Preparing for the Future: OPABS Final Report—Executive Summary
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Preparing for the Future: OPABS Final Report—Executive Summary
Introduction
Oregon’s Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD) launched the
Oregon Pathways for Adult Basic Skills Transition to Education and Work (OPABS) Initiative in
2006 to assist low-skilled adults’ transition from the state’s Adult Basic Skills (ABS) programs to
postsecondary education. With its multiple components of services, OPABS was designed to address
a key policy issue in Oregon—to build a pipeline of prepared ABS learners to enter postsecondary
education and training programs that result in jobs in high-demand occupations. Increasing human
capital has continued to be a priority for the state through the passage of Senate Bill 253 in 2011
which set the goal that by 2025, 40 percent of adult Oregonians will have earned a bachelor’s degree
or higher, 40 percent will have earned an associate’s degree or postsecondary credential, and 20
percent or less will have earned a high school diploma or its equivalent. OPABS has been a key
strategy for CCWD in working toward this goal and represents a significant investment in the state’s
ABS program.
Twelve of the state’s 17 ABS programs have implemented OPABS at some point since OPABS
began.1 As of fall 2013, three of the ABS programs have adopted OPABS as the main instructional
approach for their ABS programs.
Since the inception of OPABS, Abt Associates has worked with CCWD to assist with OPABS
design, implementation, and data collection. This final report describes OPABS framework, activities,
and products; lessons from OPABS implementation; and implications for supporting OPABS
sustainability and effectiveness.
Components of OPABS
OPABS has two main goals: (1) increase the number of ABS learners who have set a career goal and
transition to credit postsecondary education, and (2) improve the quality of ABS programs so that
there are systematic processes for supporting ABS learners’ transition to postsecondary courses and
employment.
To achieve these goals, OPABS was designed with five components of activities: instruction, college
and career awareness, ABS enhanced program services, professional development, and data systems
and evaluation. The instructional component involves six academically accelerated ABS courses in
reading, mathematics, and writing that incorporate occupational applications from Oregon’s highdemand industries. These ABS courses, which are based on the state’s ABS Learning Standards and
basic skills academic standards, integrate occupational information using a survey approach. In this
approach information about high-demand career areas is the focus, but applications from a range of
occupational areas are integrated into the courses. Each course has a criterion level for the
Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS) pre-test score to promote learner
1
The 12 colleges that have implemented OPABS are: Central Oregon CC, Chemeketa CC, Clackamas CC,
Lane CC, Linn-Benton CC, Mt. Hood CC, Oregon Coast CC, Portland CC, Rogue CC, Southwestern CC,
Treasure Valley CC, and Umpqua CC.
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Preparing for the Future: OPABS Final Report—Executive Summary
success and a standardized format to facilitate the delivery of quality instruction. The OPABS courses
are designed at two skills levels—Pre-Bridge (6th-8th grade equivalent) and Bridge (9th-12 grade
equivalent)—and include 60 lessons per course. The course materials include a syllabus, course
outline, lesson plans, instructor notes, and learner materials. The course lesson plans are scripted and
follow Hunter’s stages of a lesson.2 Expert instructors from five ABS programs developed the
courses as part of a learning community process in which the developers came together to discuss the
course frameworks and content. The courses were pilot tested by the developers, revised based on the
results of the pilot test, and then pilot tested by a larger group of ABS instructors. A second revision
process was undertaken based on the results of the second pilot test.
College and career awareness is the second component of OPABS. A College and Career Awareness
(CCA) course was designed by OPABS developers to assist learners in identifying their goals for
further education and a career. In this course, learners review their skills, interests, and educational
and employment background; examine the local labor market and possible jobs that match their skills
and interests; and identify the educational programs in the colleges related to these jobs and to their
skills, interests, and background. CCA also has information about the college application process,
admissions testing, and the financial aid application process. Learners’ prepare a Career Pathway Plan
as the culminating activity in the CCA course.
The third component is enhanced ABE program services. ABS programs are restructuring their
procedures for learner recruitment, orientation, assessment, and placement in courses to facilitate
learners’ setting of goals beyond a GED and motivate their participation in postsecondary education.
Professional development, the fourth component, has required instructor training to prepare ABS
faculty to teach OPABS courses. The final component involves data systems and evaluation. OPABS
data collection has included teachers’ completion of Instructor Logs during their first year in teaching
OPABS courses to assess their fidelity of implementation of these courses. OPABS learners complete
customized Learner Course Evaluation Forms on which data are collected about their perceptions of
the utility of course content and processes. Data on learners’ development of basic skills development
and enrollment in postsecondary courses are reviewed as they become available.
