What is the Right Membership Mix for Your ABE Community Planning Coalition?
By Patricia Pelletier, ACLS Community Planning Consultant
Back in the early 2000’s, when ABE community planning partnerships were developing in
Massachusetts, a suggested list of potential partnership categories was generated by ACLS:
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Community residents (including ABE students)
ABE providers
K-12 schools
Community colleges/post-secondary education
Child care providers
Health care providers
Human services
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs)
Employers/businesses
Elected officials
Community groups
Over a decade later, this list is still representative of a sound membership mix. ABE community
planning partnerships also include other members, depending on the focus and model of their
partnership, such as:
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Transportation providers
Banks/credit unions
Public safety representatives
Real estate/housing representatives
Job training providers
Private occupational schools
Mental health providers
Community foundations
Libraries
One-stop Career Centers
ACLS continues to emphasize flexibility as key to developing and expanding your community planning
coalition/partnership. So how do you decide who should be on your coalition? Several factors can be
taken into consideration:
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Identified coalition model and goals: One way to organize your membership recruitment plan is to
first identify which community planning model your coalition represents. Below are the models
identified in the FY 14-17 ACLS Community Planning Policy and some ideas on who you might want
to consider for membership.
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Single Focus Community Planning: These partnerships, supported since the initiation of ABE
community planning, involve convening a variety of stakeholders with a single focus on ABE.
They may be convened by one or more CALCs in a community or region.
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The suggested list of potential partnership categories generated by ACLS represents a
variety of stakeholders for this coalition model. However, you might want to also consider
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the ABE strategic framework goals of access, quality and next steps, when developing a
membership recruitment plan. You would first want to discuss with your coalition, or the
coalition’s steering committee, the goals of the partnership. If, for example, there are long
waiting lists for ABE program seats in your community, the priority goal for your coalition
could be to increase access to ABE programs and services for people on waiting lists. From
there, you would determine who should be recruited for membership on your coalition, or
perhaps on a planning committee or work group of the larger coalition. Could the local
library help with having some volunteers to tutor learners on the wait list? Would the OneStop Career Center provide space and teachers to add a class? Is there a foundation or bank
that could supplement your funding to add seats/slots to your program?
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Or, maybe your program needs help to support learners in achieving their “next steps”
goals. Who in your community could help? Job training providers and private occupational
schools (previously called “proprietary schools”) could be very helpful on your coalition.
(For further information on private occupational schools, go to:
http://license.reg.state.ma.us/public/schools/licensure/listings.html)
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Or, perhaps your coalition has identified curriculum enhancement to align with the Common
Core State Standards to be a priority for the community and ABE program(s). In this case,
you might want to convene a curriculum work group of the coalition, and recruit
appropriate members such as a curriculum specialist from the local community college, ABE
teachers/coordinators and others who can help with this “quality” goal. Potential coalition
members are often more willing to initially participate in a time-limited work group than
commit indefinitely to a coalition. But, once they see the progress and achievements of the
coalition they may want to join the larger group!
These kinds of considerations will not only help you to know who to recruit for your coalition
membership, but will also help you to have a clear focus and goals for the work of your coalition.
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Multi-Focus Community Planning: These partnerships, developed between programs and
community stakeholders, involve the participation of CALCs in a community-wide partnership not
exclusively focused on ABE.
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An example of a community-wide partnership is the Lawrence Community Pathways
Partnership which was originated as the family literacy partnership in the city. This
partnership evolved into a community-wide partnership which includes many stakeholders,
and in which the Lawrence ABE Partnership is actively involved. ABE program directors in
the city actively participate in this multi-focus group, in addition to working separately as a
steering committee focusing on ABE issues. Another example of a multi-focus community
coalition is the Beverly Resource Group, a collaboration of community partners who come
together to discuss resources available, promote financial stability and improve the quality
of life of low-income Beverly residents. Steering Committee members of the North Shore
Adult Education Partnership actively participate in this group, as well as other community
groups in their ABE service area.
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If your ABE community planning coalition is part of a larger, multi-focus coalition, or if you
are looking to join this type of group, look for groups that have members that can support
the ABE strategic goals of access, quality and next steps for your program and learners.
