Strategies for Developing Effective
Community College Partnerships to
Support Career Pathways
Judith A. Alamprese
Principal Scientist, Abt Associates
2013 NCWE Conference
October 16, 2013
judy_alamprese@abtassoc.com
Today’s Presentation
 Role of partners in adult basic skills career pathways
programs
 Strategies for developing and maintaining
partnerships
 Case studies of community colleges’ partnerships to
support basic skills career pathways
 Policies to strengthen partnerships
Abt Associates | pg 1
Data Sources for Presentation
Abt Associates work on:

Adult Education Coordination and Planning Project, US Dept. of Education
(2004-2009)

Oregon Pathways for Adult Basic Skills Transition to Education and Work
(OPABS), Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce
Development (2006-2013)

Reading for Transition to Postsecondary Education Project, US
Department of Education (2007-2012)

Policy to Performance Project (with Kratos Learning), US Department of
Education (2009-2012)

Points of Entry Project (with Kratos Learning), Open Society Foundations,
2011-2013)
Abt Associates | pg 2
Why Community College Partnerships for
Adult Basic Skills Career Pathways?
 Linchpin to career pathways services—linking
systems and services
 Multiple components of coordinated services
required for effective adult basic skills (ABS) career
pathways
 Can result in leveraged expertise and resources that
support development and delivery of local career
pathways services
Abt Associates | pg 3
Partnerships to Support Local
Career Pathways Partnerships
Career &
Technical
Education (CTE)
Academic Depts.
Advising &
Counseling
Other
Departments
External to Community College
American Job Centers
Local Employers &
Business
Non-College
Adult Basic
Skills
Adult Basic
Skills
Within Community College
Community Agencies
Abt Associates | pg 5
Role of Partners in ABS Career
Pathways
 Design and deliver integrated basic skills and
occupational instruction
– Collaboration between basic skills and CTE or academic
faculty in designing contextualized courses
– Co-teaching of courses by basic skills and postsecondary
faculty
– Use of CTE guest speakers in ABS transition courses
 Provide career awareness and planning
– Coordination between ABS (within, outside of college) and
college advising or counseling departments
– Coordination between ABS (within college) and other college
departments offering college orientation and success courses
Abt Associates | pg 6
Role of Partnerships in ABE Career
Pathways
 Provide mentoring, shadowing, and internships
– Coordination between ABS and CTE/local employers
 Place clients into jobs
– Coordination between ABS and employment services,
American Job Centers
Abt Associates | pg 7
Strategies for Developing and
Maintaining Partnerships
 Forming partnerships
 Developing strong interpersonal relationships
 Building a process and structure
Abt Associates | pg 8
Strategies for Developing and
Maintaining Partnerships
 Forming partnerships
– Set goals and objectives that are concrete and attainable
– Develop a shared vision with agreed-upon objectives and
strategy
– Examine data to identify and/or support shared vision
 Developing strong interpersonal relationships
– Establish mutual respect, understanding, and trust
– Work to ensure that benefits of partnership are perceived as
offsetting costs—what partners have to gain in working
together is greater or equal to the effort they exert
– Be able to compromise and be flexible
Abt Associates | pg 9
Strategies for Developing and
Maintaining Partnerships
 Building a process and structure
– Ensure that partners “own” the process and structure
– Involve multiple organizational levels in the partnership
– Develop clear roles and guidelines
– Provide feedback on progress and outcomes from
partnerships
Abt Associates | pg 10
Case Studies of Partnerships to
Support ABS Career Pathways
 Virginia: Plugged In VA—PIVA model (state and local
partnerships; college ABS and business)
 Washington: Renton Technical College’s Allied Health IBEST program (college ABS and CTE)
 Maryland: Montgomery College’s ESL Customer Service
Course (college ESL and American Job Center)
 Minnesota: Rochester School District and Rochester
Technical College
 California: Elk Grove Adult and Community Education,
Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC), and
Cosumnes River College (CRC)
Abt Associates | pg 11
PluggedIn VA (PIVA) Career
Pathways Model

Intervention developed by local ABE community college grantee and ABE
professional development provider

Initial intent to develop technology skills of adults in southwestern VA to meet
industry needs along with GED credentialing; aligned with governor’s initiative
to encourage public-private partnerships & state’s promotion of GED completion

Local development team needed to customize curriculum to address industry’s
needs

