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Maryland Sector AcademyJune 25, 2009

Courses to Employment: Sector Based Community

College/Nonprofit Partnerships

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What’s a Sector Strategy? A systems approach to workforce development –

typically on behalf of low-income individuals – that:

Targets a specific industry or cluster of occupations;

Intervenes through a credible organization, or set of organizations;

Supports workers in improving their range of employment-related skills;and

Creates lasting changes in the labor market system that are positive for workers and employers.

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Why focus on low-income adults?Only 35 percent of the 2020 labor force

and 65 percent of the 2030 labor force will come from today’s high school system (estimate based on BLS projections)

43 percent of adults ages 25-64 have completed no education beyond high school (estimate derived from 2004 CPS)

24 of the 30 occupations projected to grow fastest between 2004 and 2014 require post-secondary education (BLS)

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Capacities Needed

Strong focus on a defined industry sector and/or set of related occupations to identify employment opportunity and develop appropriate education services

High quality education & training that both meets industry-identified skill needs and is appropriate and accessible to underserved adults

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Capacities Needed (cont.)Support services (academic & non-academic)

that meet special needs of underserved adults to learn successfully and progress to jobs that pay self-sufficiency wages

Shared vision about the need to develop new ways of operating & ability to communicate this effectively to support innovation and institutional changes, as needed

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WSI’s WorkPast Projects: Sector Strategies for Low-Income Workers:

Lessons from the Field (2007) Jobs and the Urban Poor (1995)

Current projects of interest: Sector Skills Academy Construction “pre-apprenticeship” census Business Value Assessment And…

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Courses to Employment

Based on premise that, with rare exception, neither colleges nor non-profits have the resources needed to serve low-income, minority, and under represented adult learners effectively—especially over the long-term.

Inspired by the outcomes and possibilities we’ve seen in collaborative work

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Courses to Employment

Learning demonstration involving six community college-non-profit program collaborations 2008-2010

Participants were selected competitively—from 89 applications

Substantial learning & research agendaFunded by the Charles Stewart Mott

Foundation

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What Questions is CTE Exploring?What specific services are provided? By

which institution? Why? Which ones seem most important?

Outcomes for participants? Compared to?Engagement and role of business in the

initiative? Factors of successful collaboration? Policies,

funding, governing and capacity issues? What does collaborative service delivery cost?

How is it financed?

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Austin: Capitol IDEA & Austin Community College Seattle: Workforce Development Council of

Seattle-King County & Shoreline Community College

Chicago: Instituto del Progreso Latino & Wright College’s Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center

Flint, MI: Greater Flint Health Coalition & Mott Community College

Los Angeles: Community Career Development, Inc., Los Angeles Valley College, East Los Angeles College & Los Angeles City College

Fairfax, VA: Northern Virginia Family Service and Northern Virginia Community College

CTE Partnerships

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Make college coursework more accessible to adult learners

Integrate basic education into skills training

Provide tutoring and academic support Provide case management and support

servicesReduce finance barriers to education Assist graduates in navigating and

advancing within higher education and their chosen industry

Key Strategies

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Community College – Non-profit Partnership Schematic

Supportive Services

EducationStrategies

IndustryStrategy

Community & sector agencies

College Innovation & Scale

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What are we learning so far?

These partnerships coordinate a wide range of services and supports, making the blending of funding streams a necessity and a challenge.

The community-based partners tend to help the adult learner navigate some of the ”traps” encountered entering post-secondary education.

Partnerships grapple with opportunities and inherent tensions around growth and scale.

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The Aspen InstituteOne Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20036(202) 736-1071

E-mail: wsi@aspeninst.orghttp://www.aspenwsi.org

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