Transcript Best Practices in Adult Learning

Collaborating for Increased
College Degree Attainment
December 15, 2011
Gabi Zolla
Talent
•Talent Dividend Prize:
•$1 million for your city.
•Made possible with generous support from:
Why Does College Completion Matter?
U.S. position as a world leader in
education has slipped to 11th place in
2009
By 2018, 62% of jobs will require
some college or above
But only 40% of adults 25-34 have
attained a post secondary degree
Increasing the percentage of
postsecondary degree holders in your
city will bring economic benefits,
according to CEOs for Cities
Source: Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through
2018, Georgetown University, Center for Education and the Workforce, June 2010
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CAEL Connects Learning and Work
 CAEL is the Council for Adult and Experiential
Learning
 A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with 37 years of
lifelong learning and workforce development
experience
 Mission to remove barriers to learning for the adult
workforce
 National network of hundreds of colleges and
universities
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CAEL’s Intermediary Role
CAEL is unique in its knowledge of adult/employee
learning practices and in its ability to work as an active
intermediary among:
Colleges & universities
Military Groups
Corporations
Public Policymakers
Associations
Government, community &
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philanthropic entities
Principles of College Completion
 Define the Value Proposition of
completing college
 Value Prior Learning and Promote its
Assessment
 Increase Institutional Capacity
 Increase Student Guidance and Support
 Create a College Culture
Define Value Proposition
 Identify industries poised for
economic growth
 Document career opportunities
 Show impact of degree attainment
on advancement and earnings
improvement
Increase Institutional Capacity
 Engage both adult workers and young
people
 Attract, serve, and graduate adult learners
with CAEL ALFI framework, assessment,
and consulting
 Inventory educational offerings to see if
they are aligned with economic
development targets
Value Prior Learning and
Promote its Assessment
Many workers have learning that is
college level that could count toward
their degree attainment. This is
largely an unknown fact. Increase
awareness by:

Identifying local institutional capacities

Creating regional policy alignment and
promoting prior learning regionally

Promoting access to prior learning
Student Guidance and Support
 Provide career and education advising
for students to help them make the
right decisions about their education
 Train career counselors and job center
staff to help them effectively guide
students
Create a College Culture
 Be an effective advocate for education
 Form a business leadership group to
promote degree completion, develop
business/education partnerships, and
support college credit awards for
workplace learning and corporate
training
Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals
Engage public workforce development
organizations
Train and equip case
managers in career
counseling, career
Identify dislocated
pathways, and PLA
workers for creditable
experiential learning
Map career paths for
Engage
Workforce
Development
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regional and target
industries
Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals
Engage the business community
Assist companies to leverage tuition
assistance and training programs
Coordinate business
leadership groups
Form partnerships
between corporations
and educational providers
Degree
Develop internal
career pathways
Completion
Agenda
Provide career and
education advising
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Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals
Engage higher education
Certify college
Help adults accelerate
counselors and advisors
degree completion through
Prior Learning Assessment
Improve programs and
policies that support adult
student success
Graduate
Adult
Learners
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PLA (Prior Learning Assessment)
Students can earn college credit for what they
already know:
 On-the-job learning
 Corporate training
 Military service
 Open source courseware
 Civic activities
 Volunteer service
CAEL’s History with PLA
 For 37 years, nationally recognized as the leader in
the assessment of learning from life and work
experience
 Wrote the standards and best practices followed by
colleges and universities
 Trained hundreds of faculty and colleges in how to
assess learning
 Recognized by regional accrediting bodies
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Results of Assessment
When adult students earn college credit for
what they already know, THEY ARE
MORE LIKELY TO GRADUATE.
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Why CAEL Created LearningCounts.org
 Not enough colleges granting credit for prior
learning
 Need for consistent standards across regions and
states
 Adult learners are not aware of PLA so they often
take courses that repeat what they already know
 Need for a national, online approach with easy
access
 Ability to use faculty experts nationwide to review
learning portfolios in various subject areas
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New initiative of CAEL: National online service to help
students earn college credit for what they already know
Includes:
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On-line course to help students prepare a portfolio
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Expert faculty assessors review portfolios and make credit
recommendations
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Credit transcription service to colleges chosen by students
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In most cases, substantial savings on tuition
Foundation support
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Next Steps
 Facilitate your planning committee/task force and create a
blueprint for your Talent Dividend initiative
 Work with colleges in your region on becoming more adult
learner friendly
 Work with companies in your region to become more
employee learning friendly
 Create career pathway information to use with adults
 Share best practices from other regions and states
 Embed LearningCounts.org and the concept of Prior Learning
Assessment into your local efforts with colleges and
companies where appropriate
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Contact Us
Pamela Tate, President & CEO, CAEL
[email protected]
312-499-2680
Mark Campbell, Vice President of LearningCounts.org, CAEL
[email protected]
312-499-2360
Joel Simon, Vice President of Government Services, CAEL
[email protected]
312-499-2678
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