Four components of PIVA services (6-month intensive courses)
– GED curriculum/Career Readiness Certificate
– Occupationally contextualized curriculum (e.g., Allied Health)
– Professional soft skills
– 21st Century skills
– Earn GED, Microsoft Certification, industry certification, community college
credit
Abt Associates | pg 12
VA State Expansion of ABE Career
Pathways
 State ABE office and state partners participated in US
Dept. of Education’s Policy to Performance Project
 State Vision: ABE strategic plan outlined vision of ABE
learners participation in further education, employment;
positioned ABE as part of the state’s career pathways
system
 Initial Partnerships: Strengthened partnership with Virginia
Community College System (VCCS); worked within state
Dept. of Education & other agencies on longitudinal state
tracking system
Abt Associates | pg 13
VA State Expansion of ABE Career
Pathways
 Local Career Pathways Services: Expanded PIVA under
Policy to Performance Project—two additional pilot sites
– Provided technical assistance
– Collected implementation and outcome data
 Technical Assistance
– Developed PIVA implementation manual
– Identified need to provide technical assistance in local
partnership development, work with business & industry to
customize curriculum (ways to leverage developed
curricula)
Abt Associates | pg 14
VA State Expansion of ABE Career
Pathways
 Policies
– New Request for Application (RFA) for ABE services for 2012—moved
to regional service delivery model in 8 areas; included career
pathways requirements
– RFA: partnerships with employers, local workforce systems; promotes
integration of ABE transition activities into operation of ABE services
 Leveraging Resources through Ongoing Partnerships
– Virginia Community College System (TAACCCT grant)—providing
career navigators who are expected to work with ABE learners
– ABE working Virginia Employment Commission (TAACCCT grant) &
VCCC to expand PIVA to lower skill levels of learners
– Line item in governor’s budget to fund PIVA sites—planning, start-up,
& maintenance in all 8 regions
Abt Associates | pg 15
WA: Renton Technical College’s
Allied Health I-BEST Program
 Approach for accelerating instructional time for ABS learners to
obtain Allied Health credentials
 Staff Partners: Nursing faculty and ABS reading faculty
 Instruction:
– Use of Reading Apprenticeship® (RA) in context of Allied Health professions
– RA used in ABE instruction and in I-BEST Allied Health courses—Certified
Nursing Assistant and Phlebotomy
– ABE and nursing instructors both trained in RA and co-teach Allied Health
courses
– Emphasizes understanding medical vocabulary, navigating medical textbooks,
chart writing
– Includes college preparation class (note taking, time management, college
navigation)
Abt Associates | pg 16
MD: Montgomery College’s ESOL
Customer Service Course
 Goals: Increase ESOL learners’ potential for employment
and provide educational opportunities for ESOL clients at
Job Center
 Data Examined:
– ESOL clients’ employment goals
– Local labor market data
– Community college’s training programs
 Partners:
– Montgomery College ESOL instructors
– Montgomery Works Sales and Service Learning Center staff
Abt Associates | pg 17
MD: Montgomery College’s ESL
Customer Service Course

Partnership Activities:
– Developed new recruitment strategies at Job Center involving college
– Revised Sales and Service Course developed by National Retail Federation to
increase ESOL content (MD ESOL standards) in context of sales and service
applications; incorporated job readiness content
– Offered college course at Sales and Service Learning Center—8 weeks, 100
hrs.
– Developed new component “Support for Education and Employment”—facilitate
use of Job Center and job interviews
– College participated in job fairs conducted by Sales and Service Learning
Center Staff

Outcomes:
– CASAS Reading and Listening Assessments: Pre-post gains after 100 hours of
instruction were statistically significant
– 43% of clients looking for work were hired or received a job offer
Abt Associates | pg 18
Rochester School District and
Rochester Technical College
 Goals: Transition ABE participants to postsecondary
education
 Partners: ABE Program, Rochester, MN School District
and Rochester Technical College (RTC)’s Developmental
Education Department
 Partnership Activities:
– Sharing of reading faculty to facilitate preparation of GED learners’
development of college-ready reading skills
– ABE program’s delivery of college and career awareness course
that is co-taught by ABE and college instructors
– ABE program part of RTC’s FastTrak state grant to develop
enhanced CNA program for the Mayo Clinic
Abt Associates | pg 19
Elk Grove ABE Program, Rio Cosumnes
Correctional Center, and Cosumnes River College
 Goals: Transition inmates from GED program to postsecondary
education and employment through the implementation of
career pathways services
 Partners: Elk Grove ABE Program, Rio Cosumnes Correctional
Center (RCCC) and Cosumnes River College (CRC)
 Partnership Activities:
– Elk Grove ABE provided ABE and GED instruction, and case
management at RCCC (facilitated by Sheriff’s Department)
– CRC sent two outreach specialists to RCCC monthly to provide
overview of college, assist learners with college assessment &
application
– Articulation agreements set up between CRC and RCCC for RCCC’s
Horticulture and Welding courses
Abt Associates | pg 20
Policies to Strengthen Partnerships
 State policies or guidance to support career pathways
services (depend on state approach to policy)
– WIA, Title II—state ABS office can embed requirements
for partnerships to support career pathways in Request
for Application for local adult education services—e.g.,
specify types of partners and required partnership
activities
– State partner activities:
• Participate in longitudinal database development &
implementation for tracking ABS participants
• Use WIA, Title II, State Leadership monies or monies leveraged
from partners to test “models” of career pathways services in
local programs
Abt Associates | pg 21
Policies to Strengthen Partnerships
 State policies or guidance to support career pathways
services at local level
– Target population (Pre-Bridge, Bridge); whole system of learners
(overlapping populations with partners)
– Services to provide in addition to instruction (requires partners’
expertise)
– Instructional services
• College & career awareness/readiness
• Accelerated instruction (expedited time & level of difficulty)
• Dual enrollment in ABE/ESL and CTE courses
– Data collection requirements—states developing longitudinal
data systems to track postsecondary outcomes can promote
local use of tracking systems to monitor services
Abt Associates | pg 22