Shifting Gears 2.0 Minnesota FastTRAC Proposal for Renewal Grant
Grant Proposal Cover Sheet
Name of Applicant: Office of the Chancellor of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
(MnSCU) on behalf of Minnesota FastTRAC
Date of Application: August 17, 2009
Address: Office of the Chancellor, 30-7th St. E., St. Paul, MN 55101
Telephone: (651) 296-3388
Fax: (651) 296-3214
E-mail: Linda.Lade@csu.mnscu.edu
Web Address: www.cte.mnscu.edu
Chancellor James H. McCormick
Telephone: (651) 296-7971
Project Manager: Linda Lade
Telephone: (651) 296-3388
Financial Contact: Rehka Dixit
Telephone: (651) 649-5781
Date Organization/Agency began operations: July 1, 1995, upon a merge of Minnesota’s
community colleges, technical colleges and state universities in to one system.
Number of Staff: Full-time equivalent: 14,829
Total Operating Expenses (from most recently completed fiscal year):
Total MnSCU: $1,908.9 million
Of which, Office of the Chancellor: $19.9 million
FastTRAC Initiative Budget:
2010 $4,711,300
2011 $1,863,600
FastTRAC Budget Total: $6,574,900
Requested from Joyce:
$662,900
Brief Description of Project: Implement policy changes to create a state-wide stackable
credentials framework (called FastTRAC) that creates opportunities for low-wage and/or lowskilled adults to increase their basic, work-readiness and occupational skills and to acquire
credentials that will lead to jobs that pay family-supporting wages. The framework integrates
Adult Basic Education, MnSCU, workforce development partners, community-based
organizations and employers, in collaboratively delivering FastTRAC stackable credential
programs around the state.
Population(s) Served by Project: Adults between ages 18 and 64 that have not completed an
occupational certificate or higher and that lack the skills to enter and complete postsecondary
education and/or earn family-supporting wages.
August 17, 2009
1
TO:
FROM:
RE:
Whitney Smith, the Joyce Foundation
MN FastTRAC Executive Committee
Overview of Shifting Gears 2.0: Minnesota FastTRAC, Renewal Grant Proposal
The Joyce Foundation and the State of Minnesota are currently collaborating on a common
mission – to provide greater opportunities for low-wage and/or low-skilled adults to increase
their basic and occupational skills and to acquire credentials that lead to family-supporting
employment. The importance and urgency of this mission to individuals, communities, and the
state is clear. Minnesota has over 251,000 adults in their prime working age who have less than
a twelfth grade education and more than 800,000 of the state’s adults have not entered postsecondary education. In addition, over 360,000 Minnesotans are foreign born and more than
60,000 residents speak little or no English. These demographic factors have significant
consequences for the current and future economic health of our state and its citizens.
For the past ten years, state efforts to address the employment training needs of this
population were limited to within-agency initiatives, and although many were successful on a
local scale, few leveraged cross-agency support or partnerships. With assistance from the Joyce
Foundation from 2007 – 2009, Minnesota has demonstrated increased momentum to
collaboratively address the needs of low-wage and/or low-skilled adults through policy and
system changes that focus on long-term, sustainable solutions. This proposal for a Shifting
Gears 2.0 grant continues and accelerates that momentum, building upon Minnesota’s hard
work on the first two Joyce grants (the planning grant and the 1.0 implementation grant), by
seeking to implement major changes in system policies and practices at the local and state
levels through administrative, legislative, and programmatic action.
This effort is called Minnesota FastTRAC (Training, Resources and Credentialing), and its goal is
to build a statewide “stackable credentials” framework for delivering education, training, and
employment services. A stackable credentials framework refers to highly coordinated
programming and policy alignment across Adult Basic Education (ABE), the WorkForce Center
System, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) System, and community based
organizations (CBOs) that provide training and employment services. It is a framework that
enables low-wage and educationally under-prepared Minnesota adults to access a continuum
of education and job training opportunities that lead to the attainment of in-demand
occupational certificates or credentials, and ultimately, to jobs paying a family-supporting
wage. This proposal continues the effort to define, establish and institutionalize a stackable
credential framework in Minnesota.
The policy agenda contained in this proposal outlines a set of key activities, actions and
timelines for our work moving forward that will lead to an identifiable (branded), sustainable
FastTRAC delivery system. Aligning existing and new resources to support stackable credentials
programming statewide is critical to the policy agenda effort. It is important to note that
Minnesota FastTRAC has leveraged significant resources and actions that directly support and
provide increased momentum for the stackable credentials concept. For example, $2 million of
discretionary American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding has been allocated to FastTRAC
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programming at the local level, and all of Minnesota's Workforce Investment Act Incentive
funds for FY 2010 have been dedicated to support FastTRAC. In addition, over $1 million in state
and federal FY 2010 ABE funds are dedicated to FastTRAC local implementation. These and
many other supporting actions demonstrate Minnesota's commitment and resolve to
accomplish the long-term FastTRAC mission.
The policy agenda proposed here also contains actions focused on eliminating or reducing
barriers for post-secondary participation that students commonly face, such as high
college/training costs and insufficient student support services. Further, the agenda includes
instructional innovations such as “blended content” where basic skills providers work alongside
post-secondary instructors to deliver occupationally focused courses leading to a credential, as
well as the modularization of credential and basic skill content. Important data and
performance measurement activities are also proposed that will enable the state to monitor
and evaluate student progress within FastTRAC programming and identify labor market payoffs
as a result of this effort. Improved data sharing and analysis capabilities will lead the way for
additional recommendations and actions necessary to strengthen Minnesota's workforce
training and employment systems.
Extensive state agency participation and partnership in this effort is critical to better align
public policies and practices among agencies involved in adult education, workforce and
training systems. The lead state agencies for this proposal include Minnesota State Colleges and
Universities (MnSCU), the Minnesota Department of Education ABE Office, and the Minnesota
Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Other state level collaborators
include the Minnesota Departments of Human Services (DHS) and Labor and Industry (DLI), the
Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE), and the Governor's Workforce Development
Council (GWDC).
Two full-time project staff will work closely with a number of FastTRAC committees including a
Senior Leadership Steering Committee (agency heads), a FastTRAC Executive Team, a Policy
Guidelines Team, an ABE-MnSCU Alignment Advisory Team, and a Data Sharing Team.
Implementation of this team/partnership structure, along with the development of a strategic
communications plan, will ensure maximum participation and commitment to FastTRAC goals.
To move this ambitious FastTRAC proposal forward, Minnesota is seeking Joyce Foundation
funding of $662,900 for a two year period, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011. During
that time period, state matching funds totaling $5,912,000 will be dedicated to Minnesota
FastTRAC, representing cash and in-kind contributions from MnSCU, ABE and DEED. Over 85
percent of the Joyce Foundation request will be dedicated to project staff and consultants.
This proposal has a solid commitment from the leadership of all involved agencies and
represents a bold policy agenda for the state. Its implementation will open doors of access to
education and training pathways that will boost the employment options of low-income, lowskilled adults and better prepare Minnesota’s workforce for high-demand, skilled jobs.
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
ABE – Adult Basic Education
ARRA – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
CAEL—Council on Adult and Experiential Learning
CBOs – Community-based organizations
CLASP – Center for Law and Social Policy
CY – Calendar year
DEED – Department of Employment and Economic Development
DHS – Department of Human Services
DLI – Department of Labor and Industry
EL – English Language
ESL – English as a Second Language
ETC – Education and Training Collaboratives
FastTRAC – Training, Resources and Credentialing
FSET – Food Support Employment and Training
FY – Fiscal year
GWDC – Governor’s Workforce Development Council (statewide WIB)
LWIB – Local Workforce Investment Board
MDE – Minnesota Department of Education
MJSP – Minnesota Job Skills Partnership
MnSCU – Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
NTAR – National Technical Assistance and Research Project, Rutgers University
OHE – Office of Higher Education
OLA – Office of the Legislative Auditor
OOC – Office of the Chancellor
RFP – Request for Proposal
SNAP – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as FSET)
WFC – WorkForce Center
WIA – Workforce Investment Act
WIA Title Ib – Adult, Dislocated Worker, Youth
WIA Title II – Adult Education and Family Literacy Act
WIA Title IV – Rehabilitation Services
WIB – Workforce Investment Board
WSA – Workforce Service Area
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Table of Contents
A. Vision and Introduction
7
B. Progress to Date and Logic Model
1. Use of Current Grant
2. Stakeholder Engagement in Shifting Gears 1.0
3. Theory of Change and Logic Model
4. Stackable Credential Incubators 1.0
5. Data and Performance Measurement Under 1.0
6. Impact of S.G. 1.0 Activities on Policy Agenda and Action Plan
12
12
13
15
17
22
24
C. Policy Agenda and Action Plan
26
D. Data and Performance Management Plan
32
E. Strategic Communications Plan
36
F. Opportunities and Challenges
38
G. Lead Entities
42
H. Budget
45
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Summary of Minnesota’s Adult Education and Workforce Development Systems
Minnesota Adult Basic Education (ABE): Minnesota’s federal and state funded ABE program is
administered through the Minnesota Department of Education. The state has 53 ABE consortia,
representing over 500 service delivery sites, primarily through school district programs. In the
Twin Cities metro, over 25 ABE programs are run by community-based organizations either as
stand-along ABE consortia or as sub-grantees to school districts. In a given year, ABE programs
serve approximately 12 percent of the ABE target population. Enrollment for Program Year
2009 was 73,953. Just under half were English as Second Language students and 60 percent
were minorities.
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)/WorkForce
Centers: DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, with programs promoting
business recruitment, expansion and retention; workforce development; international trade;
and community development. DEED also administers the state’s Unemployment Insurance
system and provides labor market analysis. The Workforce Development Division works with
federal, local and statewide partners to provide Workforce Investment Act (WIA) training and
support from the U.S. Department of Labor and State of Minnesota to unemployed and
dislocated workers, and financial assistance for businesses seeking to upgrade the skills of their
workforce. Additional services include State Services for the Blind, Rehabilitation Services, Local
Labor Exchange, Services for Youth and Seniors, and Disability Determination. Many of these
services are provided at Minnesota’s 47 WorkForce Centers. Minnesota has 16 designated
workforce service areas that both directly and indirectly (through subcontractors) offer an array
of services as specified in their local Workforce Investment Board plans.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU): With 32 institutions, including 25 twoyear colleges and seven state universities, MnSCU is the largest single provider of higher
education in the state of Minnesota. The colleges and universities operate 54 campuses in 47
Minnesota communities and serve about 250,000 students in credit-based courses. Overall, the
system produces about 33,500 graduates each year. In addition to credit-based courses, the
system offers customized training programs that serve about 153,200 employees from 6,000
Minnesota businesses each year. MnSCU was created in 1995 when the state's community
colleges, technical colleges and state universities merged into one system. The Office of the
Chancellor (OOC) oversees the system. The system is separate from the University of
Minnesota.
Community Based Organizations (CBOs): Some Minnesota CBOs provide adult education and
training programs. CBOs have helped advance strategies such as career pathways, employer
skill needs assessments, individualized support services, and bridge programs. Typically, these
CBOs provide services to employers, individual job seekers, and incumbent workers related to
skill building and job placement. One of their most important qualities and assets is their focus
on local employer needs and concerns. At the same time, they are attuned to the needs of lowskilled adult clients. They are also vendors to DEED and Workforce Center partners as WIA
training providers and TANF/MN Family Investment Program providers. CBOs range from
organizations serving a few hundred clients a year with quite modest staff and operating
budgets, to organizations with a hundred staff or more, large budgets and serving tens of
thousands of clients per year.
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A. Vision and Introduction
The Minnesota FastTRAC (Training, Resources and Credentialing) initiative envisions clearly
identifiable, sustainable, and highly effective stackable credential employment and training
programs available to adults through the state’s education and training systems, namely Adult
Basic Education (ABE), Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), the Minnesota
WorkForce Center (WFC) system, and community-based organizations (CBOs) that deliver
training and support services to adults. The main purpose of FastTRAC programs is to provide
opportunities for low-wage and/or low-skilled adults to increase their basic, work-readiness and
occupational skills, while remaining attached to the labor market, and to acquire credentials
that will lead to jobs that pay family-supporting wages.

