students
• 6 continuing on to 2nd year CIM program
• 3 hired as CNC operators
• 1 who had job at entry received promotion
• 2 who had job at entry retained employment
• 5 of 6 (83%) Welding students
• 4 hired as welders
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Lessons Learned & Challenges
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Achieve faculty buy-in during planning stage
Provision of paired support course essential
Faculty commitment to remain with cohort for one year
Collaborate across divisions
PELL essential to enrollment
Institutional commitment is key (e.g. tuition waivers)
Effective student pre-assessment a must
Explicit soft skills instruction critical to employment
Hire right
Navigator/Coordinator essential
Select viable career pathways
Cohort model most effective
Lake Land College
• AO process relative to collegewide integration
• Integration throughout the college
• How integrations helped with
implementation
• Changes in College Academic
Policies
• Student Support Services
Lake Land College
Diana Glosser,
Director of Perkins Programs & AO Project Coordinator
dglosser@lakeland.cc.il.us
217.234.5372
• College and region-wide implementation
• Administration, student services, adult education, CTE,
business and industry
• Integration assisted with implementation . . .
• Implementation, recruitment, partnerships
• Lessons learned
• People, facilities, policies/procedures
• Sustainability
Lewis and Clark Community
College
• AO process relative to importance of
administrative support and
integration of CTE with adult
education
• Team Teaching
• Curriculum Planning
Lewis and Clark Community
College
Valorie Harris
Associate Dean, Adult Education
vharris@lc.edu
Lewis and Clark Community College
Integration of CTE and AE
Administrative Support KEY
• Faculty/Staff make it work
• Adult Education reports to
Vice President of Academic
Affairs
• Flexibility required
• VPAA is Project Lead
• Student Success Team
• Team teaching looks like…
Lewis and Clark Community
College … Successes
• 27 of 31 students completed ICAPS Auto, 2
completed 8 weeks
• 10 of 11 students completed ICAPS Weld
• 10 of 14 students completed ICAPS EMT
• 49 of 56 (88%) students earned college credit
Challenges and Lessons Learned
• Understanding Financial Assistance
• How to pay for books/tools
• Maintaining student interest and
attendance
• Recruitment and selection
• Not enough time
• Not enough $$$
• Learning Communities
• Student Supports
• Team …Teaching and Planning
• Administrative support
• Culture…adult education students
CAN do this!
• Value of college credit affirmed by
students
• Build on what you have!
How will we sustain this???
• Multiple ways!
• Replace ATB with GED
• Plus one more funding source
– Foundation scholarships?
– Self-pay
– AE funds?
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Reduce team teaching overlap over time
Use full-time staff
Blending populations
Continue to take advantage of not “purging”
Why bother????
Successes!
Lincoln Land Community College
• AO process relative to Early
Childhood Education Pathway
• Career Pathway and ECE Students
• Job Opportunities
• Recruitment
• Student Support Services
Lincoln Land
Community College
Lyn Buerkett
Director, Adult Education
lyn.buerkett@llcc.edu
Adult Career Pathway to Early
Childhood Education
• ECE is offered as both an Associate in Applied Science
(CTE) and as an Associate Degree
• LLCC offers a Level 2 Certificate of Completion which is
12 credit hours, and transitions to the AAS or AS
degrees
• A Level 3 Certificate of Completion adds another 18
credit hours of ECE courses, and 9 credits of general
education courses
ACP to Early Childhood
Education
Characteristics of ECE students at LLCC:
• Low reading levels
• Typically test in to developmental reading and writing
• Often drop due to multiple dev ed courses and/or difficult
textbook content
• Benefit from college success skills (note taking, using the
learning lab, test prep, etc.)
• While level-entry positions are not a high-paid profession,
these students are entering this field with that full
knowledge, and employment is available
ACP to Early Childhood
Education
• The Adult Career Pathway provides teamteaching and support for the 4 courses in the
Level 2 certificate
• Students who earn the Level 2 certificate are
allowed to be teachers’ aids in DCFS childcare
centers
• Level 2 courses are required in the AAS and
AS degrees
• Students can gain employment with a Level 2
and continue their education
ACP to Early Childhood
Education
Recruitment
• College advisors refer students interested in
ECE, based on their Accuplacer test scores
• Transition Coordinator visits the high school
district vocational center
• Students have referred other students!
ACP to Early Childhood
Education
Successes / Challenges
Successes
• 11 students initially enrolled – 10 will complete level 2
• All 10 students are continuing in the ECE pathway
• Content instructor and basic skills instructor make a great
team
• Student support / coordinator
• Cohort worked well – new cohort planned for Fall ‘13
Challenges
• Students resist extra time needed for support
• Most enrolled students would benefit, but don’t sign up
(time, pride, not committed)
ACP to Early Childhood Education
Sustainability
• Funding is required to sustain this type of program
• Support for the basic skills instructor
• Support for the transition coordinator
• Buy-in of the department is key – we have
achieved this!
AO Contact Information
Jennifer Foster, VP of Adult Education and
Workforce, ICCB jennifer.foster@illinois.gov
Kathy Pampe, ICCB AO Project Manager,
kathleenpampe@gmail.com
Bevan Gibson, Director SIPDC,
bgibson@siue.edu
Questions/Comments