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COLLEGE READY
•NC Early College a Finalist in President’s
Graduation Contest
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No. 72, May 2011
SHINING A LIGHT ON INNOVATION:
JFF’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP
WITH METLIFE FOUNDATION
•From GED to College Degree
For a decade, one of JFF’s essential partners in elevating
•Turning Seniors into Freshmen: An
“Educational Leadership” Feature
the work of high-quality community colleges has been
COLLEGE SUCCESS
Foundation Community College Excellence Award has
•Innovations in Developmental Math
highlighted the distinctive roles community colleges play
•Greening Community Colleges
in the education of students of all ages and circumstances,
•Creating Opportunities in Health Care
MetLife Foundation. Every two years since 2002, the MetLife
and in addressing regional educational and economic
needs and opportunities.
•Five Colleges Use Data to Scale Up Adult
Basic Education Programs
•Profile: Rachel Pleasants
In April, JFF released three issue briefs sponsored by the foundation:
Innovations in Developmental Math; Greening Community Colleges; and Creating
CAREER ADVANCEMENT
Opportunities in Health Care. These briefs, described in this NEWSWIRE, draw on
•The Promise of Work-Based Learning
the entries for the 2010 award, as well as on promising practices in the field and
JFF’s participation in Breaking Through, Jobs to Careers, and the National Fund
POLICY SOLUTIONS
for Workforce Solutions.
•Driving Innovation: Improving Outcomes in
Developmental Education
•Michigan Community Colleges Leave No
Worker Behind
•The Effectiveness of WIA’s Employment
and Training Services
•Achieving the Dream’s State Policy
Newsletter: Better than Ever
NEWSWIRE No. 72, May 2011
These reports, like the MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence
Award, shine a light on innovative community colleges that address challenges
within their own communities and expand opportunity for their students.
—Marlene B. Seltzer, President and CEO, Jobs for the Future
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COLLEGE READY
NC EARLY COLLEGE A FINALIST IN PRESIDENT’S GRADUATION CONTEST (VIDEO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXKOWFknTtM
Wayne Early Middle College High School, which opened in 2007, was one of six finalists to
have President Barack Obama speak at its first graduation ceremony. Wayne is one of 71
early colleges in North Carolina. In the national Early College High School Initiative, 230
schools are giving more than 50,000 students a year the opportunity to earn up to two
years of college credit—tuition free.
FROM GED TO COLLEGE DEGREE
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/ged-college-degree/1226
FROM
GED TO
COLLEGE
DEGREE:
Less than 5 percent of GED holders ever earn a postsecondary degree. In response,
innovative GED programs have begun creating clear, effective pathways to postsecondary
education, preparing their students for college and careers. John Garvey and JFF’s
Terry Grobe share lessons from “best in class” GED to College programs that show early,
positive results in preparing youth for college and helping them persist once there. It also
explores key issues connected to the growth of this programming within the field and lays
out a framework for transforming short-term GED programs into more intensive, collegeconnected designs.
CREATING PATHWAYS TO
POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS FOR
HIGH SC HOOL DROPOUTS
BY JOHN GARVEY, WITH TERRY GROBE
MAY 2011
TURNING SENIORS INTO FRESHMEN: AN “EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP” FEATURE
http://www.educationalleadership-digital.com/educationalleadership/201104/?pg=81&pm=2&u1=friend
Since opening in 1997, the University Park Campus School in Worcester, Massachusetts, has
had a near-zero dropout rate, and 95 percent of its students enroll in college—nearly all of
whom are from minority or low-income families. To help more of those students advance in
college, UPCS has redesigned its senior year to more closely resemble a college freshman
year, with semester-long, college-level courses and college-style syllabi, and assessments.
As UPCS founder Donna Rodrigues and JFF’s Cecilia Le detail in the April issue of
Educational Leadership, 93 percent of UPCS graduates who experienced the redesigned
senior year are on pace to earn a college credential within six years, suggesting that the
redesign can help address the broader education system’s college retention issue.
