Overview of Key Issues
Working Poor Families Project
State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Julie Strawn
Center for Law and Social Policy
jstrawn@clasp.org
June 2007
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
What this academy is about
•
Introduce you to key state policy issues and
ideas – emphasis here is on the people (adults
with low skills/limited English), not on one
program, and on job advancement
Scope is not limited to your state’s adult
education/ESL program
– Not going to be covering all the myriad goals and
benefits of adult education /ESL—workforce focus
–
•
Provide a chance to hear about experiences of
peers who are already working on these issues
•
Equip you with some resources for future work
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Why should policymakers care?
• Lesson from 2006 state min. wage campaigns-“Start with shared value not with the problem”
• Such as. . . “ Doors to opportunity should be
open, help parents to help their children, college
for all, compete for good jobs in knowledge
economy, skill shortages, war for talent,” etc.
• E.g. Philadelphia Workforce Board “Tale of
Two Cities”
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Why should policymakers care?
• Themes related to shared values
• Evidence that we can make a difference
• Emphasis on solutions and benefits to
individuals, to business, to state.
• High expectations – because that’s what
individuals need to support their families and
what our community needs to get ahead
Education, Weekly Earnings and
Unemployment, U.S. 2004
$1,000
$900
$800
$700
$600
$500
$400
$300
$200
$100
$0
10%
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
Source: Current Population Survey
< 9th Grade
HS
Some
college
Weekly Earnings
AA Deg
BA Deg
Unemployment Rate
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
“Literacy in Everyday Life” (NCES 2007)
• Median weekly earnings increased with each level of literacy.
• At each higher level of Prose literacy, more adults were
employed full time.
• 1/2 of adults with Below Basic Document literacy said their
job opportunities were limited a lot by lack of computer
skills.
• The % of parents who never helped their school-age child
with homework declined at each higher Prose literacy level
• 1/2 of US citizens with Below Basic Prose and Document
literacy reported voting in 2000 compared with 84 percent of
citizens with Proficient Prose and Document literacy.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Can we make a difference?
• Go beyond correlations to outcomes related to
shared values—i.e. if adults increase skills. . .
– They will work more and earn more
– Their children will do better in school
– If they were in prison, less likely to return
– All these things add up to benefits for community as a
whole (helps employers grow, community to compete
for knowledge jobs, increases tax revenues, etc.)
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Can we make a difference?
– Increasing parents’ skills helps their children
succeed
“Results from these recent rigorous studies have provided
consistent and rigorous evidence that improvements in
low-skilled parents’ education have positive payoffs for
children. Moreover, these links are found across a range of
potentially important outcomes, including birth outcomes,
school readiness, academic achievement, grade retention,
and educational attainment.” (Magnuson, 2007)
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Can we make a difference?
– Increasing ex-offenders’ skills means they’re
less likely to return to prison
“Various studies have found that raising education levels
reduces recidivism. A Virginia study found that out of a
sample of 3,000 inmates, 49 percent of those who did
not participate in correctional education programs were
re-incarcerated compared to 20 percent of those who did
participate.” (Murphy 2006)
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
What is the urgency to addressing this?
• Problem of low wage work—one in four families
working but poor. Postsecondary a ticket up and out.
– Employers now pay 75% more to college grads. than to
those with high school only, used to be 40% back in the
1980’s. (Wall Street Journal, April 2007)
• Looming skills shortage, at least for some sectors and
regions. 24 of 30 fastest growing jobs require postsec.
– Native workforce is aging—no new net growth expected
through 2020 in prime age workers, immigrants becoming
main source of workforce growth nationally
– The rapid increase in skills of the workforce seen over the
last 20 years is expected to slow dramatically (Aspen
Institute 2002).
Share of Workforce Growth Due to Immigration
50.3%
26.7%
10.2%
1970's
1980's
1990's
Source: Sum, A., Fogg, N., Harrington, P. with Khatiwada, I., Trubb’sky, M., and Palma, S. (2002, August). Immigrant
Workers and the Great American Job Machine: The Contributions Of New Foreign Immigration to National and Regional
Labor Force Growth in the 1990s. Boston, MA: Northeastern University.
Workers with education beyond high school
Labor force, in millions
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1980-2000, 138% growth
2000-2020, 19% growth
Source: Grow Faster Together. Or Grow Slowly Apart. (2002) Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
What is the urgency to addressing this?
• School reform can’t fix this alone.
– About two-thirds (65 percent) of our 2020 workforce is already
beyond the reach of our elementary and secondary schools.
(Aspen Institute 2007)
– Trends in wrong direction—US only industrialized country where
younger adults (25-34) are less educated than previous generation
(45-54) (NCHEMS for CAAL 2007)
• Current potential pool of skilled workers among
prime-age adults—those nearly 50 million people aged
18 to 44 with a high school diploma or less—is equal
to the next 16 years of high school graduating classes.
• States need to “grow their own” skilled workforce
from within the workforce they already have.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
What does the primary system look like?
• Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA):
Primary federal/state adult ed. program
• Adult Basic Education (ABE): instruction in basic skills
designed for adults at the lower literacy levels to just below the
secondary level (40% 02-03)
• Adult Secondary Education (ASE): instruction for adults
whose literacy skills are at approx high school level and who
are seeking to pass the GED test or obtain an adult high school
credential (18% 02-03)
• English Literacy (EL): instruction for adults who lack
proficiency in English and who seek to improve their literacy &
competency in English (43% 02-03)
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
AEFLA governance & administration
• Federal level: Department of Education, Office of
Vocational and Adult Education
• State level: Adult education increasingly being
administered by state departments other than the state
K-12 agency
• Administered by various departments at state level
– Department of Education (in 2004, 62% of states ↓)
– Department of Higher Ed (3)
– Department of Community or Technical Colleges (8 )
– Within workforce agencies (8, Labor or Workforce Dev.)
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Demographics of participants
• In ‘04-’05, 2.6 million participants, most (83%)
ages 16-44 but age varies across instruction area
– 66% of ASE participants between 16-24
– ESL participants tend to be older (57% between 25-44, 20%
over 45)
• Ethnicity varies but largest group is Hispanic
– 43% Hispanic, 27% White, 20% African-American, 7%
Asian-Pacific Islander
• Participants increasingly younger (possible effect
of school reform?)
– 39% between ages 16-24. In 2005 one third of GEDs
awarded to those 18 or younger.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
What is the capacity of the system?
• Serves only tiny fraction of eligible population
• Needs more resources—median funding per student is
$645, state averages range from $312 to $2356
• Current adult education services do not help most
participants to increase basic and English lang. skills in
ways that increase earnings
– Not intensive enough—often only 4 to 6 hours a week, 70%
of instructors part-time. Majority do not stay long enough to
even move up one grade level, most do not get GED.
– Not connected to postsecondary education and training—
primary program goal remains getting a GED, despite modest
economic payoff and failure of most to reach that goal.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
2002 Welfare Reform Adult Education Study
• Participants received three times as many hours
of instruction as typical adult education
student—244 hours vs. 68 hours.
– Generally thought to need about 100-150 hours of instruction
to move up one grade level.
• Gains in reading skills linked to how long
students stay in adult education programs
– Stays shorter than a year did not improve reading skills
measurably, whereas longer stays were associated with
substantial gains, comparable to those associated with regular
high school attendance (one year of hs = 800 hours of instr.).
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
2002 Welfare Reform Adult Education Study
• Participants earned GEDs within the first six
months of adult ed. or not at all (within two years
of follow up). Ditto for improving math scores.
– Those most likely to get GED certificates and go on to
postsecondary were those who had higher initial reading and
math skills when they entered.
• There was no clear link between hours of
participation and GED receipt or average test
scores.
– Students increased reading and math skills more when their
teachers were more experienced and better educated.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
2002 Welfare Reform Adult Education Study
• Earning GEDs, increasing basic skills, or
subsequently participating in postsecondary
programs all paid off in terms of employment,
earnings, and self-sufficiency.
– Few adult education participants achieved these
milestones, though. E.g. 11% earned a GED or high
school diploma over a two year period.
• Those who got a GED were more likely to go on
to postsecondary—but only 15% of all adult ed.
participants did go on.
Community College Adult Basic Skills
Education Outcomes
(Prince and Jenkins, 2005)
Five-Year Highest Attainment of Adult Basic Skills Students Who
Started at a WA Community or Technical College
By Initial Program Type
100%
87%
90%
80%
70%
62%
60%
50%
ABE
ESL
40%
30%
20%
10%
16%
9%
7%
0%
7%
2%
4% 3%
1% 1%
Certificate
Associate
Degree
0%
GED PrinceNo
College
< 10 Credits
Source:
& Jenkins
(forthcoming).
Credits
10-44
Credits
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Diverse population of learners
• Some have skills in the high school range
– Just need a little refresher in specific areas (often math)
to get GED quickly—e.g. those who’ve recently left
high school. Models: Fast track GED, integrated adult
ed/postsec., college prep. adult education.
• Some have skills in roughly the middle school
range (5th-8th grade)
– May take a long time to get GED, more targeted
remediation for entering job training may be better.
Models: Bridge programs, integrated adult ed./postsec.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Diverse population of learners
• Some have very low skills (below 5th
grade) and may have learning disabilities.
Models: Transitional jobs programs,
specialized LD interventions, bridge pgms.
designed for low skills
– Bridges to Practice federal learning disability
initiative and statewide action around this, e.g.
http://www.floridatechnet.org/bridges/
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Diverse population of learners
• Some are well-educated immigrants who just need
to learn more English, transfer existing skills.
– E.g. Eastern European, Nigerian. Models: Integrated
English and occupational training and/or college
courses.
• Some are immigrants who lack both English skills
and formal education in their native countries
– E.g. Somali, Hmong, some Hispanic groups. Models:
Transitional jobs, bilingual job training followed by
post-employment continued English classes.
CLASP State Policy Academy on Adult Education
Key state policy tasks
• To help low skilled/LEP adults gain marketable
skills, state has to be able to do four things:
– Define and document what success is for low skilled
adults, who’s getting there, who’s not—set high but
realistic expectations and shorten the timeline
– Connect adult education and ESL to postsecondary
credentials for in-demand, family-supporting jobs
– Connect these adult ed/ESL/occupational training
programs to employers in direct ways
– Support success in tangible ways—case managers,
support services, paid release time, work-study jobs