Clearly identifiable presumes that a unique set of stackable credential programs that
have a common purpose, standard program characteristics and operational processes
will be branded and marketed as Minnesota FastTRAC programs.

Sustainable means that requisite policy and system changes are made in order for
Minnesota FastTRAC programs to continue without temporary funds.

Highly effective refers to a set of proven, standard program characteristics (e.g.
assessment, support services, financial aid, bridge programming, and multiple partners)
that produce a return on investment for employers, FastTRAC participants, as well as
the state as a whole.

Family-supporting wages refer to the definition used by Minnesota’s Jobs Now Coalition
for a job paying $12.24 an hour. A job paying less than this amount does not meet basic
needs (based on what each worker in a two-worker family of four must earn on average
in Minnesota).
Minnesota FastTRAC programs will be delivered collaboratively by ABE providers, MnSCU and
other public or private accredited higher education institutions, WorkForce Centers, and CBOs
in order to align resources, avoid redundancy and improve participants’ employment and
education outcomes.
Minnesota FastTRAC seeks to improve education and employment outcomes of adults who
lack the basic skills (i.e. reading, writing, math below 12th grade level) and/or employment
readiness skills to enter and complete occupational skill training programs and/or earn familysupporting wages. According to the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), 60
percent of working age Minnesotans, or nearly two million adults between ages 18 and 64,
have not completed an associate’s degree or higher. Of these, FastTRAC focuses on the:

251,210 adults who have not completed high school (or equivalent). Minnesota
employers typically require, at a minimum, a high school diploma or GED from
prospective employees.
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
892,744 adults who have completed a high school diploma but have not entered
college. Family-supporting wage jobs—such as in healthcare, manufacturing, renewable
energy and other technical fields—require a postsecondary credential.

61,327 adults in Minnesota who speak little or no English. Employers demand high
levels of English literacy and fluency in fields that require a postsecondary credential.
FastTRAC population as percentage of MN workforce
“Adult Learning in Focus – MN Profile of Adult Learners” CAEL, 2008
The primary goal of Minnesota FastTRAC is to advance significant numbers of this population
toward attaining in-demand postsecondary occupational credentials (“significant numbers” will
be defined in 2010, see Attachment 1, Obj. III, Priority 2.)
This goal will be accomplished through the design and delivery of FastTRAC “stackable
credentials” programs that blend and bridge basic and employment readiness skills with
postsecondary occupational training. "Stackable credentials” refers to a series of certificates,
licenses, diplomas or other credentials that “stack” on top of one another, representing
additional skills and opportunities along a career pathway. Existing stackable credential
programs in Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Ohio, and Kentucky suggest that to be successful,
these programs comprise many or all of the following elements:

Career pathways model – a program that admits and supports students in a specific
“roadmap” of education and skills training that leads to credentials and better earnings
opportunities at every major level of career advancement in a particular industry.
Career pathways offer opportunities at all points along a continuum of basic and English
literacy skills, non-degree postsecondary occupational education and training with
certification (that may or may not require admission to postsecondary for-credit
programs), and postsecondary education at the two- and four-year degree level.
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
Accelerated programming – attainment of skills and credentials through thoughtful
instructional processes and content that allow students to quickly enter and advance in
careers (e.g. high-intensity programs and dual enrollment options). Accelerated
programming can be delivered through bridge programs that explicitly link ABE with
preparation for postsecondary education and occupational skill attainment. It can also
be delivered through blended instruction that pairs adult basic and literacy instructors
and professional/technical instructors to deliver occupational training supplemented by
English language and basic skills instruction. Experience to date also suggests that
contextualized and competency-based curriculum through flexible sequencing of basic
skills and blending of core academic and occupation-specific skills is essential for adults
to accelerate their learning and gain confidence.

Flexible scheduling and delivery modes – programming offered through distance
learning and flexible scheduling (e.g., evening and weekend hours) to help students
meet school, work and family responsibilities.

Multi-level, industry-recognized credentials – collaboratively developed, industryvalued credentials created by employers and the workforce education and training
systems for in-demand, skilled jobs.

Flexible entry points - modularized curricula developed into sets of courses with
discrete educational and employment outcomes that enable students to enter and exit
a degree or certificate program at specific points in their educational cycle rather than
completing an entire program at once.

Connections to regional high-demand jobs – curricula and credentials based on labor
market analysis of labor demand and research on the skill sets employers require for
jobs within an industry. FastTRAC programs must be developed in industries offering
pathways to advancement—such as construction, manufacturing, and allied health—
and a high proportion of jobs that pay family-supporting wages and offer good benefits.

Support services specific to adult students – comprehensive student services that
enhance student planning and informed decision making, and increase student success
in achieving both education and employment goals. Services like career and academic
counseling, peer mentoring, tutoring, and transportation and childcare assistance are
examples of support services.

Comprehensive data collection and evaluation – collection and analysis of baseline
data as well as student and program outcomes; develop data capabilities to follow the
client across multiple workforce and education systems and the labor market.
With support from the Joyce Foundation, Minnesota is continuing to identify and implement
the policy changes needed to mainstream these elements and build a solid institutional
framework for stackable credentials programming in the state. A policy agenda (Attachment 1)
has been developed by leaders and staff of Minnesota’s education and workforce development
agencies along with stakeholders from the nonprofit and business sectors. The policy agenda
describes the efforts that will be undertaken in 2009-2011 to build, improve, sustain and
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institutionalize FastTRAC. An Executive Team with leadership from DEED, ABE, MnSCU and
private industry is responsible for oversight and coordination of the policy agenda.
Minnesota began working in tandem with the Joyce Foundation in 2007 when Foundation
personnel reviewed Minnesota’s policy environment for adult education and workforce
development. The Foundation recommended that Minnesota transform its state education and
training policies to increase economic opportunity for low-skilled adults. The transformation
was needed in three particular areas:

student transitions from ABE and developmental education to postsecondary education;

goals and accountability for enabling student transitions; and

tracking student transitions in and out of education and training systems and the labor
market.
In 2007-08, Minnesota received a one-year planning grant from Joyce to explore specific gaps in
the education and training systems that inhibit low-wage/low-skilled adults from accessing
requisite skills and credentials. Under the leadership of the Governor’s Workforce Development
Council (Minnesota’s statewide workforce investment board), policy experts and other
stakeholders explored three principal barriers to system integration:

limited coordination and resource sharing across institutions and agencies;

unmet need for flexible programmatic and support services; and

absence of a unified data collection and reporting system that tracks clients across
systems.
In July 2008, the Joyce Foundation extended a one-year implementation grant (SG 1.0) to
Minnesota to support its Shifting Gears initiative. Through this implementation grant,
Minnesota began to develop FastTRAC with the goal of:
creating a state-level “stackable credentials” education and training framework that
integrates Adult Basic Education, non-credit occupational training, and for-credit
postsecondary degree and certificate programs.
Minnesota pursued strategies and policy opportunities in three areas during this grant phase:

the provision of student support services needed by adults to transition across systems;

the creation of bridge programming to provide seamless transitions; and

increasing awareness of the need to build an integrated data capability to follow
progress and outcomes across the state’s education and employment programs.
To help identify the requisite inputs to build the stackable credentials framework, Minnesota
tested, refined and implemented strategies in student support services, bridge programming
and data sharing through “incubators”. Seven innovative education and training programs were
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selected as incubators to help inform stakeholders of policy barriers and opportunities, and to
transform these policies into the Minnesota FastTRAC policy agenda and action plan.
It is important to note that the objectives of Minnesota FastTRAC complemented those of other
major state-level education and employment initiatives that were underway, including: the
Perkins State Career and Technical Education plan (Perkins IV) and its emphasis on partnerships
and transitions from K-12 to college; the Education and Training Collaborative (ETC) grant
program designed to increase system capacity among ABE and the WorkForce Center System to
better serve low-income adults in occupational training; ABE’s Transition to Postsecondary
Education and Training three-year initiative to enhance its capacity to move students into
college-level education and training; Minnesota Sector Partnership grants to support employerdriven workforce development and partnership development; and Framework for Integrated
Regional Strategies (FIRST) grants to support regional leaders in developing long-term strategic
plans that integrate economic development, workforce growth, and education for the purpose
of improving economic competitiveness.
The Joyce Foundation’s investments have been a catalyst and resource for developing the
FastTRAC vision and policy agenda. Minnesota has crafted a well-conceived roadmap of policy
adjustments that will transform its education and workforce systems and make them more
accessible and responsive to the needs of working adults who seek higher skills, familysupporting wages, and better lives.
This proposal to the Joyce Foundation for a Shifting Gears 2.0 Implementation Grant represents
Minnesota’s continued commitment to meeting employer demands for a skilled workforce and
providing opportunities for low-wage and/or low-skilled adults to access high quality education
and training leading to better employment prospects.
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B. Progress to Date and Logic Model
Table 1 Shifting Gears 1.0 Implementation Grant Financial Report
Expenses
Personnel
Staff
Oversight/Man.
Consultants
Incubators
Meetings/Operations
Meetings
Travel
Supplies/Equip
MnSCU Indirect
Website
Evaluation
Total Expenses
Original Grant
YTD
Match
$157,500
$0
$0
$246,000
$128,250
$0
$3,778
$260,000
$67,500
$70,000
$60,000
$25,000
MnSCU cash
MnSCU, ABE, DEED inkind
ABE inkind
MnSCU cash
$17,000
$4,000
$2,500
$50,000
$3,000
$20,000
$500,000
$3,778
$7,847
$0
$50,000
$0
$0
$453,653
$8,000
$4,000
$11,000
MnSCU, ABE, DEED inkind
MnSCU, ABE, DEED inkind
MnSCU, ABE, DEED inkind
Balance
$5,000
Notes
MnSCU inkind
$250,500
$46,347
1. Use of Current Grant
See Table 1 for a financial report of Minnesota’s current Shifting Gears 1.0 Implementation
Grant ($500,000), effective July 18, 2008, to December 31, 2009 (extended from original closing
date of July 31, 2009). Minnesota invested grant and matching resources in four categories:
personnel, consultants, stackable credential incubators, and meeting/operational expenses.
Personnel refers to staff time and travel for the FastTRAC director and the project consultant.
$128,250 (Actual YTD) reflects staff time on the initiative through August 31, 2009;
approximately $169,000 will be expensed on personnel by grant end date. MnSCU also
provided cash match of $67,500 for personnel. DEED provided space, equipment and in-kind
administrative support for staff use. ABE, MnSCU, DEED, Office of Higher Education (OHE)
Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) and Department of Human Services (DHS) also provided
in-kind leadership, management, and technical expertise to the initiative. Consultants ($3,778)
refers to a MnSCU consultant to attend the cross-state meeting in May, particularly to advise
on Perkins.
Stackable Credential Incubators ($260,000 YTD) refers to the seven grants awarded in October
2008 to local-level stackable credential partnerships. Five of the incubator grants have ended;
two have been extended beyond June 30, 2009. Partial savings from “website” and
“evaluation” line items enabled $260,000 of Joyce funds rather than the original $246,000 to be
invested in incubators. In addition to the Joyce Foundation investment, MnSCU provided
$25,000 cash match for incubator projects; therefore a total of $285,000 was awarded to
incubators.
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Meetings/Operations ($61,625 Actual YTD) covers meeting expenses and meeting travel
reimbursement for non-state employees to attend FastTRAC meetings ($3,778, $7,847 travel).
MnSCU was budgeted $50,000 for its fiscal administration.
Grant resources originally budgeted for “Website” and “Evaluation” were not expensed:
MnSCU provided in-kind staff for the website; FastTRAC staff took on the evaluation role, with
in-kind support from DEED, ABE and MnSCU. These savings were re-obligated for personnel and
incubators.
The Balance of $46,347 is available for staff and meeting expenses (i.e. food and travel
reimbursement for non-state employees) for the remainder of CY 2009.
2. Stakeholder Engagement in Shifting Gears 1.0
Minnesota FastTRAC fostered stakeholder engagement in four principal ways: (i) collaborative
learning teams that were convened from August 2008, through July 2009, with the primary task
of identifying opportunities for policy change and transforming workable solutions into the
two-year policy agenda and action plan; (ii) a policy scan that included policy discussions with
key education and training systems representatives; (iii) multi-system stackable credential
incubators that are described in section B.4 and Attachment 2; and (iv) related state-level
education, training, and employment initiatives that are described in section F and point to an
enriched environment for broader state policy change.
Collaborative Learning Teams
Minnesota FastTRAC has brought together state and local level ABE and higher education
practitioners, workforce development professionals, business executives, and nonprofit
organization representatives. These individuals worked in collaborative learning teams and
were challenged to bring their professional experience, content knowledge and strategic
thinking to the FastTRAC table. Each team engaged in research and strategy sessions, from
which they made recommendations for policy change to the Systems Leadership Team.