COLLEGE SUCCESS
The first three community college briefs were sponsored by MetLife Foundation to help
community colleges address local and regional educational, social, and economic needs.
INNOVATIONS IN DEVELOPMENTAL MATH
INNOVATIONS IN DEVELOPMENTAL MATH
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/innovations-developmental-math-community/1214
Community Colleges Enhance Support
For Nontraditional Students
Students are more likely to fail developmental math than any other course in higher
education. Cecilia Le, Kimberly R. Rogers, and Janet Santos look at three community
colleges that have invested in and improved student outcomes in this area.
BY CECILIA LE,
K I MBERLY R. ROGERS,
A ND JANET SANTOS
APRIL 2011
JOBS FOR THE FUTURE
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GREENING COMMUNITY COLLEGES
A n E nv i ro n m ental Path to
I m p rov i n g Ed u c a t i o n al Outcomes
GREENING COMMUNITY COLLEGES
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/greening-community-colleges-environmenta/1215
The emerging and expanding green economy has the potential to create not just jobs
but career opportunities. Kimberly R. Rogers and Rachel Pleasants highlight community
colleges that are “greening” their curricula and their own operations—and simultaneously
addressing employment and environmental needs in the communities they serve.
B Y K I MBERLY R. ROGERS
A N D R ACHEL PLE ASANTS
APRIL 2011
JOBS FOR THE FUTURE
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NEWSWIRE No. 72, May 2011
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CREATING OPPORTUNITIES IN HEALTH CARE
C R E AT I N G O P P O RT U N I T I E S
I N H E A LTH CA R E :
T h e C o m m u n i t y C o l l e g e Ro l e i n Wo r k f o rc e Par tnerships
B Y R A DHA ROY BISWAS,
W I TH JEREMY KELLEY
APRIL 2011
JOBS FOR THE FUTURE
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BREAKING THROUGH
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/creating-opportunities-health-care-commu/1213
Community colleges are well positioned to strengthen the workforce in one of America’s
most critical sectors: health care. Radha Roy Biswas and Jeremy Kelley highlight how
community colleges are preparing frontline health care workers and low-income individuals
for family-sustaining careers in health care.
FIVE COLLEGES USE DATA TO SCALE UP ADULT BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/achieving-ambitious-goals-case-studies-s/1230
ACHIEVING AMBITIOUS GOALS
Case Studies of Scaling-Up Programs for Advancing Low-Skilled Adults
DURHAM TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE  LAKE MICHIGAN COLLEGE  OWENSBORO COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE
PAMLICO COMMUNITY COLLEGE  TACOMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
By Barbara Endel and Nate Anderson, with Jeremy Kelley
May 2011
Community colleges must fundamentally change the way they deliver Adult Basic
Education in order to help all students earn credentials that hold value in today’s economy.
In Achieving Ambitious Goals, Barbara Endel, Nate Anderson, and Jeremy Kelley highlight
what five Breaking Through colleges are doing to not only advance adults’ skills and career
prospects but also to scale up successful programs across campuses and state systems.
Breaking Through, a partnership of JFF and the National Council for Workforce Education,
is helping adults enter and succeed in college.
PROFILE: RACHEL PLEASANTS
http://www.jff.org/staff-member/rachel-plesants/998
Two years ago, Rachel Pleasants came to JFF through the Education Pioneers program
and then stayed on, becoming a vital partner in our efforts to help adults succeed in
community colleges. She now conducts research, creates tools, and maintains relationships
with the 41 colleges and 22 states in the Breaking Through network.
Enabling lower-skilled Americans to navigate the education pipeline—the goal of Breaking
Though—has long been a commitment of Rachel’s. Before coming to JFF, she was an
administrator and after-school instructor in K-12 programs. She also has worked on career
development efforts for high school students, including the Met School in Providence,
Rhode Island, and Just-A-Start in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Outside the office, Rachel is an avid biker, rock climber, potter, and nationally competitive
crossword puzzler. And Rachel’s own education reflects her diverse interests: a Master’s
in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and
two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Iowa—one in Spanish, the other in painting.
