Transcript Click to add title - Education Commission of the States

Educating Today’s Adult Workforce:
State Indicators—A New Tool
Cheryl Blanco
Vice President for Lifelong Learning Policy and
Research
CAEL is the Council for Adult and Experiential
Learning
 Non-profit, international organization; 33
years of experience
 Nearly 700 college & university members
 CAEL works to expand lifelong learning
opportunities for adults
 CAEL partners with community colleges and
universities, employers, labor organizations
and government
Why are adult learners now getting more attention?
 Pipeline of young college graduates will not meet workforce skills
demands.
 Many current entry and mid-level works have necessary skills, but
lack credentials.
 Baby boomers will "retire" from current job, then launch into
“encore” career
 Many limitations in the ‘pipeline’ metaphor as it applies to adult
postsecondary learning
Adult Workers
In 2000,
 110 million American workers were between the
ages of 25 and 64.
 60% of them didn’t have a college degree.
 40% of adult students (about 2.5 million) have
annual incomes less than $25,000.
 7% of low-income adults entering college in 1995
to earn a bachelor’s degree had done so 6 years
later.
Source: American Council on Education. 2004. Low-Income Adults in Profile.
What we know about older workers
 79% of baby boomers won’t stop working
at 65
 30% want to pursue a degree/certificate
to advance in career
 55% want to learn to improve job skills
Source: 2000 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Survey.
Mature Adult Workers
The Challenges for American Business:
 Anticipated labor shortages in key “graying” industries such as utilities,
aerospace, transportation/logistics, and the federal government and
more specifically in “graying” occupations such as petroleum and
nuclear engineers, transit workers, and nurses.
 Anticipated skill and talent shortages as older workers shift from blue
collar occupations to white collar and service jobs and as highly
skilled, hard-to-replace workers retire.
 Anticipated brain drain, triggering the need for new internal human
resource management policies and practices in areas such as
recruiting, hiring, retaining, and succession planning.
Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Center for Workforce Preparation. Voice of Business on the Mature Workforce. A
Summary Report of the Pre-White House conference on Aging Event, June 15, 2005.
Pre-College Adult Learners
Post-High School Adult Learners
Pre-College Programs
 Adult Basic Education (ABE)
 General Educational Development (GED)
examination
 English Education (ESL)
 Adult Secondary Education/High School
Completion
 Workforce Training
 Adult Literacy
Post-High School
Providers:
 Colleges and universities
 Corporations & businesses
 Consultants
Barriers facing adult undergraduates:
 Adult obligations
 Financing
 Course choices
 Self esteem
 Counseling and advising
An Alternative Pipeline
CAEL/NCHEMS/Lumina Project




Level of educational attainment
The current size and shape of adult provision and
participation
Barriers to adult participation
Policy framework
Deliverables


Monograph with national analyses
State-by-state profiles
I. Level of Educational Attainment
1. Population with a high school credential, an
associate degree, and a bachelor’s degree as a
proportion of the population and the change in
this percentage from 2000 to 2005.
2. Percent of the adult population with less than a
high school diploma and no college – and the
change in this percentage from 2000 to 2005.
3. GEDs awarded as a percent of the population
with less than a high school diploma.
II. Current Size and Shape of Adult
Provision and Participation
Who participates in education and how
1. Provision
2. Participation
3. Completion
Provision
Providers: for-credit and non-credit programs offered by
regular colleges and universities, state/public efforts
like ABE and vocational training, corporate and
contract training, the for-profit sector, etc.

Listing these sources descriptively.

Descriptions or diagrams of the “infrastructure” for
adult learning including organization and governance,
principal programs and their sources of funding (e.g.
ABE, GED, WIA, etc.)