Systems Leadership Team consisted of state and local leaders from state agencies
providing higher education and public employment services, as well as leaders from
local public and nonprofit organizations that provide basic education and skills training
to low-skilled and/or low-wage adult workers, and individuals who influence
policymakers in education and workforce development. The team met five times over
the course of the grant period to identify and learn from the incubators and to develop
the policy agenda and action plan. Team members brought to bear their many years of
sector knowledge, program delivery, policymaking and other professional experience in
working with adult workers/students, and were challenged to consider carefully lessons
emerging from incubators as well as recommendations of collaborative team members.
Moreover, the Systems Leadership Team acted as advocates for FastTRAC, raising
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awareness throughout their networks around the serious workforce and economic
challenges facing the state, and the potential solutions provided through a stackable
credentials education and training system. The team grew out of the Minnesota Shifting
Gears Steering Committee formed in 2007 under the Shifting Gears Planning Grant.

Stackable Credentials Team met four times to consider a number of policy options,
including student planning tools that are accessible to and portable across the state’s
education and training systems. The team developed a “transition model” – a visual map
of education and training points along a generic employment trajectory – to allow
administrators and practitioners to clearly identify the services and programs offered by
Minnesota’s education and training systems at each entry and exit point, as well as
current gaps in the systems. The model serves as a tool for FastTRAC programming as
well as the corollary ABE Transitions and ETC grants projects.

Student Support Services Team met four times and considered options for policy
change around the following: (i) modifying state grant aid programs (Minnesota State
Grant, Post Secondary Childcare Grant, and Work Study program) to better enable
working adult students to access and complete postsecondary education; (ii) creating
incentives for postsecondary institutions to work with WorkForce Centers, CBOs and
others to provide support services to adults; and (iii) accelerating program completion
by expanding the use of credit for prior learning.

Data and Information Team met on six occasions to develop, implement, and analyze a
survey of incubator partners to determine data sharing obstacles and opportunities at
the local level between WorkForce Centers, ABE providers, MnSCU, and CBOs. The team
directed staff in collecting incubator participant data and investigated regional and local
approaches to data sharing.

In addition to the four teams given above, the FastTRAC Executive Team was charged
with broad oversight and day-to-day management of the FastTRAC initiative. This team
of six Systems Leadership members (representing ABE, MnSCU, DEED, and the business
community), plus the two FastTRAC staff, met bi-monthly to set direction and priorities,
coordinate and resolve issues between state agencies, and ensure that FastTRAC
responded to emerging state or federal policies or initiatives that have implications for
Minnesota’s adult workers/students.
Policy Scan
As part of our Shifting Gears work, we have completed a comprehensive scan of education and
workforce development policies. FastTRAC staff conducted interviews with key policymakers
and program directors, including those representing the WIA Adult and Dislocated programs,
Vocational Rehabilitation, and ABE as well as representatives of Perkins/Community and
Technical Education systems, Minnesota’s TANF program – known as Minnesota Family
Investment Program (MFIP) – and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
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14
formerly known as Food Support Employment and Training (FSET). The policy scan proved to be
a fruitful venue for soliciting policy opportunities for the policy agenda. Moreover, it served as a
catalyst for new cooperation across state systems.
3. Theory of Change and Logic Model
Summary Statement
Minnesota’s FastTRAC theory of change can be summarized by the following statement: State
policy change can drive new agency practices and policies that lead to more low-wage and/or
low-skilled adults achieving postsecondary occupational credentials, thereby improving their
job and earnings prospects, helping to fill employer skill gaps, and strengthening local, regional
and state economies.
Problems/Needs Assumptions

Many Minnesotans lack the education and skills to secure and retain jobs that pay
family-supporting wages. While Minnesota has one of the highest high school
graduation rates and postsecondary attainment rates in the country, the state has a
sizeable percentage (60 percent) of its working age population (18-64) without the
educational credentials or workplace skills to earn family-supporting wages. Inadequate
educational and occupational skill preparation is a major cause of low wages and
stagnant income for individuals and their families and an impediment to business and
regional competitiveness.

Minnesota faces a worker shortage. Although many workers are struggling to find work
in this labor market (unemployment is 8.4 percent in Minnesota and projected to go
higher), Minnesota faces a future worker shortage. The state’s K-12 population will
begin to shrink after 2009 and will not be sufficient to replace the number of workers
(and their skills) as baby boomers retire. Between 2005 and 2010, Minnesota is
averaging about 30,000 new workers per year. DEED’s Labor Market Analysts predict
this will slow to 14,000 between 2015 and 2020, and to 3,000 per year between 2020
and 2025. This shortfall in new workers and skills makes it all the more imperative to
increase the skills of the existing workforce to avert even more serious economic
consequences. According to the National Center on Education and the Economy, an
estimated 65 percent of the workforce in 2020 is already beyond the reach of our K-12
school system.

Workforce demographics are shifting significantly. Immigration is rapidly becoming the
largest source of new workers in Minnesota. By 2015, minorities are projected to
constitute 13 percent of the state population, up from 9 percent in 2000. Over this
period, the number of Latinos alone is projected to grow 98 percent. The state’s AfricanAmerican population is also growing. Increasingly, then, employers will rely on a more
diverse workforce to fill open positions. Yet racial gaps in educational attainment
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15
threaten the preparedness of the labor force. In addition to language barriers to
employment among immigrants, many non-white workers lack postsecondary
credentials; for example, only 18 percent of Latino and Asian adults in the state have
some college or an associate degree and fully 40 percent of Latinos have less than a high
school diploma.
In addition to these economic challenges, our Theory of Change also confronts the
programmatic and policy obstacles that can prevent low-wage, low-skill Minnesotans from
accessing the skills training and credentials they need. Minnesota is building an infrastructure
that creates pathways from ABE and short-term occupational training into for-credit
postsecondary programs that enable workers to reach the “tipping point” – the point at which
they have the skills and credentials needed to bring a real payoff in the labor market. The first
phase of the Minnesota Shifting Gears Initiative helped identify three principal barriers to
developing an education and training infrastructure in Minnesota which “seamlessly
transitions” low-income adults with limited skills through programs that lead to the tipping
point. Our logic model organizes activities, outputs and outcomes around these barriers:

Coordination and resource sharing across institutions and agencies. While coordination
and communication among relevant state agencies/systems is growing, more can be
done to ensure that a cohesive trajectory of education and job training opportunities
spanning these systems exits. When adults do move from one system to another, for
example, insufficient curricula and content articulation across institutions/programs
related to differences in institutional missions can result in gaps and redundancies in
course requirements and assessments which, in turn, can lengthen the time it takes to
earn a marketable certificate or degree, discouraging program completion. Through
FastTRAC, we are developing bridge programs to provide seamless transitions between
ABE, non-credit occupational training, and for-credit postsecondary certificate and
degree programs.

Support services for adults. As part of their overall mission, Minnesota’s postsecondary
institutions, particularly the MnSCU community and technical colleges, serve a wide
variety of students, including low-income adult students. These colleges have
traditionally provided a range of academic, career and personal counseling, and advising
services, as well as services such as tutoring and learning labs. Some have successful
college transition programs designed to meet the specific needs of adults. However,
other colleges do not have in place strategies to ensure persistence and completion
among this population, whose need for additional supports like transportation and
childcare assistance can be acute. Flexible hours and access to services through
additional types of delivery systems are important and the role of transition advisors
who can help a student navigate the college environment must be developed to ensure
that low-income adults can successfully transition into and complete postsecondary
programs. FastTRAC aims to develop these services systematically.
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
Unified data reporting. Minnesota’s capacity to create a more seamless education and
training infrastructure would be enhanced if the state’s data and information systems
were designed explicitly for this purpose. Because of limitations in Minnesota’s capacity
to match individual records across programs (in part due to privacy concerns), state data
systems lack the integration needed to routinely follow individuals from a variety of
education and training entry points, across multiple programs and institutions, and into
the labor market. As a result, our understanding of what is and is not working in
programs designed to educate and train low-wage, low-skilled workers is incomplete.
FastTRAC aims to increase state-level integrated data capability to follow participant
progress and outcomes across education and employment programs and to understand
which investments/programs produce desirable outcomes.
Strategy Assumptions
Minnesota FastTRAC seeks to elevate attention and align resources, especially state-managed
resources, to improve the educational and labor market prospects of low-wage and/or lowskilled adults. Proponents of FastTRAC have made the strategic assumption that if policy
leaders understand the risks of delay and inaction – and they believe change is possible and
desirable for workers, employers, communities, and the state overall – then changes in
institutional incentives, practices, and policies will follow. These changes will lead to greater
numbers of low-wage and/or low-skilled adults accessing and succeeding in postsecondary
education, and subsequently, to substantial numbers improving their labor market outcomes—
leading to more prosperous households, communities, and regional economies.
The resources to bring about the policy work, activities, outputs, outcomes and long-term
impacts are given in the Shifting Gears: Minnesota FastTRAC Logic Model, Attachment 3.
4. Stackable Credential Incubators 1.0
In October 2008, seven innovative education and work transition programs were competitively
selected as FastTRAC “incubators” to help inform the vision and build the framework of
stackable credentials in Minnesota. Each incubator received a grant to refine its good work
delivering adult education and skills training through highly coordinated programming and
support services between ABE, MnSCU, the WorkForce Center system, and CBOs. The types of
activities funded were intentionally focused in order to:


showcase workforce and adult education programs that eliminate or mitigate barriers to
stackable credential development in Minnesota, particularly in the areas of student
support services and bridge programming; and
attract and align public and private resources that encourage and support stackable
credential development and improvement.
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Quantitative Information – Incubator Participants
Because of limitations in Minnesota’s capacity to match individual records across
programs/funding streams, state data systems lack the integration needed to routinely follow
individuals from a variety of education and training entry points across multiple programs and
institutions and into the labor market. Cognizant of this limitation, the Data and Information
Team worked with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE), FastTRAC staff and
incubator representatives to define common data elements in order to discover the profile of
incubator participants. Data elements that included demographic, education, employment, and
safety net/support services were collected from the seven incubators on 229 participants. The
participant data indicated the following:

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69% had a high school diploma or GED
24% were ex-offenders
68% were unemployed
Many of those that held a job were not connected to career pathway opportunities, e.g.
bartender, donut maker, car washer, cook, warehouse worker, cashier, housekeeper,
waitress, pizza delivery
68% were age 30 and younger
17% were enrolled in WIA Title Ib Adult
7% were enrolled in Rehabilitation Services
5% were enrolled in WIA Youth
19% were enrolled in MFIP
4% were enrolled in General Assistance
3% in FSET
1% in Unemployment Insurance
Over 50% were white, 32% were black
80% were native born
A small percentage had a learning or physical disability
From the data we can infer: (i) even though most incubator participants held a GED or high
school diploma, they had very little postsecondary experience; and (ii) incubator participants
lacked the wages and/or safety net (e.g. Unemployment Insurance, TANF/MFIP) to assist them
with day to day expenses on top of tuition and fees that are necessary to pursue postsecondary
or other skill training.
Incubators were asked to report on aggregate outcomes for incubator participants, which are
provided in Attachment 2. Even though the data set is modest, Minnesota FastTRAC will
continue to use and share the incubator participant data in presentations and discussions with
state and local audiences to raise awareness of the FastTRAC population.
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Qualitative Information – Incubator Programs
The insights and experiences of incubator partners were captured through site visits to each
incubator, one-on-one discussions with FastTRAC staff to resolve issues and offer assistance,
reports submitted by the incubators, and collaborative learning teams with incubator
representation. Numerous policy lessons and recommendations came to light through the
incubators, and have been integrated into the Shifting Gears: Minnesota FastTRAC policy
agenda. Lessons and recommendations are provided in Attachment 2. A summary follows.