CAREER ADVANCEMENT
THE PROMISE OF WORK-BASED LEARNING: A JOBS TO CAREERS PRESENTATION
A NEW LOOK AT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN
CHALLENGING TIMES: THE PROMISE OF !
WORK-BASED LEARNING"
PRESENTED BY:
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Randall Wilson, PhD
Senior Project Manager
Jobs for the Future
Debbie Logan, RN, MHA
Project Director
Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce
Jennifer Craft Morgan, PhD
Principal Evaluator for Jobs to Careers,
University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill
Bonnie Clipper, RN, MBA, FACHE, AVP
Professional Nursing Practice and Development
St. David’s Healthcare
Austin, Texas
NEWSWIRE No. 72, May 2011
http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/AONEpresentation040411jr.pdf
Jobs to Careers projects at Mississippi and Texas hospitals have engaged frontline workers
in work-based learning and partnered with community colleges to award college credit
for acquired skills. In April, at the annual meeting of the American Association of Nurse
Executives, leaders of these efforts and JFF’s Randall Wilson detailed how hospitals and
colleges have teamed up. Jobs to Careers is a $15.8 million initiative of the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with The Hitachi Foundation and the U.S. Department
of Labor.
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POLICY SOLUTIONS
DRIVING INNOVATION: IMPROVING OUTCOMES IN DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/driving-innovation-how-six-states-are-or/1218
DRIVING INNOVATION:
HOW SIX STATES
ARE ORGANIZING TO
IMPROVE OUTCOMES
IN DEVELOPMENTAL
EDUCATION
B Y M I C H A E L L AW R E N C E C O L L I N S
Nearly 60 percent of incoming college freshmen require developmental education before
they can enter credit-bearing courses, and many of these students drop out of college
before getting that far. In Driving Innovation, Michael Lawrence Collins describes how six
states have set out to improve these outcomes. In 2009, those states helped launch the
Developmental Education Initiative, focused on helping students complete developmental
education programs and move into credit-bearing courses.
MAY 2011
MICHIGAN COMMUNITY COLLEGES LEAVE NO WORKER BEHIND
Achieving the Dream
Community Colleges Count
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/leaving-no-worker-behind-community-colle/1225
LEAVING NO WORKER BEHIND
Community Colleges Retrain the Michigan Workforce—and Themselves
May 2011
By Tom Hilliard
In 2007, Michigan set out to retrain tens of thousands of dislocated workers and other
low-skilled adults for emerging jobs. Through No Worker Left Behind, community colleges
trained these workers while the state covered up to $5,000 a year for college and related
expenses. By 2011, more than 150,000 adults had enrolled in NWLB-financed training, and
59 percent of participants eligible for federal workforce programs had found new jobs
after completing their training. In Leaving No Worker Behind, Tom Hilliard examines what
community colleges learned about serving dislocated, jobless, and low-skilled adults.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WIA’S EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICES
TESTIMONY BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR,
HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES, EDUCATION
AND RELATED
AGENCIES, COMMITTEE
ON APPROPRIATIONS,
U.S. HOUSE OF
REPRESENATIVES
STATEMENT OF RAYMOND J. UHALDE
VICE PRESIDENT, JOBS FOR THE FUTURE
APRIL 7, 2011
TEL 617.728.4446 FAX 617.728.4857 info@jff.org
88 Broad Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02110
2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 5300, Washington, DC 20006
W W W. J F F.O R G
http://www.jff.org/publications/workforce/effectiveness-wias-employment-and-traini/1220
In April, JFF Policy VP Ray Uhalde testified on Capitol Hill, advocating for both
reauthorizing and restructuring the Workforce Investment Act. “It is absolutely essential
that the urgency of deficit reduction not override critical investments in the education
and skills development of U.S. workers,” Uhalde said, “especially at this fragile point in our
economic recovery with 13.5 million Americans still unemployed.”
