Transcript Putting Learning Back Into Welfare to Work powerpoint

Putting Learning Back into
Welfare to Work
National Conference on Family Literacy
April 30, 2013
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TANF Career Pathway Pilot in
Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Robert E. Paponetti, Executive Director
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TANF Participation Rates
• Set minimum work participation
standards that a state must meet
• Standards are performance measures
computed in the aggregate
• Specified percentage of families are
engaged in specified activities for a
minimum number of hours
• Penalties if standards are not met
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Core Vs. Non-Core Hours
• Participant must be engaged in approved
activities at least 30 hours per week
• Core hours must be met or non-core hours do
not count for the time period
• Core activities include unsubsidized or
subsidized employment, OJT, Job Search/Job
Readiness, WEP, Community Service,
Vocational Education
• Non-Core activities include education and job
skills training directly related to employment
and GED preparation
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Cuyahoga County Challenge
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Most requested core activity is vocational training, yet almost two-thirds of
candidates do not meet minimum math and reading level
Most candidates not meeting minimum levels are sent to a WEP assignment
with option to complete basic skills on their own
Basic skills is non-core activity and must be scheduled around core activity to
ensure compliance
Most candidates do not pursue basic skills, become disinterested in WEP, drop
out, resulting in failed participation rates
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Opportunity
• Vocational Education is defined as
organized education programs that are
directly related to the preparation of
individuals for employment in current or
emerging occupations requiring training.
• Basic Skills Education may be counted as
long as it is a necessary and regular part
of the vocational educational training.
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Proposed Pilot
• American Red Cross State-Tested
Nurse Assistant Training Program
linked with an ABLE Program
• Currently STNA is 130 hours, 30 hours
per week, 8th grade reading and math
minimum requirement
• Increase to 250 hours, 30 hours per
week, 6th grade reading and math
minimum requirement
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Summary
• Research participation rates
• Contact state office as well as local
TANF and WIA offices
• Approved training program may be a
better approach than a pilot
• Do not let time go by – keep
communication lines open
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Contact Information
Robert E. Paponetti
Executive Director
The Literacy Cooperative
1331 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115
216-776-6181
[email protected]
www.literacycooperative.org
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Paul Burke, Director
Office of Adult & Career Education Services
Youth Development & Family Services
Rochester City School District
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For more information on the Family C.A.R.E.E.R.S program
please contact:
Paul Burke
Director
Office of Adult & Career Education Services
Rochester City School District
30 Hart Street
Rochester, New York 14605
(585) 262-8072
[email protected]
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Learning Gains for TANF
Clients, or How to Manage
Misaligned Policies
Dr. Judith Rényi
Executive Director
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The Problem: Misaligned
Policies
TANF Goal: employment within 90 days,
and a defined list of work preparation
activities that does not include learning;
Funder’s Goal: measurable learning gains
Client Goal: comply with TANF rules on
how they spend their time to get their money
Teaching Goal: show educational gains
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Time is the enemy
• The funder targets only clients with no more than 125%
of the poverty level and reimburses only for services that
show documented learning gains;
• Working with TANF clients simplifies the income level
documentation problem, BUT
• TANF clients are extremely short-term learners (fewer
than 12 hours); standardized post-tests cannot be used to
show learning gains;
• Only those in a special program for pregnant women will
stay long enough for a standardized post-test.
• EARN Centers are NOT motivated to hang on to the
clients or to refer them to learning.
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Managing the policy arena
• Targeted Skills Assessment satisfies the funder’s
need for results on a very short-term basis:
Targeted Skills are micro-skills, teachable and
observable in the space of a single lesson.
• Multilevel Literacy classes in the EARN Centers
• Focused teaching and assessments
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Foundation Skills Wheel
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Foundation Skills Framework
Workforce Education Research Center Institute for the Study of Adult
Literacy, Pennsylvania State University
Six levels of “Reads with Understanding,”
including:
W.1.1 Demonstrates word recognition and alphabetization
skills
W.1.2 Uses active reading strategies
W.1.3 Reads and interprets signs, symbols, abbreviations,
and acronyms
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Foundation Skills Framework
Four levels of “Writes Clearly and Concisely”
Three levels of “Listens with Understanding”
Four levels of “Speaks Clearly and Concisely”
Five levels of “Applies Mathematical Concepts
and Operations”
• Four levels of “Observes Critically”
• Five levels of “Uses Technology”
And twelve additional, specialized workplace
skills categories, each with numerous levels.
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Foundation Skills Resources
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/c
ommunity/resources___documents/9086/workf
orce_education_resources/523341
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Pre-test and Post-test EACH
lesson
• Learners are TABE assessed prior to entry
in class
• Learners attend multilevel classes, but are
doing individualized learning plans in each
class
• Learners are pre- and post-tested at each
lesson
• Data collected on student achievement of
targeted skills
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Pilot Demographics
August – October, 2012
• N=125
• Income of all participants 125% of poverty
line
• 88% female and 12% male
• Ages from 17 to 71
• 14% ESL and 86% non-ESL
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Using data to evaluate the
effectiveness of the model
• Learner feedback
• Comparing pre- and post-tests as a
measure of learning
• Weekly spreadsheets
• Collecting data on types of learning gains
based on Targeted Skills Assessment,
attendance, and number of learning gains
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Skills Gains Attained in Pilot
Communication
10%
Specialty
6%
Math
28%
Writing
31%
Reading
25%
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Percentage of gains for each
skill
180
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Gains
Number of skills
140
120
100
85%
69%
80
80%
60
94%
55%
40
20
0
Math
Reading
Writing
Communication
Specialty
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Gain Percentage of Most Taught
Skills
W2.4
37%
W1.5
46%
W1.4
50%
W2.3
52%
W1.1
54%
W2.2
75%
W1.6
80%
W5.4
81%
W2.1
83%
W5.5
85%
W5.1
87%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Gain percentage
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87% of the Learners made at least
One Gain
Out of 125 learners:
• 109 achieved at least one gain
• 16 achieved no gains, mostly because they
dropped out after doing the pre-test
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Outcomes for the Policy
Agenda
• Demonstrated gains for the investment =
happy funder
• Demonstrated gains for the learner =
something to add to the resume, and better
capacity to pass employment tests, gain and
retain employment
• Incorporation of state-approved framework in
practice = happy state Dept. of Education
• Guide to future practice and curriculum
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Next Steps
Online 30-course curriculum with:
• built-in, industry-relevant activities and assessments at
all levels from low intermediate through 10th-grade
math. Each activity in each course will be industrycluster based for a minimum of three cluster in the
highest growth industries in Philadelphia.
• framed by the NRS levels, with a cross-walk to
• the Common Core of Learning, and
• the PA workforce literacy framework.
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Questions?
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