Partnerships: FastTRAC program development and delivery is a tall order that goes well
beyond the capacity of any single system or program provider. Minnesota has a rich
array of local level partners to draw upon to help low-wage/low-skilled adults,
particularly in building stackable credential programs. These partners include local
WorkForce Centers, ABE providers, MnSCU institutions, and CBOs. Incubator grants
were an impetus for improved communication and collaboration among partners, which
were “organic” in that partnerships formed among willing parties with mutual interests,
program goals and complementary capacities. Collaboration is appealing when it offers
opportunity to broaden client bases, achieve greater effectiveness, increase ability to
advance the mission, and leverage wider relationships or networks with funders.
Balancing a highly decentralized and collaborative process in a way that assures
accountability but allows for on-the-ground innovation and compatibility presents both
a challenge and an opportunity going forward.

Stackable credentials: The incubators demonstrated capacities to deliver programming
with many elements of stackable credentials as defined in the Shifting Gears: Minnesota
FastTRAC vision (page 8-9). The incubators’ track records suggest there is fertile ground
to build a stackable credential framework in Minnesota through the systematic
implementation of bridge programming; courses that integrate basic, workforce
readiness and occupational skills; programs that prepare adults to achieve occupational
credentials in high demand industries; and training opportunities that are short-term,
modular and experiential in nature. There is widespread support for a coursework
inventory to avoid programs having to create curricula from scratch.

Industries and sectors: Incubators developed skills training around key sectors and in
both rural and urban settings. To have a greater impact on the number of workers and
adult students served, more FastTRAC programs will be needed in high-demand
industries and occupations and in more locations. There is a role for MnSCU and DEED in
assisting employers and other FastTRAC partners in adopting existing training courses to
new locations and industries.

Employer engagement and recognition: The incubators demonstrated promising
approaches to connect strategically with employers, especially around identifying highdemand industries and ensuring employer-focused training. One of the principal ways to
attest to a student’s qualifications and competencies is to award a certificate or other
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credential that is employer-sanctioned or recognized. Tying a FastTRAC program to an
industry-recognized credential can be time consuming; building employer trust requires
close, ongoing, personal connections to ensure that employers contribute their input to
program design and content and that training will produce workers with the appropriate
competencies.

Student access: Incubator representatives confirmed the findings elsewhere that many
adults in Minnesota with high school diploma or GED lack the basic and/or literacy skills
to enter and complete postsecondary work. Further, many also lack the employment
readiness or occupational skills to secure and retain jobs that pay family supporting
wages. The incubator experience suggests that, going forward, FastTRAC programs will
be needed that accommodate persons with math and reading skills at or below an 8thgrade level equivalency.

Assessment tools: Incubators used multiple strategies and tools to assess student
academic proficiencies, interests and barriers. They also developed individualized
education and employment plans and periodically assessed progress in meeting
personal, educational and employment goals.

Student support services: No individual incubator partner has the resources or
expertise to address the range of personal barriers that students face. Most incubators
tapped a wide range of public and private agencies to provide transportation, childcare,
counseling and case management. The incubator experience suggests that the process
for assessment and provision of services must be individualized; services must be
provided by dedicated staff; and they must be available from intake through job
placement or/or postsecondary enrollment. Incubator experience also indicates that
existing state and federal funding streams are inadequate and/or too restrictive to fill
the financial and personal gaps that keep working adults from accessing and completing
skills training.

Financial resources: While the incubators were able to find the resources to deliver
training and education at no cost to the participants, this will be extremely challenging
on a larger scale. In addition to the FastTRAC incubator grant, incubators secured
resources across many government agencies (federal, state and local) and often
required financial assistance from employers and private foundations as well. The
incubators illuminated constraints imposed by MnSCU allocation formulas and state
statue governing ABE reimbursement in developing FastTRAC programs.
Sustainability of incubators upon grant completion
Through engagement with the incubators, the FastTRAC initiative was fortunate to join forces
with some of the state’s most competent CBOs, WorkForce Centers, ABE providers and
stackable credential pioneers at MnSCU institutions. Incubator representatives, especially those
at CBOs, are engaged in a constant state of fundraising, mixing federal and state resources with
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private funds whenever possible. The timing of the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) bodes well for incubators to build on their FastTRAC incubator
experience. In Minnesota, for instance, $1.5 million ARRA funds were made available to Local
Workforce Investment Boards through the Workforce Service Area FastTRAC Supplement and
another $0.5 million through the Vocational Rehabilitation FastTRAC Services for Persons with
Disabilities. Both programs fund FastTRAC partnerships between ABE, MnSCU, CBOs and the
workforce system. DEED and ABE have adopted common ARRA and FastTRAC principles into
some “permanent” funding streams as well. Private foundations and the Minnesota Job Skills
Partnership Program (MJSP) have been and will continue to be important means to leverage
employer and other resources for FastTRAC programs. Looking ahead, reliance on temporary
funding will be mitigated if ARRA principles and goals are embedded in WIA reauthorization, as
this would create a federal mandate for FastTRAC programming that will filter through ABE,
MnSCU and DEED/WFC partners.
Impact of incubators on the Policy Agenda and Action Plan
The policy agenda captures lessons and recommendations from incubator experiences in the
following policies:
Incorporate the important work of CBOs and mandate that state-finance systems coordinate
with CBOs and each other in the delivery of FastTRAC programs:

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integrate CBO representatives into FastTRAC teams (Obj. I, priority 1)
fund CBOs for FastTRAC program development, delivery and student completion
(Obj. II, priority 1, 3, 5);
invest in coordination role within and between systems (e.g. ABE regional
coordinators; ABE and MnSCU each appoint/hire new staff for alignment policy
leadership) Obj. I, priority 2, 3; Obj. II, priority 9;
address alignment issues around assessment tools/placement protocols; curriculum
between ABE and MnSCU; and non-credit to for-credit options Obj. I, priority 2;
create incentives and accountability for delivering FastTRAC programs, i.e.
enrollments and completions Obj. I, priority 3, 4, 5; Obj. III, priority 2, 4;
analyze stackable credential elements so they can be used by practitioners and
policymakers to identify FastTRAC quality programs and ensure all systems use
consistent language/terms to administer FastTRAC programming Obj. I, priority 1;
and
enable sharing of curricula specific to FastTRAC programs Obj. I, priority 4.
Use state capacity to help FastTRAC practitioners connect strategically with employers:

Help state and local leaders and employers find opportunities to adopt
manufacturing and healthcare trainings in more sectors/occupations, and in more
locations Obj II, priority 2, 5, 6, 10
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Align funding streams for support services and create a new funding stream to fill the gap left
by existing funding streams:
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set quality standards for assessment tools that capture academic proficiencies,
interests and personal barriers and help system practitioners understand the
meaning of various system tools Obj. 1, priority 2;
fund dedicated staffing for intensive and lasting support service provision Obj. II,
priority 11, 12;
facilitate alignment of support service funding streams (e.g. MFIP/DWP, WIA Title I,
II and IV, SNAP) Obj. I, priority 4, 5;
find additional/flexible resources for dedicated staffing and services Obj. II, priority
11 and 12; and
document the added value of support services Obj. III, priority 3
Provide technical assistance and financial incentives to MnSCU and ABE providers so they can
be willing partners of FastTRAC programs:
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change reimbursement formula for MnSCU to reward colleges for FastTRAC program
enrollments and completions Obj. II, priority 12;
examine performance and accountability systems in place for MnSCU and offer
additions or amendments as needed to encourage development and delivery of
FastTRAC programs Obj. I, priority 5;
formulate guidelines for Perkins Consortia to incorporate FastTRAC programs into
Perkins Plans Obj. I, priority 5;
explore feasibility of an Opportunity Grant program at MnSCU Obj. II priority 10
dedicate WIA Title II resources for development and delivery of FastTRAC programs
through ABE providers Obj. II, priority 4; and
structure professional development to encourage systems at the local and state
level to work together to develop and improve FastTRAC programs Obj. I, priority 2,
3, 4, 5; Obj. II, priority 9.
5. Data and Performance Measurement under 1.0
Minnesota recognizes that although it has significant data management and research
capabilities, it has not fully integrated these capabilities in a way that would track client
outcomes across various education, training, and employment systems. A Data Sharing Team
(Obj. III, priority 4) will build on the work of the Shifting Gears 1.0 Data and Information Team
and create an appetite for greater use of data in policy making.
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During Shifting Gears 1.0 (2008-09 phase for Minnesota) the Data and Information Team
collected FastTRAC incubator participant data, as summarized in B.4. Key findings from this
data can be found in Section B.4, page 18 of this proposal.
The FastTRAC initiative was able to capitalize on data from the “ABE Inventory” as well.
FastTRAC staff, along with members of the ABE Transitions to Postsecondary Education and
Training Initiative developed and administered an inventory of ABE providers to gauge
collaborations and partnerships that transition ABE clients to employment and/or
postsecondary education around two-way client referrals, testing, co-locating, and
transition/bridge classes and curriculum. Fifty-two of fifty-two ABE consortia who were
surveyed, representing over 500 program delivery sites and over 70,000 students, responded to
the inventory. The inventory results showed that ABE consortia around the state have a high
number of partnerships in place to coordinate their services to low-wage and/or low-skilled
adults.
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98% of ABE consortia are coordinating with WFCs
93% of ABE consortia are coordinating with MnSCU Community and Technical Colleges
71% of ABE consortia are coordinating with MnSCU Universities
40% of ABE consortia are coordinating with University of Minnesota campuses
34% of ABE consortia are coordinating with MFIP/County Welfare System providers
27 ABE consortia have co-located services with two-year MnSCU institutions
26 ABE consortia have co-located services with WorkForce Centers
Beginning in October 2009, ABE, DEED, MnSCU staff, and local ABE Transitions Coordinators will
analyze gaps in arrangements between ABE consortia and partners and arrange regional
meetings to strengthen service connections. Professional development opportunities will also
foster new connections and strengthen partnerships.
FastTRAC also initiated a study of SNAP and ABE clients. One of the outcomes of the policy scan
described in section B.2 was an agreement by ABE and SNAP administrators to do a data match
by the end of September 2009 of ABE and SNAP clients to determine the number of clients they
have in common. This is a first step in determining the possible scope for jointly serving clients.
Future steps will include enabling qualified ABE students to benefit from SNAP childcare and
transportation services and supplementing ABE instructional hours through SNAP to enable ABE
to serve additional SNAP clients.
Affirmative Options is a statewide coalition of nonprofits (and represented on the Systems
Leadership Team) that advocates for public policy change at the intersection of welfare and
work. To support its goal of increasing access to training and education, Affirmative Options has
engaged with DEED to examine the labor market history of MFIP clients (Minnesota Family
Investment Program is Minnesota’s TANF program). The next step is for the Data Sharing Team
to request Affirmative Options and DEED analysts to investigate specific research questions
related to MFIP and FastTRAC.
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Similarly, an evaluation is underway of Workforce U, a stackable credential program led by
Stearns Benton Employment and Training Council and St. Cloud Technical College, to
determine, among other things, how well MFIP clients fared in transitioning to postsecondary
education and the labor market through Workforce U. The report will be shared with the Data
Sharing Team and the findings will be especially instructive for serving the MFIP population
through FastTRAC and selecting stackable credential evaluation methodologies. The research
findings will be available in June 2010. We expect to learn the impact of education on MFIP
clients’ employment outcomes, and identify the supportive services that most encourage
participants to continue and complete their education.
6. Impact of S.G. 1.0 Activities on Policy Agenda and Action Plan
While specific examples were given above (B.4) of how the incubators influenced the policy
agenda and action plan, more generally, the themes, policies and actions in the policy agenda
reflect an iterative process of input, consideration, and reconsideration between stakeholders
and policymakers. Incubators influenced collaborative learning teams and vice versa; the policy
scan brought issues and policies to the surface that then were debated within collaborative
teams and cross-agency discussions. Meanwhile, related initiatives (described in section F) also
fundamentally shaped the content of the policy agenda and the process for carrying it forward.
National research, lessons from other states, Joyce technical assistance, and the priorities of a
new federal administration also played an important role in shaping the overall vision,
objectives and strategies for FastTRAC.
Ongoing feedback helped the Systems Leadership Team narrow the focus of the policy agenda
while still addressing principal barriers and impediments to implementing stackable credentials
statewide. An early draft was rejected when the team judged it not sufficiently ambitious in
terms of aligning funding streams. Some specific examples of how stakeholder engagement
informed the FastTRAC policy agenda and action plan are provided below.

