Creating Career Pathways
Kate Daly & Teri Barnett
NCTN, Rhode Island
November, 2014
PluggedInVA is a career pathways program
that prepares adult learners with the
knowledge, skills, and credentials they
need to succeed in postsecondary
education, training, and high-demand,
high-wage careers in the 21st century.
What is PluggedInVA?
http://www.pluggedinva.com
The Beginning
• A challenge from Aneesh
Chopra
• An innovative plan to streamline education
and training to prepare low-skilled adults to
succeed in entry-level jobs in information
technology
• From an idea to fruition in 12 months
A Very Brief History of PluggedInVA
• 2008: PluggedInVA development at VCU’s Literacy
Institute
• 2009: First PluggedInVA pilot began in Feb. in
Southwest Virginia in Information Technology
• 2011-12: Expansion to 2 additional sites
• 2014: Line item in the VA Governor’s budget
– 12 locations across VA
• 2013: Development of models to expand to lower
skill levels:
– PluggedInVA Workforce (5th – 8th grade)
– PluggedInVA Pathways (literacy – 4th grade)
Key Elements
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Industry-specific contextualized curriculum
Co-enrollment at a postsecondary institution
Industry-recognized credentials or certificates
Career Coaching
Active Business Participation
Capstone project
GED
Industry
Certifications
Basic Skills
College &
Career
Readiness
Outcomes
Career
Readiness
Certificate
Transferrable
Postsecondary
Credits
Digital Literacy
Certification
How does PIVA fill the gaps in
• education and
• workforce readiness?
Postsecondary education:
skills gap
“Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere”. 2012.
http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-final.pdf
Remedial students
much less likely to
graduate
62% Complete
Remediation
22.3% Complete
Remediation and
associated collegelevel courses in two
years
9.5% Graduate
within 3 years
“Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere”. 2012.
http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-final.pdf
Workforce readiness skills gap:
American Manager’s Association, Critical Skills
Survey, 2010
Ranking of 5 most important
skills/knowledge for
employment
1. Critical Thinking / ProblemSolving
2. Information Technology
Application
3. Teamwork / Collaboration
4. Creativity / Innovation
5. Diversity
PluggedInVA as an Organizing Program
Has all the elements
• Business driven and sector based
• Partner-based development, funding, and
delivery
• Outcomes – caveat: jobs
• Data and evaluation
• Flexible, expandable, sustainable
• Total product from soup to nuts
• Attention and cache
• The right people
Partnerships Make it Work!
•
•
•
•
Adult Education
Postsecondary Institutions
Employers
Workforce Development
Adult Education
•
•
•
•
•
•
Local and state level support
Contextualized basic skills
Curriculum frameworks
Teacher training
Technical assistance
Resources
Postsecondary
•
•
•
•
•
Co-enrollment
Instructor collaboration
Career coaches
Financial aid
Customized courses and certificate
programs
Workforce partners
– Workforce Investment Boards, One-Stops, VEC
• Referrals
• Eligibility
• Wrap around services
• Funding
Employers
• Curriculum design
• Job experience opportunities
• Employment
Overall Framework
PluggedInVA Curriculum
Aligns with
–Secondary completion
–College readiness
–Workplace readiness
–Assessments
PluggedInVA Curriculum, cont’d
Assessments
–VPT (Virginia Placement Test)
–CRC (Career Readiness Certificate)
–GED2014
–Microsoft Digital Literacy Certificate
–Industry-recognized credentials
IC3
CEHRS
CNA
Refrigeration Recovery
Phlebotomy
Electronic Medical Records
Information Technology
Construction/Weatherization
Electrician Helper
Software Quality Assurance
Phlebotomy
CNC (machining)
Customer Care
Industrial Maintenance
NCCER
OSHA Safety
Medication Administration
OSHA 10
HVAC
Electricity
HIPAA
CPR & First Aid
Pharmacy Technology
Welding
Machining
Dental Assisting/X-ray
Manufacturing Technician
Entrepreneurship
Customer Care
Electronic Medical Records
HVAC
Welding
Phlebotomy
Outcomes
Number
2009-12
2012-13
2013-14
Totals
Cohorts Completed
16
13
14
43
Students Completing Cohorts
211
144
120
475
Percentage
2009-12
2012-13
2013-14
GED Attainment
90%
90%
100%
97.5%
Industry-recognized
credentials/career studies
certificates
100%
100%
100%
100%
Career Readiness Certificates
88%
96%
90%
92%
Digital Literacy Certificates
100%
100%
98%
99.3%
Outcomes
• Through FY2012-13, 70% of completers continued
with at least one additional semester at the
community college level—4 times the rate of
general adult education students.
• 47% of students enrolled in 2012-13 gained or
retained employment by September 1, 2013.
• State funding in 2012-13 more than doubled
enrollment from the previous year.
• PluggedInVA cohorts are operating in 12 adult
education regions in Virginia.
PluggedInVA Success Stories
“No one had ever taken
interest in me
before…PluggedInVA
gave me the opportunity
to become something I
wasn’t; it gave me a life
and a reason to live.”
Patricia Sirles
• “I have been out of school
for over thirty-one years,
and I am amazed at how
much fun I am having
learning new skills. I always
wanted to return to school
but was afraid I couldn’t
handle it. PluggedInVA has
given me a chance to see
that I can do whatever I
want in life. One little
phone call has made a
lifetime of difference for
me.”- Debi Matney
Expanding the Pipeline from
Literacy to Careers
Careers
Workforce
Pathways
PluggedInVA Pathways
• Targeted to literacy through 4th
grade
• Focus on basic skills in
workplace contexts
• Computer literacy instruction
• Job search techniques
• Professional soft skills
• Critical skills instruction (i.e.,
ethics, teamwork, critical
thinking and problem solving,
and communication)
• One-on-one tutoring
• Goals and outcomes
– Increased Educational
Functioning Levels (EFL)
– Digital Literacy
Certificate (North Star)
– Badges for Professional
Soft Skills & Workplace
Skills
– Employment or entrance
into job training
PluggedInVa Workforce
• Targeted to the 5th to 8th
grade basic skill level
• Focus on basic skills in
workplace contexts, job
readiness, and career
exploration
– May be adapted to be
industry-specific with
employer partners
• Intensive instruction (12+
hours/week + occupational)
• Goals and outcomes
– Pre-GED© Preparation
– CRC Preparation
– Microsoft Digital Literacy
Certificate
– Completion of
Professional Soft Skills
training
– Industry-recognized
credential (s)
– Job experience
PluggedInVA Careers
• Targeted to 9th through 12th
grade basic skill levels
• Industry-specific
contextualized instruction
• Co-enrollment at the adult
education center and the
postsecondary institution
• Explicit professional soft
skills training
• ~20 hours / week
instruction
• Goals and outcomes
– GED© credential
– Career Readiness
Certificate (CRC)
– Microsoft Digital Literacy
certificate
– Industry-recognized
credential (s)
– Job experience
– Transferable college
credits
Questions
Creating Career Pathways
TAACCCT Rounds 2 & 3 Convening
November, 2014