Numbers of providers receiving federal and state grant
funds to support adult education (ABE, ESL, ASE)

Numbers of participants by type of provider or
provision.
Participation
1. Enrollment in college
2. Characteristics of the adult learner population
by gender and race/ethnicity.
3. Enrollment in Adult Basic Education programs
(federally funded)
4. Enrollments by adults in non-credit programs at
accredited institutions
5. Enrollments by adults in employment-related
training provided by employers or other
providers as a proportion of all adults in the
population.
6. Enrollments by adults in literacy, ESL, or similar
non-college training provided by public
agencies (training centers, prisons, etc.)
7. College-going rates of GED recipients.
8. Proportion of non-credit enrollees that
subsequently enroll for credit in a
postsecondary program.
9. Reasons for adults participating in postsecondary
education.
10. Participation of employed adults in workrelated training by selected forms of employer
support.
Completion
1. Bachelor’s and associate degrees awarded to
students aged 25 and above
2. Completions as a proportion of numbers
enrolled in adult non-credit literacy programs
(i.e., ABE, ESL)
3. Certificates awarded as a proportion of total
enrollment in non-credit job-related
certification programs
4. Adult GED completions as a proportion of
population aged 25 to 64.
5. Progression by level in basic literacy training.
III. Barriers to Adult Participation
Academic Preparation: What prior educational
experiences and basic skills deficiencies serve as
barriers to higher education for adults?
 Performance on the national Assessment of Adult
Literacy (NAAL).
 Enrollment in ABE programs.
 Remedial program availability and support.
 Recognition for prior learning.
 Businesses meeting literacy needs.
Affordability: What are the cost barriers for
adults?
•
•
•
•
Percent of family income needed to pay tuition.
Financial aid for less-than-full-time students.
Percent of Pell aid devoted to adults.
State support for ABE, ESL, and other literacy
programs as a percentage of all postsecondary
spending.
• State support for ABE, ESL, and other literacy
programs as a percentage of the population in need.
• Corporate tuition assistance.
• Union contributions to employee training.
Access: Are programs and courses delivered in a manner
that allows adults to participate readily?
 Employed adults participating in education for workrelated reasons.
 Proximity to a postsecondary institution.
 Bachelor’s programs at public universities offered
through community colleges or joint-use facilities.
 Programs offered in an evening, weekend, or accelerated
format.
 Programs offered online.
 Adults participating in online courses.
Aspirations: Why don’t more adults participate in higher
education?
?
IV. Policy Framework
How well is the state organized and coordinated
to deliver postsecondary education to adults?
Does the state have explicit goal statements or
planning priorities for adult learners?
Does the state have accountability or
performance measures that address adult
education?
What are the state’s policies to fund adult
learners? Is financial aid available to them?
A Public Policy Agenda
1. Establish goals for adult learning.
2. Increase the level of support for providers of
adult learning
3. Increase the amount of financial aid and tuition
assistance for adults
4. Increase state commitments to adult literacy
and ESL, and reorganize the delivery of services
Source: Alice Anne Bailey and James R. Mingle. The Adult Learning Gap: Why States Need to Change
Their Policies Toward Adult Learners. The Education Commission of the States, Oct 2003).
Policies CAEL supports

Student aid to support life-long learners
• Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) – requires at least 3 credit hours per term,
are need-based grants

Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) to leverage private investment in
education and training
• Demonstration projects—like Northeast Indiana’s, which targeted the public and
manufacturing sectors—serves 150 workers and is sponsored by 8 manufacturers
and 5 municipalities

A state-based system for Prior Learning Assessments
• Pennsylvania is creating a PLA system to allow working adults to accelerate
education and recognize experiential learning

A data-drive approach to inform educational policy
• Kentucky, Louisiana, and other states are collecting more data on adult learners
• CAEL’s “indicators project” to measure state performance in serving adults

Strategic partnerships between higher education and business
• Business Leadership Groups to benchmark, recognize and share winning employee
learning strategies that build a culture of performance, productivity and pride,
enhancing the competitive edge in human capital with positive business results.

New services and programs for older workers
• National awareness campaign highlighting older learners