The Systems Leadership Team, along with collaborative learning teams, helped define
the organizational structure of Minnesota’s Shifting Gears work moving forward,
including the membership of the Senior Leadership Steering Committee (Obj. III, priority
1). The teams insisted that leaders just below the commissioner or director level are
essential to carrying forward the agenda, especially in relating the goals of FastTRAC to
individual departments within agencies.

Raising awareness of the workforce challenges in Minnesota and how FastTRAC can help
solve them depends on having the right message and the right spokespersons (Obj. III,
priority 1 and 2). Technical advice from Joyce on strategic communications is in high
demand. In fact, some members of the Systems Leadership Team advised that FastTRAC
intensify and prioritize its communications work before the next Joyce grant. In
response, the Systems Leadership Team turned to incubators for FastTRAC message
ideas and strategies.
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
Creating a process to address referral and curriculum issues between ABE and MnSCU
(Obj. I, priority 2) grew out of related initiatives (e.g. ABE Transitions to Postsecondary,
ETC grants) and was reiterated by incubators and collaborative teams. The Executive
Team formulated priorities (i.e. placement/referral, instructional delivery, and
curriculum) and committed to hiring staff (at ABE and MnSCU) to direct this work.

The challenges of incubators in financing support services delivery (Obj. II, priorities 1, 2,
3, 8) attracted lots of attention from the FastTRAC teams. In particular, they insisted
that FastTRAC explore options for supplementing existing support service funding
streams with additional resources for those adults who are in need of support services
but ineligible under existing federal/state programs, e.g. Washington State’s
Opportunity Grants.

Incubators and ETC grantees called for the creation of an online coursework repository
that was incorporated into the policy agenda (Obj. 1, priority 3). Work is already
underway (Obj. II, priority 9).

The policy scan led to numerous new connections between systems, especially statelevel systems. For instance, ABE and SNAP discussions in May resulted in a list of 12 next
steps that should lead to eligible SNAP Education and Training participants enrolling in
ABE so that mutual clients can access SNAP support services while they improve their
English language or basic skills in ABE (Obj. II, priority 1).
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C. Policy Agenda and Action Plan
A policy agenda has been developed by leaders and staff of Minnesota’s education and
workforce development agencies, along with stakeholders from the nonprofit sector and
private industry. The policy agenda describes the policy adjustment efforts that will be
undertaken in 2009-2011 to build, improve, sustain and institutionalize FastTRAC (see
Attachment 1).
The policy agenda encompasses three overarching themes—institutionalizing FastTRAC,
aligning funding streams, and defining goals and accountability.
Institutionalizing FastTRAC
Objective I seeks to improve the policies and services of three key state systems and CBOs that
affect the education and labor market prospects of adult workers. The policies laid out in this
objective will change the way ABE, MnSCU, DEED, WorkForce Centers and CBOs enable lowskilled adult students to prepare for, enter and succeed in occupational training and education
programs. The policies will create the institutional framework and capacity for these systems to
foster and support collaborative local-level FastTRAC training programs. The essential elements
of a FastTRAC program will be identified, as well as the cross-system support mechanisms
necessary to help these programs thrive. These support mechanisms include:
(i) clear expectations that ABE providers, CBOs and MnSCU institutions develop FastTRAC
programming so that DEED, WorkForce Center partners, and others can invest in them;
(ii) concise approval and reporting processes for FastTRAC programs;
(iii) professional development opportunities for faculty, staff, and program administrators
to support the delivery of FastTRAC programs;
(iv) guidance and technical support to local-level partners and state-level policymakers and
administrators from an Alignment Advisory Team as well as designated FastTRAC
professionals in the three state agencies; and
(v) electronic tools to facilitate learning and sharing across FastTRAC programs and state
systems.
To begin, Minnesota will define a set of guidelines for the approval and delivery of FastTRAC
programs. A FastTRAC Guidelines Team comprising state-level and local program staff from
MnSCU, ABE, DEED, DHS, and CBOs will be designated by the Executive Team to draft the
guidelines. Guidelines will define the:
(i) core elements of FastTRAC programs articulated in the vision statement;
(ii) approval process for designating a program as a FastTRAC program;
(iii) professional development for various systems to administer the guidelines; and
(iv) monitoring and evaluation expectations for FastTRAC programs during delivery and
follow-up/placement.
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Guidelines will be shared with ABE, MnSCU, DEED, DHS, and CBOs for integration into their
programs for low-wage/low-skilled adults. In particular, the Executive Team will encourage and
monitor incorporation of the guidelines into program plans (e.g. local WIB plans, Perkins
consortia plans, ABE consortia plans), program RFPs, professional development investments
and staffing, and agency strategic plans.
Further, MnSCU has approved a plan to advance the systems-level changes needed for
implementation of Minnesota FastTRAC and the stackable credential model. The plan includes
review and revision of system-level policy and procedures. Staff members with responsibility
for policies related to FastTRAC, some of whom were members of the Systems Leadership
Team, will be asked to serve on the FastTRAC Guidelines Team and to bring proposed changes
forward through the MnSCU Office of the Chancellor Internal Policy Committee. The Internal
Policy Committee has ongoing responsibility for system policy review, including amendments to
existing policies and formation of new policies and procedures. The plan for participation on
the FastTRAC Guidelines Team and subsequent work through the Internal Policy Committee
was presented to and discussed by the Senior Vice Chancellor and Associate Vice Chancellors in
July. Key staff members identified to participate include System Directors in the following
areas:
Academic Programs (relates to Policy 3.36 Academic Programs)
Perkins (Carl D. Perkins Vocational & Technical Education Act of 2006)
Financial Aid (state and federal grant formulas and other sources of student aid)
Research and Planning (data sharing and analysis)
Assessment for Course Placement (Policy 3.3.1 Assessment for Course Placement)
These MnSCU system leaders will work directly with Linda Lade, System Director for College
Transitions and co-lead for the FastTRAC Initiative, and are members of the Internal Policy
Committee reporting to Mike Lopez, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, who has
overall responsibility for MnSCU policy development.
A second important policy under Objective I is to create a process to address referral and
curriculum alignment between ABE and MnSCU systems within the context of development and
delivery of FastTRAC programs. Aligning ABE and MnSCU—including developmental education
and college level academic programs—is essential in order to create more efficient distribution
of scarce public resources to both, while allowing each to focus on its own areas of comparative
strength.
Based on the experience to date with FastTRAC and related initiatives, it is reasonable to
assume that programs designated as FastTRAC will demonstrate practical solutions to ABEMnSCU alignment system-wide in at least three areas: (i) placement/referral protocols, (ii)
instructional delivery mode, and (iii) curriculum/content alignment. To help capture FastTRAC
lessons and policy solutions, an ABE-MnSCU Alignment Advisory Team will be established. This
team will have two charges.
August 17, 2009
27
First, the team will assist local-level practitioners (that have been designated as “FastTRAC” or
aspire to be) in putting into operation alignment strategies across their systems. The team will
assist programs in the delivery of accelerated programming and deployment of strategies such
as contextualized and competency-based learning, bridge programming, modularized chunks
and blended instruction. Second, the Alignment Advisory Team will make recommendations on
policy and agency practice to ABE and MnSCU leadership (OOC and individual MnSCU colleges)
to resolve issues as they arise in FastTRAC programs related to referral, curriculum, articulation
and program delivery. The team will issue its recommendations for policy and agency practice,
including: common cut scores for placement in ABE and MnSCU; and guidance for
understanding assessment instruments within FastTRAC programs. The team will also make
recommendations for extending the alignment work on a wider scale.
MnSCU and ABE have designated the required matching funds to each hire a staff person to
lead the effort to improve the alignment of curriculum, testing, and referral protocols between
MnSCU and ABE. These two positions will have the following responsibilities:
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conduct studies that compare assessment and placement instruments used by ABE and
MnSCU to determine correlations among tests for more accurate student referrals;
lead the work of curricular alignment between ABE programming and college-level
developmental courses based on agreed-upon competencies in English, reading,
mathematics and ESL;
act as the liaison between MnSCU and ABE faculty in the related academic fields,
carrying forward and communicating progress and outcomes;
recommend to their respective agencies changes in policy and practices that support
alignment through interaction with the MnSCU Assessment for Course Placement
Committee, the MnSCU Internal Policy Committee, Perkins Programs of Study for Adults
work group, ABE Transitions and other committees and work groups;
provide technical assistance to colleges that are working to align programs and practices
with ABE partners; and
co-leading the Alignment Advisory Team.
Aligning Funding Streams
Objective II outlines how existing and new financing will be leveraged to support Objective I.
Specific funding streams are named that will reward collaboration and provide incentives for
funds (federal and state) to flow to local-level partners to collaboratively develop and build
FastTRAC programs as defined under Objective I. These funding streams include SNAP, MJSP,
WIA Title Ib, WIA Title II, ARRA, WIA Title IV and others. Specific funding sources are also
committed to capacity building, i.e. staffing, professional development and technology listed in
Objective I.
Minnesota has already committed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to
support FastTRAC program development and delivery. These stimulus dollars are supporting
FastTRAC development in two primary ways:
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28
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FastTRAC – Supplement to WIA Title I Local Plans: Beginning in June 2009, local
workforce investment boards (LWIBs) became the recipients of FastTRAC supplemental
funding ($1.5 million across 16 LWIBS) that must be used to create or enhance
collaborative stackable credentials programming as a means to boosting the state’s
capacity to serve low-wage and/or low-skilled adults. Specifically, LWIBS must use their
supplemental funds to partner with ABE and MnSCU, as well as local CBOs, to advance
one or more of the following models: (i) developing bridge programming that links ABE
coursework to credentialed occupational training; (ii) delivering contextualized ABE
classes to incumbent employees; (iii) offering pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship
training tied to for-credit postsecondary coursework, or delivered concurrently with job
search and career exploration; and/or (iv) enhancing work-readiness training and
expanding the issuance of certificates or credentials based on assessment and entrylevel work-related competencies.