OPABS Approach and Key Elements
A comprehensive approach was used to develop, implement, and refine OPABS during the period
2006-2013. Based on the available research and current practice, CCWD incorporated three key
elements assumed to be critical to effective ABS transition into the design of OPABS service
components and the professional development for OPABS instructors and ABS directors. These
elements are: (1) coordination between ABS and community college departments and Employment
Services, (2) enhanced ABS program management and services that facilitate ABS learner transition
to postsecondary education and employment, and (3) academically accelerated courses integrating
2
Hunter, M. (1992) Mastery teaching. El Segundo, CA: TIP Publications; Hunter, M. (1994) Enhancing
teaching. New York, NY: Maxwell MacMillan
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Preparing for the Future: OPABS Final Report—Executive Summary
basic skills and occupational information, college and career awareness and advising, and learner
support.
Coordination. ABS faculty and program coordination was considered critical to support ABS
transition. ABS faculty needed to work with career and technical education (CTE) faculty to enhance
OPABS instructional materials by incorporating applications from high-demand occupations in the
state. The ABS faculty also had to collaborate with other community college departments to enable
ABS learners to access critical non-instructional services they needed for transitioning to
postsecondary courses. A third type of coordination was between ABS faculty and Employment
Services, which could facilitate ABS learners’ attainment of jobs related to their educational
certificates and credential.
To promote coordination between ABS programs and other entities within the college, the OPABS
professional development provided to ABS instructors and program directors identified ways in
which ABS personnel could work with other college staff and departments to support ABS transition.
These activities included ABS faculties’: (a) development of communication processes with CTE
faculty so that ABS faculty could become familiar with high-demand occupational training programs
in their colleges and use this information in incorporating applications from high-demand jobs in the
OPABS basic skills courses, (b) formation of working relationships with community college
departments that provide academic advising, career counseling, and financial aid services to assist
ABS learners in their transition to postsecondary CTE and academic courses; and (c) work with their
college’s local WorkSource Oregon office to facilitate the referral of ABS learners to employment
opportunities, both during learners’ participation in OPABS and after they earned occupational
certificates or credentials.
Enhanced ABS Program Management. The need to enhance ABS programs was based on the
assumption that the operational procedures of ABS programs would require strengthening in order for
programs to offer high-quality instruction and support services that encourage ABS learners to set
goals for postsecondary education and employment; enroll in OPABS pre-Bridge and Bridge courses;
and meet college placement requirements for postsecondary CTE and academic courses. The OPABS
professional development provided to ABS directors included suggestions for providing support to
OPABS instructors and to learners participating in OPABS courses. ABS program directors were
asked to follow-up with instructors after their OPABS course training to ensure that instructors had
the materials and other resources needed to implement the courses.
To facilitate learners’ participation in OPABS, ABS program directors were encouraged to develop
processes for ABS learners’ updating of their Career and College Plans as they progressed through
OPABS Pre-Bridge and Bridge courses, and to link ABS learners to resources within the colleges,
such as advising, counseling, and financial aid that can support ABS learners’ transition to
postsecondary education. It also was suggested that ABS directors develop mechanisms for
supporting OPABS learners during their early period of transition to postsecondary CTE and
academic courses to encourage their retention and identify potential barriers to their postsecondary
participation.
Academically Accelerated Courses. This OPABS design element addressed five aspects of OPABS
instruction: (1) Use of Criterion Levels on CASAS for Placement into Pre-Bridge and Bridge Courses
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to ensure that OPABS participants have sufficient basic skills to meet the academic demands of the
Pre-Bridge and Bridge courses; (2) Participation in OPABS Career and College Awareness Course,
which was designed to assist ABS learners in establishing short- and long-term goals for further
education and a career, and in preparing an initial career and college plan to meet these goals; (3)
Establishment of OPABS Cohorts to provide a support group for ABS learners participating in
OPABS and assist them in forming social networks; (4) Use of Stages of a Lesson in Delivering
OPABS Lesson Plans so that OPABS instruction would reflect research-based principles about how
students learn. The stages are intended to ensure that learners understand new ideas, information, or
skills, and can use the knowledge or apply skills effectively; and (5) Integration of Occupational
Information into Basic Skills Instruction, which draws from a range of high-demand occupations
rather than concentrates on a few occupations. Three broad occupational areas that reflected jobs in
demand across the state were used in developing OPABS courses.