Jobs for the Future develops, implements, and promotes new education and
workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete
in a global economy. In 200 communities in 41 states, JFF improves the
pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.
THE STATE POLICY NEWSLETTER OF ACHIEVING THE DREAM: COMMUNITY COLLEGES COUNT
We welcome new subscribers, particularly potential readers in
state offices, two-year institutions, and education research and
policy organizations. Please refer anyone you think should receive
this free newsletter to our registration page on the Jobs for the
Future website: www.jff.org/media/newswire/subscribe
March 2011  Issue 14
Contents
Feature
Welcome to the New Achieving
Success
If you have questions about the newsletter, its content, or
subscribing, please contact Katrina Reichert: kreichert@jff.org.
Michigan Community College
Association’s Center for Student
Success: Using Data to Facilitate
Continuous Institutional
Improvement
Developing and Implementing
a Statewide Redesign of
Developmental Math in North
Carolina
Policy Supports
The Potential of Partnerships
Between Community Colleges
and ABLE Programs in Ohio
Welcome to the new Achieving Success
Welcome to the inaugural issue of JFF’s newly redesigned newsletter, Achieving Success! We
hope you find the streamlined content and new look both helpful and informative.
Why redesign Achieving Success? The Achieving the Dream team produced its first state
policy newsletter in 2005 as an easy way to access information about community college
policy issues, as well as to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across states. As
Achieving the Dream grew and the Developmental Education Initiative was launched, the
newsletter evolved as well. We recently surveyed readers to better understand your interests
and how you use Achieving Success. Based on the results, we sharpened our focus on ATD/
DEI state policy progress and accomplishments, while continuing to provide up-to-date
resources and information on state higher education policy issues.
We are keeping the things that work—such as providing easy access to relevant resources
and keeping readers abreast of ATD/DEI state activities. However, reader feedback suggests
that we use Achieving Success as a platform for reporting more deeply on state successes
and lessons learned, while shortening the overall length and publishing more often.
Resources
Data-Driven Improvement
Investments in Innovation
Policy Supports
http://www.jff.org/publications/education/achieving-success/133
Feature
Data-Driven Improvement
Investments in Innovation
ACHIEVING THE DREAM’S STATE POLICY NEWSLETTER: BETTER THAN EVER
Changes include:
ƒ New feature section. Each issue will begin with a feature—a profile of new JFF publications, a
Q&A with an education expert, or a guest editorial.
ƒ Frequency. Production will increase to bimonthly in order to provide you with timely
information on the great work of state policy teams.
ƒ Length. Less is more. The new Achieving Success will not exceed six pages.
ƒ State updates. As mentioned above, each issue will highlight the states’ progress, framed
by the Developmental Education Initiative’s three-part strategy: Data-Driven Improvement;
Investments in Innovation; and Policy Supports.
We are confident that you will find the new Achieving Success rejuvenating and valuable in
your work to help more community college students succeed.
If you have questions about Achieving Success, or would like to provide us with feedback on
Join the 2,000 community college faculty, administrators, state-level stakeholders, and
others who receive Achieving Success. This free state policy newsletter of Achieving the
Dream and the Developmental Education Initiative includes news, essential resources,
and special features on how states in these initiatives use policy as a lever for improving
outcomes for community college students.
our new look, please contact Katrina Reichert, kreichert@jff.org.
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Achieving Success
March 2011  Issue 14
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To subscribe, go to the JFF website and click the link on the home page.
Keep up on how innovations in education and workforce development can expand economic opportunity.
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Jobs for the Future develops, implements, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help
communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In more than 200 communities across
43 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.
TEL 617.728.4446 FAX 617.728.4857 info@jff.org
88 Broad Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02110
2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 5300, Washington, DC 20006
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NEWSWIRE No. 72, May 2011
MARLENE B. SELTZER, President and CEO
JOBS FOR THE FUTURE