FastTRAC Services for Persons with Disabilities: Beginning in October 2009, DEED’s
Vocational Rehabilitation Services (WIA Title IV) will extend the FastTRAC approach
specifically to adults with significant disabilities by awarding competitive grants
intended to build the capacity of education and training providers to serve this
population. Vocational Rehabilitation Services will provide approximately $500,000 of
ARRA 2009 funds to this initiative. Grant recipients will be expected to launch new or
enhance existing programs focusing on one or more of the four models required under
the FastTRAC Supplement to WIA plans described directly above.
Minnesota will also use its 2009 WIA Incentive Grant award to invest in several activities
relating to FastTRAC that require a high level of cooperation, collaboration, and alignment
among state and local WIA Title I and II partner agencies and programs. The state’s 2009 WIA
Incentive Grant seeks to build and strengthen FastTRAC through four interrelated components:

Support four legislatively mandated, highly collaborative local projects: As described
in section D, in May 2009, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill (M.S. S.F. 1569)
establishing support for four pilot projects requiring WorkForce Centers, ABE providers,
and MnSCU campuses to jointly plan and coordinate employment, training, and
education programs and services. Lessons from the pilots will inform the Minnesota
Legislature of needed employment and training system and operational improvements.
A portion of Minnesota’s WIA Incentive Grant will support the Workforce Service Areas
that are selected to participate as members of a collaborative project.

Provide technical assistance and professional development to ABE providers.
Incentive funds will also be used to assist ABE providers with coordination and
facilitation activities that promote student transitions to employment, workforce
centers, and postsecondary institutions.
August 17, 2009
29

Create a Training and Resource Institute. To ensure a broad understanding of, and
ongoing access to information about, stackable credentials among providers and
students alike, WIA incentive funds will also support a “Training and Resource Institute.”
The institute will have three primary purposes: (i) to provide professional development
training for staff from ABE, MnSCU, workforce centers and CBOs on FastTRAC priorities;
(ii) to develop an online, sharable “coursework repository” to expedite curriculum
exchanges between ABE and MnSCU teaching staff relevant to FastTRAC; and (iii) to
develop a “LearnerWeb” system that allows students to create and organize education
and training profiles and access learning plans within FastTRAC career pathways.

Develop an employment readiness credentialing system for the WorkForce Center
system. FastTRAC skills training curricula need to be coordinated with current
Workforce Center assessments and employment credentialing tools utilized in WIA
programs. Incentive dollars will be provided to local WorkForce Center, ABE, and MnSCU
system partners and to CBOs to cooperatively deliver employment readiness,
technology, distance education training, and on-line learning.
Going forward, Minnesota will explore the feasibility of changing reimbursement formulas for
MnSCU to reward colleges for FastTRAC program enrollments, retention and completions.
Minnesota faces the challenge of rapidly creating occupational training programs to meet
increased demand. The state reimbursement formula for MnSCU institutions does not
completely reimburse colleges for development and delivery of some occupational for-credit
courses (that require equipment and other expensive inputs) and non-credit occupational
course development and delivery also can produce financial strain. These two factors are
disincentives to MnSCU institutions in creating more occupational courses.
We will also explore the feasibility, costs, and benefits of delivering pre-apprenticeship/
registered apprenticeship programs concurrent with job search or career exploration and in
conjunction with WIA case management to serve the FastTRAC population. The analysis will
also identify impediments and opportunities for bridging pre-apprenticeship/registered
apprenticeship programs with MnSCU for-credit occupational programs; and determine preapprenticeship/registered apprenticeship opportunities and funding options through the
WorkForce Center System.
Defining Goals and Accountability
Objective III commits Minnesota to identify a series of overall state measures that would yield
transparent results, such as the total number of adults completing occupational credentials and
the number of transitions from ABE to MnSCU. Setting measurable goals should translate the
shared vision into actual changes in service and outcomes. (These goals will reflect the work of
the Guidelines Team, Pol. Obj. I, policy priority 1.) The goals will be measurable; ones that can
be influenced by ABE, MnSCU, DEED, WorkForce System partners and other providers; not
highly conditional to external forces; and stand the test of time across changes in state
August 17, 2009
30
leadership. Statewide measures will be augmented with measures for each of the key providers
directly related to the statewide goals.
Moreover, the FastTRAC initiative needs to market a coherent message to the public regarding
the value of improving education and skills, and the value of the FastTRAC option. Minnesota
will use data to craft its message, set goals for improvement and reward success. It will also
work to optimize existing data sharing and research capacity in ABE, DEED and MnSCU and
draw up a plan to build on and augment data resources and research capacities (see section D).
Leadership for Policy Agenda Implementation
The goal of implementing a statewide stackable credentials framework that is cohesive, widely
understood, and long lasting requires the active engagement and commitment of senior
government officials and policymakers. While the first phase of our Shifting Gears work
involved senior representation from state government agencies and educational institutions,
Shifting Gears 2.0 has garnered the support of top leaders. Going forward, Minnesota FastTRAC
will engage the top leaders of state agencies/institutions to move policy change forward
legislatively and administratively, and to champion FastTRAC to the public.
On November 12, 2009, Minnesota will convene the FastTRAC Senior Leadership Steering
Committee. The committee will comprise the commissioners of DHS, DLI, DEED and MDE, all of
whom sit in the Governor’s cabinet. The chancellor of the MnSCU system and the Director of
the OHE will also be on the committee. Chairs of the GWDC, key Minnesota House and Senate
legislators, and a labor union will be asked to join the committee as well. The committee will
bestow FastTRAC with the level of leadership needed to shepherd significant state policy
change forward both legislatively and administratively.
The Executive Team will be directing teams/committees and staff in accomplishing the policy
agenda and action plan (see section G).
August 17, 2009
31
D. Data and Performance Management Plan
Across higher education, workforce development, ABE and the Minnesota Legislature, there is
growing interest in strengthening state data and performance measurement systems that track
and make visible student and worker outcomes from training and education programs.
FastTRAC seeks to capitalize on demands for more reporting in order to raise awareness of the
need for policy change and to strengthen data collection, sharing and analysis capabilities to
help guide and catalyze policy change.
Numerous initiatives provide evidence that state agency leadership and policymakers support
efforts to use data to improve outcomes for low-skilled adults (or that they could be persuaded
to support such efforts).

Matching Student Records to Wage Data. DEED leadership has committed funds to the
development of a data system that will link MnSCU students to wage detail
(employment and earnings). Currently underway is a study of non-credit students that is
being linked to UI wage data. (This is part of a wider workforce location agreement
between Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.) Minnesota will use the data sharing
agreement between Iowa’s community college system and its employment system as a
model for an agreement between MnSCU and DEED. Currently MnSCU and DEED share
such data on an aggregate level; the desired change would be to share data on
individuals with appropriate privacy protections. Minnesota has submitted a request for
a national LMI Improvement Grant; even if Minnesota is not successful with securing
this grant, DEED leadership has committed other funds for this important initiative. A
data sharing agreement (or broader interpretation of the existing one) between MnSCU
and DEED would set a precedent for balancing privacy concerns with public interests
around value-added of higher education and other education and workforce
development investments.

Action Analytics. MnSCU has embarked on a multi-year effort referred to as Action
Analytics which utilizes data analysis and predictive modeling to better understand and
improve student learning outcomes. Reporting tools capable of analyzing enrollment
and student characteristics, student persistence and completion, and graduate related
employment will have significance for FastTRAC. The FastTRAC initiative provides the
rationale for research into the particular learning outcomes of ABE and other lowincome adults as they enroll at MnSCU colleges.

Workforce and Economic Development Program Accountability Measures. The 2009
Minnesota Legislature mandated that DEED establish a set of measurements to quantify
workforce and economic development program costs, outcomes and impacts. DEED will
respond to the Legislature in October 2009. The current thinking incorporates measures
of Washington State’s Training and Education Committee. The FastTRAC Data Sharing
Team co-chair is leading this effort.
August 17, 2009
32

Return on Investment. DEED is funding the Governor’s Workforce Development Council
to convene a committee of data researchers from state agencies, higher education, and
the private sector. The committee is charged with collecting and sharing information on
Return on Investment (ROI) methodologies, developing a standard ROI for workforce
development programs, raising awareness of the appropriate uses and limitations of ROI
methodologies, and making policy recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature by
January 2011. FastTRAC Data Sharing Team co-chairs are participating in these efforts.

Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) Workforce Programs. In 2005, OLA
released an evaluation of workforce development services and called for a clearer
division of responsibilities, greater coordination among service providers, and better
measurement of program outcomes. In April 2009, OLA launched a follow-up study to
look specifically at the effectiveness of state- and federal-funded programs in several
areas: training job seekers; performance measurement standards; redundancy and gaps
in service; and coordination among myriad state, local, public and nonprofit providers.
Various members of the FastTRAC Executive Team have been interviewed by the OLA
for the study, whose findings will be instructive for FastTRAC going forward. This OLA
report will be completed by February 4, 2010.

Four Local Level Collaboratives. As described briefly in the previous section, the
Minnesota Legislature has approved legislation requiring four pilot projects be selected,
each in a different region of the state, under which WorkForce Centers, ABE providers,
and MnSCU campuses will jointly plan and coordinate employment, training, and
education programs and services. The four pilots are intended to inform the Minnesota
Legislature of needed employment and training system and operational improvements.
Several members of the Executive Team are on the GWDC committee responsible for
selecting the four collaboratives. Although not specified in statute, it is anticipated that
data will be collected on co-location and coordination of services between the
collaborative partners and whether or not this has an impact on the rate at which
students transition from ABE to MnSCU education and/or training programs. The Data
Sharing Team will help define a comprehensive set of research questions for the four
collaboratives.