Findings
OPABS has provided a platform for strengthening ABS transition to postsecondary education and
increasing the visibility of ABS learners as part of the pipeline for postsecondary education. During
OPABS implementation, Abt Associates collected and analyzed data from interviews with ABS
program directors and OPABS instructors, surveys of OPABS instructors, observation of OPABS
classes, and completion of OPABS Instructor Logs and learner OPABS course evaluations of OPABS
courses. Abt also reviewed learner postsecondary enrollment data. The findings from these data
analyses are discussed in terms of the state context for OPABS, OPABS instruction and professional
development and support for learner transition, and ABS program enhancement. Implications for
OPABS sustainability also are provided.
State Context for OPABS
During the OPABS pilot phase, other initiatives related to ABS transition were begun that interacted
with the implementation of OPABS. These initiatives enriched OPABS activities and helped to
strengthen the base for ABS transition to postsecondary education. Since 2009, CCWD has supported
the development and use of ABS Learning Standards as a strategy to improve the quality of all levels
of ABS instruction. ABS programs are incorporating ABS Learning Standards into their OPABS
courses as part of the implementation of the standards. ABS programs also have worked with
workforce development departments in their colleges as part of the state’s postsecondary career
pathways initiative. As part of the colleges’ Career Pathways grants, ABS and CTE faculty have
developed processes to facilitate ABS leaners’ transition to CTE courses. Activities underway
through the state’s Project ALDER: Advanced Longitudinal Data for Educational Reform will expand
opportunities for CCWD and ABS programs to use ABS learner data in tracking ABS learners’
progress through community colleges and in evaluating the effects of instructional approaches to
facilitate ABS learners’ transition.
OPABS Instruction and Professional Development
Instruction. OPABS was the first ABS transition initiative in the country to develop standardized
Bridge and Pre-Bridge courses to support learners in moving from ABS programs to postsecondary
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courses. While other states utilized Bridge courses for ABS transition, OPABS Pre-Bridge courses
were a strategy to transform the ABS program into a pathway for learners beyond ABS participation
and attainment of a General Educational Development (GED) credential.
Overall, ABS instructors have found that the OPABS courses and lesson plans are a useful framework
for ABS instruction and an efficient way to guide their instruction. It has taken OPABS instructors
multiple terms of teaching to internalize the information in the detailed lesson plans and feel
comfortable managing the materials and resourced involved in delivering OPABS lessons. A limited
number of instructors have thought that the lesson plans are too prescriptive and would prefer less
detail in the lesson plans and, in some cases, different course content.
Most OPABS instructors have thought that the lessons have been a good foundation from which they
can include additional learning points and materials. As Oregon’s ABS Learning Standards have been
implemented, OPABS instructors have incorporated the content of these standards into OPABS
courses where necessary. Instructors have found the integration of Learning Standards an
enhancement to the OPABS courses, particular the addition of the capstone project at the end of the
course.
In order to teach the OPABS courses, ABS instructors have had to become knowledgeable about their
colleges’ key career pathways and the local labor market. The OPABS Career and College Awareness
course, in particular, has required that ABS instructors be aware of the colleges career resources and
those provide by WorkSource Oregon in order to guide ABS learners in setting their college and
career goals.
The OPABS courses also have been used with other learner populations, such as Mt. Hood
Community College’s Project YESS (Youth Employability Support Services) and Lane Community
College’s Bridge to the CNA program. The extension of these OPABS courses indicates their utility
in teaching different subpopulations of learners and integration of occupational areas.
Professional Development. OPABS instructors reported that OPABS professional development was
very helpful in orienting them to the content of the OPABS courses and the myriad materials involved
in the courses. Instructors’ completion of Instructor Logs during their first term of teaching OPABS
courses provided a mechanism through which they could provide feedback to course developers, such
as suggesting the addition of alternative activities in the lessons.
OPABS professional development has been comprehensive but labor intensive in instructors’ required
participation in face-to-face training workshops. As state and program resources have been reduced,
there is a need for alternative delivery of OPABS professional development that does not involve
face-to-face workshops. As a result, CCWD and OPABS program directors are considering options
for refining OPABS course training.