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These might be partnerships that comprise members who can help support student
persistence by removing identified barriers to participation (i.e., transportation, child care,
mental health, housing, etc.). Or, it could be a partnership whose members can support
learners’ next steps goals. You also want to request that ABE is on the agenda for discussion
at the larger partnership meetings.
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Family and Community Engagement: To promote the effective involvement of parents and the
community in supporting the success of children and schools, these partnerships include a local
school or district and may include other stakeholders, such as early education and care providers,
in the development of specific goals and outcomes related to children's academic achievement.
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For an ABE program that primarily serves parents who have children enrolled in a specific
school, a coalition might partner with the principal, guidance counselor, parent council,
teachers representing different grade levels and any specialty areas such as English language
learners (ELL teachers), school nurse, etc. Activities might include the provision and use of
authentic materials for contextualized curriculum such as report cards, school policies,
MCAS results, navigating the school’s website, etc. The school nurse may present to
parents regarding different aspects of health and wellness. The principal may provide
several opportunities to meet with the parents to make them feel welcome and comfortable
and to encourage their involvement in their child’s education. The parent council can
inform the parents about its purpose and the advocacy role they can play. School and ABE
teachers may plan and conduct parent and child activities; or role play with parents to
prepare parents to attend parent/teacher conferences, etc.
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If children are enrolled in schools throughout the community, partnerships may be
established with key school district staff. This might include a representative of the
superintendent’s office, curriculum and instruction, bilingual education/ELL, and
representatives from the schools where children are enrolled. Areas of involvement may
include exploring funding through Title I and ELL (both are required to do parent
involvement) to support the provision of parent education classes and bringing in
specialists, or to fund additional ABE classes at the school, etc.
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For more examples of topics/activities, see Guidelines for Effective Adult Basic Education,
Appendix E, pages 128-129: Family and Community Engagement as the Primary Focus of
Community Planning.
College and Career Readiness: These partnerships can play a significant role in the successful
transition of ABE students to college, further training, and career. Community planning allows
programs to work in partnership with college, training, and workforce partners for the purpose
of helping students achieve their college and career related goals.
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A coalition may decide to partner with a local community college to support their learners’
goals for post-secondary education. Examples may include visits to the campus, experience
sitting in on classes, community college representatives visiting the program, meeting
students to hear about their interests, explaining what programs the college provides, and
responding to questions ranging from programming requirements to available support
services (i.e., child care, financial aid, etc.).
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Depending upon learners’ interests, a coalition may wish to seek out local businesses and
employers in predominant industry sectors in their region along with one-stop career
centers and their local workforce investment board (LWIB) or partner with a local health
care facility. Examples of these partnerships might include development of contextualized
curriculum tailored to specific fields in demand in the area. Local employers might visit the
program to meet with interested learners to share what a typical day/month in certain jobs
entails, skills or licenses needed, salary ranges, or arrange for students to make onsite visits
to observe employees in action.
Recruit for Skills and Knowledge: A key component to successful recruitment is to include the
people who have the skills and content knowledge of areas in which the coalition wants to address
based on its goals, as well as the capacity to carry out the work of the coalition. Maybe the skills
and knowledge you need on your coalition are related to recruiting employer members. You might
want to find someone with a good sales background, or a member of the Chamber of Commerce or
trade association. Or, perhaps you are in need of someone to perform administrative duties. You
could recruit someone who has excellent organization skills to send out meeting notices, coordinate
agendas and provide logistical duties like obtaining meeting space. Or maybe you need a new
brochure for marketing but no one has that expertise, or time. There might be a local printing
business or college print shop that could help. One of the best ways to recruit and maintain
coalition members is to identify the skills and knowledge you need in your coalition, and recruit
members who match those needs. Everyone likes to feel they can make a contribution if they are
going to give their time to a coalition, so spend some time matching the needs of the coalition to the
skills, knowledge and influences of its membership. The number of members is not as important as
skills, knowledge, community connections and influence.
So, whether you’re a new or renewing ABE community planning partnership or a long-standing group,
it’s important to look at the composition of your membership to maximize the coalition’s effectiveness
and impact on your program and learners, as well as the community. But, before you decide on adding
or changing members of your coalition, be sure you know what your coalition’s focus is and what skills
and experience are needed to carry it out. This can be accomplished by reviewing your vision and
mission, developing goals, and instituting a plan of action for your ABE community planning coalition.
www.pelletier-consulting.com
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