According to Israel Mendoza, Washington State’s ABE Director, data was critical to his
quest to command attention and investment in Washington State’s IBEST program.
Israel’s experience has made an impression on Minnesota’s Adult Basic Education
leadership. The MN ABE state director has incorporated data into his presentations
when speaking about ABE and FastTRAC connections, and he has requested the Data
Sharing Team and FastTRAC staff to analyze joint ABE and SNAP clients. He has also
requested the Data Sharing Team to investigate the feasibility of tracking ABE to MnSCU
student transitions.
August 17, 2009
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The FastTRAC Data Sharing Team will harness the work of these important data initiatives to
advance the FastTRAC policy agenda, and work with Shifting Gears technical assistance to
explore other opportunities for increasing state agency capacity for data collection/sharing and
research around low-wage and/or low-skilled adult students and workers. The Executive Team
appointed co-chairs for the Data Sharing Team—the data practice compliance officer of DEED
and the ABE assessment and evaluation specialist—both of whom were on the Data and
Information Team during the 1.0 Shifting Gears Implementation Grant. The co-chairs have
identified additional specialists from other state agencies and researchers from outside
government to join their team.
The Data Sharing Team will be tasked with completing a Data and Performance Management
Plan by June 30, 2010. The plan will outline the following:
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Key questions about education and training systems that policymakers are or should be
asking.
Short-term (less than 2 years) and long-term (3-5 years) strategic data collection,
sharing and analysis priorities that can help guide and sustain the FastTRAC policy
agenda. In particular, data about student progress and labor market payoffs will be
incorporated into FastTRAC statewide and agency-specific goals (Obj. III, priority 2). Data
dissemination will also be one of the tactics embedded in the FastTRAC strategic
communications plan (Obj. III, priority 3).
Findings from a review of performance accountability measures across the relevant
agencies to ensure that they align with the goals of FastTRAC and what measures need
to be changed.
Existing data sharing authority and capacity in Minnesota (much of this work has already
been done) and analysis of gaps.
On-going efforts to share data or build data system capacity and plan for ensuring that
adult students are being tracked as part of those efforts.
Legal, institutional or other constraints to collecting and reporting student and worker
outcomes that, if removed, would facilitate use of data to help answer policymakers’
questions around accountability, efficiency, equity and cost effectiveness (the
constraints are already well-known).
Impetus from national policymakers, the Minnesota Legislature, MnSCU, ABE and others
who are looking for ways to improve student and workforce outcomes.
At its July 24, 2009, meeting, the Data Sharing Team identified two preliminary priority studies
for possible inclusion in the Data and Performance Management Plan: (i) analysis of the rate of
ABE to MnSCU transitions and labor market outcomes (with results disaggregated and reported
by program, so that high-performing programs can be identified and studied); and (ii) analysis
of rate of developmental education to MnSCU academic transitions and labor market outcomes
(again with results disaggregated by institution). To move forward, state statute would have to
be reviewed to ensure that such analysis can be done, researchers would need to be identified
to do the work, and resources would need to be secured to move forward. At this time, analysis
August 17, 2009
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of the ABE to MnSCU transitions is a likely outcome for the 2010-2011 timeframe (see Obj. III,
priority 4). The Data Sharing Team will explore the feasibility of using a unique student
identifier across ABE and MnSCU and a common procedure to obtain student permission to use
the identifier for tracking transitions and outcomes.
Leading up to the more intensive work with Joyce technical assistance in 2010, the Data Sharing
Team will continue to influence the data activities described above. The Data Sharing Team will
also work to influence the “High School to Postsecondary Transitions” analysis underway at
MnSCU in conjunction with a national data program to ensure that the analysis does not
overlook the adult population. The Data Sharing Team will meet with a researcher who worked
with Florida to build its integrated data and performance system. The Data Sharing Team will
also continue to monitor WIA reauthorization and its potential impact on workforce and
education transitions and credentials, and on performance and reporting requirements, as well
as other college access and completion efforts of the Obama Administration.
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E. Strategic Communications Plan
The Executive Team developed a strong appreciation of the importance of strategic
communications as they engaged audiences about FastTRAC during the last year (see list of
recent and upcoming presentations below). As explained in Objective III, priority 3 of the policy
agenda, the Executive Team will work with Joyce Foundation technical staff (as well as agency
personnel at DEED) to craft messages that convey the value of FastTRAC and the workable
solutions contained in the policy agenda.
Tailoring messages over the last year was a challenge, and, cognizant that we had many
opportunities to speak to key leaders along the way, the Systems Leadership Team turned
toward incubator representatives for advice. At its July 13, 2009, meeting, the Systems
Leadership Team requested guidance from incubator partners about how to talk with
Minnesota legislators about the need for FastTRAC and its value/solutions. In particular, team
members took note of messages that will likely resonate with the highest-level policymakers.
These messages have been, and will continue to be, incorporated into the numerous events at
which fastTRAC has been/will be highlighted.
Recent and upcoming presentations at local conferences and other important venues include:
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MnSCU Academic and Student Affairs Leadership Council, March 31, 2009.
Web-based conference on ARRA and FastTRAC to MnSCU staff and administrators, April
3, 2009.
ABE Regional and Managers meetings April 15, 17 and 24, 2009: FastTRAC staff
presented information on stackable credentials development, emphasizing
collaboration between ABE, MnSCU, CBOs, and WorkForce Center partners.
Employment Counselor Conference, May 13-15, 2009: Dr. Irwin Kirsh, author of the
Educational Testing Service report, “America’s Perfect Storm”, was the headline speaker
for this annual professional development conference of public and nonprofit
employment counselors.
Governor’s Workforce Development Council, Minnesota’s statewide WIB, May 14, 2009.
MnSCU Chief Academic and Student Affairs Officers statewide meeting, May 28, 2009.
MnSCU Academic and Student Affairs Policy Council, June 2, 2009.
MFIP/DWP “Navigating Through Rough Waters” Conference, June 3-4, 2009: FastTRAC
staff presented a workshop on FastTRAC stackable credential programming and
preliminary policy ideas. Approximately 40 MFIP counselors attended the training
session which emphasized how stackable credential programs could assist their clients.
Regional WIB at request of Pine Technical College president, July 8, 2009.
ABE Summer Institute, “Changing Lives, Changing Communities: ABE Solutions Lead the
Way”, August 5-7, 2009: Development and improvement of stackable credential
programs was one of the themes of this annual professional development conference
for ABE practitioners and administrators.
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
ABE Transitions to Post-Secondary Conference, October 22-23, 2009: This will be an
important opportunity to provide professional development, best practice, and
networking opportunities for ABE faculty and administrators alongside other partners.
Building off of past regional partnership meetings, MnSCU, state and local DEED staff,
WorkForce Center partners, and CBOs will be invited to attend the conference as a way
to foster networking, strengthen partnerships, and advance plans for developing or
scaling up FastTRAC programs. Israel Mendoza, WA State ABE Director, will present
information on the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program. Mark
Johnson from Wisconsin’s Technical College System will present information on bridge
programming and the Wisconsin RISE Initiative (funded in part by the Joyce Foundation).
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F. Opportunities and Challenges
The first phase of Shifting Gears in Minnesota has bred genuine enthusiasm and fostered a
strong sense of commitment among initiative partners, who are passionate about moving
forward with the work of building a FastTRAC/stackable credentials system in the state.
Opportunities from Related State Initiatives
The opportunity to build a sustainable stackable credentials framework for Minnesota comes
not only from the commitment of FastTRAC partners, but from the convergence of a number of
corollary state level education and training initiatives designed to improve Minnesota’s
education and training systems. As described below, FastTRAC leadership is connecting with
these initiatives and there is ample opportunity to strengthen connections going forward.
We anticipate that the shared ambitions and collaborative work associated with these
initiatives will only grow stronger as we move forward with FastTRAC; indeed, certain initiatives
will be fully integrated into the stackable credentials framework in upcoming years, ensuring
that FastTRAC becomes embedded as a way of doing business in the state, and not just an
education and training “project” or “plan.” What follows is a brief description of these
initiatives and their intersection with FastTRAC.
ABE Transitions to Postsecondary Education and Training Initiative (2007-2010): This is a
three-year effort to increase ABE program capacity in order for more adult basic education
students to smoothly transition into postsecondary education and training programs. As part of
the initiative, ABE consortia around the state have worked to establish and build collaborations
with their local postsecondary institutions, specifically state two-year institutions. As an
example of this collaborative effort, Transitions partners have agreed to pursue a pilot program
to learn how ABE curricula match up with the Accuplacer placement test used by postsecondary
institutions in the state, with the intention of determining a set of scores that are interpretable
to students and personnel of both systems. Additionally, ABE staff has met with the MnSCU
system Assessment for Course Placement Committee to develop a referral protocol between
ABE programs and college campuses.
The alignment work undertaken by the ABE Transitions initiative is critical to implementing the
stackable credentials model, and FastTRAC continues to work closely with Transitions partners;
indeed, several individuals have been active participants in both ABE Transitions and FastTRAC,
helping to ensure synchronization across these efforts. Moving forward, many of these
individuals will serve on the FastTRAC Alignment Advisory Team, which will play a central role in
rationalizing testing processes and streamlining curricula across the ABE, higher education, and
workforce systems as envisioned under Shifting Gears 2.0.
Assessment for Course Placement Committee (English as Second Language Subcommittee):
This statewide committee is comprised of faculty, testing directors, administrators, and
students who make policy and recommend practices for course placement testing for MnSCU
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students. The ESL subgroup specifically works on the needs of ESL students and those who
teach and advise them. The ESL Subcommittee has developed a chart detailing the following:
ESL courses offered (if at all), Accuplacer ESL tests used for placement, and cut scores for
placement into the courses. This information is ready to be shared with ABE ESL teachers with
the long term goal of aligning testing and curricula, as well as referral protocols to best benefit
students.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities “2020 Plan”: Chancellor James McCormick and his
senior cabinet are developing a vision for MnSCU that reflects the will of Minnesota’s largest
public higher education system for the next decade and beyond. The “2020 Plan” is under
development and the following selected statements represent concepts and goal statements
from the current draft that embody the FastTRAC philosophy:
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Commit to halving the achievement gap by 2015 and eliminating it by 2020.
Use innovative, flexible approaches such as three-year baccalaureate degrees,
accelerated programs and creative partnerships to increase the rate of student
success.
Identify a role for the system to play in adult basic education, so that working adults
have opportunities to improve their skills and get the training they need to stay
competitive and employers have access to highly skilled and productive workers.
Pay for success. Use the priority fund category of the allocation formula to
acknowledge and reward colleges and universities whose students complete
courses, certificates, diplomas and degrees in a reasonable length of time.
Use differential tuition to encourage students to enroll in fields where the state’s
needs are greater and guide them away from enrolling in fields that are not in
demand.
These tenets are clearly in line with FastTRAC goals, and carry with them the system-level
support and resources needed to build stackable credentials programming on campuses and in
communities around the state.
Carl Perkins IV: Under Perkins IV, consortia around the state are designing “Programs of Study”
(POS) to assist learners as they move between high school, postsecondary education, and
career opportunities in various sectors of the economy. A career pathways framework is the
structural foundation from which local consortia are developing programs of study. Like the
stackable credentials model, POS curricula will be tied to industry expectations and lead to a
certification or degree in high skill, high wage, or high demand careers. In addition, portability
of credits from high school to college, and across postsecondary institutions, is central to the
POS model. Moving forward, FastTRAC will strengthen its linkages to Perkins (and thereby, build
connections between ABE and Perkins) and work to adapt POS for the low-income adult
student population (e.g., adopt POS for accelerated programs and modular courses). A
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statewide Adult Programs of Student Workgroup is in the formative stage to respond to the
charge within the federal legislation and also to partner better with the FastTRAC initiative.
National Technical Assistance and Research (NTAR) and Pathways to the Trades: NTAR is a
national center associated with Rutgers University designed to promote leadership around
policies that increase the employment and economic independence of adults with disabilities.
In 2008, Minnesota was selected as one of three states to participate in the State Leaders
Innovation Institute (SLII). Under SLII, high-level representatives of agencies involved in
workforce development, economic development, and disability employment are working
together to improve employment opportunities for adults with disabilities by partnering to
improve coordination of existing resources and by tying disability employment to broader
workforce and economic development efforts. The Minnesota SLII team is led by DEED’s Kathy
Sweeney who, as a member of the FastTRAC Executive and Systems Leadership Teams, has
helped to ensure that the needs of adults with disabilities are reflected in FastTRAC, as well as
other major education and training initiatives in the state. Further, Pathways to the Trades in
Duluth, Minnesota – one of seven FastTRAC incubators – is working with NTAR and Minnesota
SLII to develop a plan to enhance services to people with disabilities as well as the “universal
customer” at WorkForce Centers.
National Work Readiness Credential (NWRC) and the national Career Readiness Certificate
(NCRC): Efforts in Minnesota have been underway for the last two years to pilot the NWRC in
six WorkForce Centers in partnership with their local ABE providers. Several of the NWRC pilot
sites have reported that this credential and the preparation provided by ABE have been critical
to upgrading and marketing the skills of entry-level job seekers. Employers have championed
the NWRC in several areas and have reported that the skills associated with the NWRC certified
job-seeker meet their expectations around entry-level employability skills. The pilot phase has
also advanced relationships and coordination of service between ABE and WorkForce Centers.
The NCRC, a product developed by ACT, is also being used by two Workforce Service Areas.
Long-term, DEED—in partnership with the MN Workforce Center System—MnSCU, ABE and
CBOs envision a statewide employment readiness credential system integrated into FastTRAC
programs.
Challenges
Despite strong momentum going forward, there are certainly challenges to implementing
FastTRAC. We have identified three primary obstacles: (i) buy-in among frontline staff; (ii)
state-level leadership change; and (iii) sustainable funding. Below, we describe these challenges
in more detail and suggest ways they can be overcome.
Frontline staff buy-in: Professionals at the local level work hard every day to deliver excellent
education, training, and employment services to Minnesotans wanting to build their skills and
improve their job opportunities. Understandably, there can be resistance to changing the way
programs operate. However, because the FastTRAC agenda is partly shaped by innovative
practices already taking place in localities around Minnesota, we anticipate that frontline staff
August 17, 2009
40
will view programmatic and policy changes as “bottom up” rather than just “top down.”
FastTRAC incubator representatives will be key to communicating their experiences to other
local-level staff.
State-level leadership change: When Minnesota elects a new governor in 2010 there will be
shifts in state agency leadership, goals, and priorities. It could prove challenging to educate new
commissioners and their appointees about the impetus behind and importance of FastTRAC.
However, the commitment to stackable credentials programming among a number of highlevel career civil service staff at each agency – and at the GWDC - will help ensure that the
“FastTRAC way of doing business” will persist across election cycles and other changes to statelevel leadership.
Sustainable funding: Funding from various state agencies – particularly DEED and ABE – are
currently contributing significantly to the FastTRAC initiative. DEED has already embedded the
principles of ARRA into permanent funds; ABE has committed some permanent funding streams
for FastTRAC programming as well. Unfortunately other funding comes from one-time
investments (i.e., federal stimulus dollars). The challenge will be sustaining this level of
commitment to FastTRAC when temporary funds dry up.
The most likely risk mitigation for all three challenges named above is federal policies. The
policies embedded in the ARRA indicate President Obama and his administration are promoting
career pathways, integrated basic and occupational skills training, and postsecondary
credentials, all of which are consistent with Minnesota FastTRAC as primary ways to improve
employment options for low skilled adults. With ARRA as a model for improving how training
and related services are delivered through WIA, one can expect legislation reauthorizing the
program will incorporate these principles and priorities going forward. This in turn means that
federal mandates will help drive and catalyze the system change that is integral to FastTRAC.
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41
G. Lead Entities
FastTRAC Organizational Chart
As was the case in the planning phase of our Shifting Gears work, our organizational structure
moving forward lends itself well to an ongoing process of input and feedback between state
and local representatives of major public and nonprofit education and training programs and
systems. While our commitment to an inclusive decision-making process is unchanged, the
implementation phase of our work does call for a redesign of our organizational structure so
that people’s abilities are put to best use.
Along with the addition of the Senior Leadership Steering Committee, we have reconstituted
our work teams (previously, the Student Support Services, Stackable Credentials, Data and
Information Teams) to reflect our most pressing policy priorities going forward. These four
teams –the Alignment Advisory, Guidelines, Work Readiness, and Data Sharing Teams
(described in detail below) – also absorb members of the planning period’s System Leadership
Team, many of whom will serve as co-chairs on the team most relevant to their area of
expertise. This will minimize the amount of time former Systems Leadership Team members
must spend on broad oversight of the work teams, allowing them to focus more directly on
implementing specific policy agenda priorities. The Executive Committee will now adopt full
August 17, 2009
42
responsibility for overseeing the work teams, and will present the teams’ goals and progress to
the Senior Leadership Steering Committee for review – who in turn will provide guidance that
the Executive Committee can take back to the work teams. More on each committee follows.
Senior Leadership Steering Committee (Obj. III, priority 1)
As described in section C above, education and training system heads will represent FastTRAC
at the highest level; the Senior Leadership Steering Committee will be comprised of the
following individuals and/or their designees:







MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick
State Education Commissioner Alice Seagren
DHS Commissioner Cal Ludeman
DEED Commissioner Dan McElroy
DLI Commissioner Steve Sviggum
OHE Director David Metzen
GWDC Chair Cynthia Lesher
Two state legislators will also be invited to join the committee. As envisioned by the Joyce
Foundation, the Senior Leadership Steering Committee will meet on a quarterly basis to review
FastTRAC policy priorities and provide guidance for moving them forward. A majority of Senior
Leadership Steering Committee members also serve on the GWDC; for their convenience, we
will schedule Steering Committee meetings in coordination with the GWDC meetings.
Executive Committee (Obj. III, priority 1)
The Executive Committee is responsible for coordinating the work of all FastTRAC partners and
ensuring that progress is made toward implementing our policy agenda. In its role as liaison
between the Senior Leadership Steering Committee and the four work teams, the Executive
Committee will link broad, state agency and institution goals with the specific policy changes
needed to implement stackable credentials programming at the local level statewide. The
Executive Committee will meet on a biweekly basis to review and refine the FastTRAC policy
agenda based on input from the various teams, and to ensure that FastTRAC is responsive
to/incorporated in emerging state or federal workforce development and education policies
that have significant consequences for Minnesota. The Executive Team will work closely with
Joyce Technical Assistance to draft a communications plan and will take the lead in defining
measurable statewide goals to translate the FastTRAC vision into actual changes in service and
outcomes (Obj. III, policy priority 2 and 3).
As is currently the case, the Executive Committee will comprise the following individuals
(additional members may be added):

Allete Workforce and Internal Talent Development Manager, Inez Wildwood
August 17, 2009
43





State ABE Director, Barry Shaffer
DEED Special Projects Manager, Kathy Sweeney
DEED Director of Job Seeker Services, Rick Caligiuri
MnSCU-OOC System Director for College Transitions, Linda Lade
FastTRAC staff
Guidelines Team (Obj. I, priority 1)
See Section C, page 27.
Alignment Advisory Team (Obj. I, priority 2)
See Section C, page 28.
Work Readiness Team (Obj. I, priority 4)
This team is charged with determining which job readiness tools will be utilized by Minnesota’s
WorkForce Center System. These tools include educational/literacy assessments as well as work
readiness credentials. Review of national, state, and local data and practices will help inform
the committee’s selections. Committee members will have state and local level representation
from ABE, DEED, WorkForce Center partners, MnSCU, CBOs and other stakeholders.
Data Sharing Team (Obj. III, priority 4)
See Section D, page 34.
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44
H. Budget
Minnesota is requesting two years of Joyce Foundation support, January 2010, through
December 2011, in the amount of $662,900. The MnSCU Office of the Chancellor will continue
to serve as the fiscal agent for the Joyce Foundation grant to Minnesota FastTRAC.
Personnel (Y1 $216,000; Y2 $222,000) refers to staff time and travel for the FastTRAC director
and the program consultant. The FastTRAC director is responsible for setting the agenda and
providing direction to the Executive Team and other FastTRAC teams to ensure the policy
agenda and action plan is carried out. The director is also responsible for enabling all FastTRAC
teams to fulfill their charges, managing budgets and reports, and being the key contact with the
Joyce Foundation and technical assistance providers. The program consultant is responsible for
providing technical assistance to FastTRAC programs at the local level and for facilitating
connections between systems for the purpose of designing and improving FastTRAC programs.
The program consultant is also the key liaison between DEED and ABE on aligning policies and
programs. “Data Researchers” refers to staff time of three data specialists (ABE, MnSCU, and
DEED to liaise with Davis Jenkins and fulfill the charge of the Data Sharing Team). “Agency
Lead” refers to the four agency leaders from DEED, ABE and MnSCU that guide the FastTRAC
initiative and sit on the Executive Team. Both MnSCU and ABE will hire policy alignment
specialists to support fulfillment of agency commitments under the policy agenda. ABE Regional
Transitions to Postsecondary Coordinators refers to new part-time positions in ABE. Other
Consultants or Subcontracts (Y1 $65,000, Y2 $65,000) refers to consultants for supplementing
FastTRAC and agency staff for special studies in the policy agenda. They include: apprenticeship
review (Obj. II, priority 5); support services (Obj. II, priority 11); FastTRAC and student success
rates (Obj. III, priority 3); and integrating FastTRAC into web-based tools (Obj. I, priority 5).
Meeting Expenses (Y1 $3,800, Y2 3,800) covers food for FastTRAC team meetings. In-kind
facilities and copying are provided by ABE, MnSCU, and DEED.
Travel (Y1 $9,000, Y2 $10,000) refers to travel reimbursement for non-state employees to
attend FastTRAC meetings and be “champions” of the FastTRAC message. Out-of-state travel
(Y1 $1,500, Y2 $1,800) is available for staff professional development.
Communications (Y1 $3,000, Y2 $1,000) refers to printing costs for materials. In-kind design
work by DEED and website upkeep by MnSCU are also budgeted.
Field Building Activities (Y1 $3.75 m, Y2 0.9 m) refers to cash match to finance FastTRAC
programs/grants, including: WIA Incentive ($600,000, $200,000), ABE EL Civics ($700,000,
$700,000), ABE discretionary ($200,000), WSA Supplement ($1,500,000), Title IV ($500,000),
NTAR/PTE $50,000, WIA discretionary ($200,000)
MnSCU Fiscal Admin/Indirect (Y1 $30,000, Y2 $30,000) covers fiscal administration.
August 17, 2009
45
Minnesota FastTRAC Shifting Gears 2.0 Budget – Year 1 (January – December 2010)
JOYCE GRANT
PERSONNEL
FastTRAC Director
FastTRAC Program Consultant
Data Researchers (3)
Agency Lead -- DEED (2)
Agency Lead -- ABE
Agency Lead -- OOC
MnSCU Policy Alignment Specialist
ABE Policy Alignment Specialist
ABE Reg'l Transitions to PS Coordinators
Other Consultants or Subcontracts
MEETING EXPENSES
Facilities
Food
Copying and Materials
Speaker Honorariums
TRAVEL
In-state for staff and team members
Out-of-state
COMMUNICATIONS
Design
Printing
Dissemination
Website Design
Website Upkeep
$ 120,000
$ 96,000
$
65,000
$
3,800
$
$
$
DATA
Equipment Support
$ 24,000
$ 45,000
$ 75,000
$ 50,000
$ 75,000
$ 120,000
$ 120,000
$ 100,000
DEED
ABE, MnSCU, DEED
DEED
ABE
MnSCU
MnSCU
ABE
ABE (WIA Incentive)
$
10,000
In-kind ABE, DEED, MnSCU
$
500
In-kind DEED, ABE, MnSCU
$
3,000
$
10,000
9,000
1,500
In-kind DEED
3,000
$
In-kind MnSCU
500
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
MnSCU-OOC Fiscal Admin/Indirect
August 17, 2009
SOURCE OF MATCH
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
FIELD BUILDING ACTIVITIES
Learning communities and professional
development conferences
Grants for FastTRAC development and
expansion
Evaluation of pilots or strategies
SUBTOTAL
TOTAL
MATCH
$
$
$ 3,750,000
30,000
$ 328,800
$ 4,382,500
4,711,300
46
ABE, DEED, DHS, MnSCU
Minnesota FastTRAC Shifting Gears 2.0 Budget – Year 2 (January – December 2011)
JOYCE GRANT
PERSONNEL
FastTRAC Director
FastTRAC Program Consultant
Data Researchers (3)
Agency Lead -- DEED (2)
Agency Lead -- ABE
Agency Lead -- OOC
MnSCU Policy Alignment Specialist
ABE Policy Alignment Specialist
ABE Reg'l Transitions to PS Coordinators
Other Consultants or Subcontracts
MEETING EXPENSES
Facilities
Food
Copying and Materials
Speaker Honorariums
TRAVEL
In-state for staff and team members
Out-of-state
COMMUNICATIONS
Design
Printing
Dissemination
Website Design
Website Upkeep
$ 123,000
$ 99,000
$
$
$
10,000
1,800
$
1,000
DEED
ABE, MnSCU, DEED
DEED
ABE
MnSCU
MnSCU
ABE
ABE
$ 10,000
In-kind ABE, DEED, MnSCU
$
In-kind DEED, ABE, MnSCU
500
$ 10,000
FIELD BUILDING ACTIVITIES
Learning communities and professional
development conferences
$
FastTRAC programming (grants for
FastTRAC development and expansion
Evaluation of pilots or strategies
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
August 17, 2009
$ 24,000
$ 45,000
$ 75,000
$ 50,000
$ 75,000
$ 120,000
$ 120,000
$ 100,000
3,800
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
SUBTOTAL
TOTAL
SOURCE OF MATCH
$ 65,000
DATA
Equipment Support
MnSCU-OOC Fiscal Admin/Indirect
MATCH
In-kind MnSCU
500
$900,000
$ 30,000
$ 334,100
$
1,863,600
47
$ 1,529,500
DEED, ABE, DHS, MnSCU
August 17, 2009
48