Support for Learner Transition
In the design phase of OPABS, ABS instructors reported that ABS participants often are not familiar
with the range of postsecondary programs that are aligned with their skills, interests, abilities, and the
local labor market. To address this need, the CCA course has provided ABS learners initial
information about postsecondary programs and the local labor market, and OPABS instructors have
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guided OPABS participants in thinking about alternative occupational goals based on their skills and
interest, personal circumstances, and available courses. The CCA course assists OPABS participants
in making initial decisions about postsecondary participation and in encouraging OPABS participants
to consider the feasibility of postsecondary participation.
Available data on OPABS participants’ enrollment in postsecondary courses indicated that 287 ABS
learners, identified by 11 colleges as OPABS learners in CCWD’s TOPS database, enrolled in
postsecondary courses during the period Quarter 1, 2011 through Quarter 2, 2013. These learners
participated in a total of 2,053 courses. The courses in which OPABS learners participated were
varied, with the largest number (253) addressing some form of college success or transition. Writing
courses (both credit and non-credit) were the second highest type of course in which OPABS learners
were enrolled, followed by reading, math, physical education, career and technical education, and
postsecondary academic courses. The majority of learners had enrolled in more than one course, and
their performance on these courses was mixed.
Advising services provided by the colleges implementing OPABS have varied in terms of the time at
which OPABS learner receive academic advising regarding postsecondary participation, the types of
information provided, and the person providing the information. While ABS instructors provide
initial advising through the OPABS Career and College Awareness Course, the postsecondary
participation data suggest that OPABS participants could benefit from more in-depth advising
regarding the types and numbers of courses in which they enroll during their first year in
postsecondary education.
Enhancement of ABS Program Management
ABS program directors have participated in all phases of OPABS design, development, and
implementation through their attendance in planning meetings, OPABS course training sessions, and
workshops on ABS program enhancement for ABS transition. The implementation of OPABS has
been guided by an OPABS framework that specifies the key activities that need to be conducted for
each component of ABS program services in order to support ABS learners in setting college and
career goals, strengthening their academic skills, and enrolling in postsecondary education. ABS
program directors’ participating in OPABS have been asked to assess their programs’ services in
terms of the OPABS framework and to strengthen the components of their services accordingly.
The 12 colleges that have implemented OPABS courses began with different levels of ABS transition
activities in their program as defined by the OPABS framework. Overall, these programs have built
upon the resources available in their colleges to enhance their services to support ABS learners’
transition. These resources have included postsecondary Career Pathways grants, external funding in
career pathways from philanthropic organizations, and related activities such as the YESS program.
As a result, the use of OPABS has varied in the colleges, ranging from complete integration of
OPABS courses in the ABS program to the implementation of selected OPABS courses for
subpopulations of ABS learners. These variations in OPABS implementation reflect the available
resources, ABS faculties’ willingness to use OPABS courses, and programs’ approach to ABS
transition.
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Implications for Supporting Sustainability and Effectiveness of OPABS
The findings from the implementation of OPABS suggest two priorities for facilitating the
sustainability and effectiveness of OPABS. The first is to support ABS programs’ implementation of
the complete OPABS model (i.e., program operations as well as instruction) with a focus on the
critical connection points for adult learners in the ABS transition process. These critical points are
learners’ initial and revised goal setting and career planning; obtaining college supports to address
ABS learners’ challenges during OPABS and in transitioning to postsecondary education; learners’
selection of postsecondary courses; and providing support for the first term of OPABS learners’
postsecondary participation. Targeted program processes may be needed to facilitate ABS learners’
movement through these connection points.
A second priority is to support ABS programs’ current assessment of ABS transition linkages with
existing career pathways activities. In this process, ABS programs would need to identify what has
worked and what has been challenging for programs and the activities that can be shared across
colleges.
Conclusion
The OPABS initiative has raised awareness about the potential for ABS learners’ participation in
postsecondary participation and provided strategies for OPABS learners to make this transition.
OPABS has facilitated ABS programs’ work in strengthening their basic skills instruction and in
developing or expanding relationships with key college departments such as career and technical
education, advising, and employment services. ABS programs implementing OPABS have become
more deliberate in planning transition activities for ABS learners, and have built upon their resources
and their college environments in enhancing these activities. With this foundation, ABS programs can
address the challenges of supporting ABS learners in developing their skills to succeed in
postsecondary courses and in planning their college participation to ensure their success.
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