From the Horse’s MouthReport on a study that asked high-level ABE students what they need to transition to college-level classes

Terry Cox, MBA, EdDCDean of Business, Engineering, and ITNorth Seattle Community CollegeSeattle, Washington

What’s going to happen…How the study idea was bornOverview of Integrated Basic

Education and Skills TrainingMethodsOutcomes

In their own words – basic skills students speak

Results of the Focus Groups Results of the Survey DISCUSSION

How the idea was bornExperience as a practitioner

Experience as a student

ABE=Adult Basic Education ESL=English as a Second Language DevEd=Developmental Education IBEST=Integrated Basic Ed and Skills Training SBCTC = State Board for Community and Technical

Colleges CASAS = Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment

Systems GED = General Educational Development CCRC =Community College Research Center at

Columbia University CTC = Community and Technical College OMH = Oh my heavens, what am I doing up here?

Alphabet Soup

Whew!

HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW WHAT I-BEST IS?

First question….

5 year study of almost 35,000 Washington adults, mostly in ABE/ESL classes

Findings:◦ Only 30% ABE and 13% ESL students get to

college level coursework at all. ◦ Only 4-6% of the total ABE/ESL population get

through 45 credits in the period of the study. Only 1% of ESL students who started with

less than a HS education earn a GED or diploma in the 5 year period.

Rationale for IBEST: Prince (SBCTC) and Jenkins (CCRC; Columbia)

The “Tipping Point”

ABE $8,500/year

ESL $7,000/year

GED $2,700/yr

H.S. Diploma $1,700/yr

One year of college-level coursework, and a credential (college or industry certification) =

In the classroom it looks like contextualized learning:

Content Instructor – full time

ABE/ESL Instructor- half time

Support Course

IBEST Programs…

I-BEST as it fits with education

ABE 5&6 - GED Prep (practical)

English as a Second Language – literacy in the first language (ESL levels 1-3)

ABE levels 1-4 (education thru 8th grade) ESL levels 4-6

Traditionally focused on life skills

College-level classes (numbered 100 an above)

Developmental Education Grade 9-12 work

Academic in nature; prep for college

Some overlap & movement between (students may take some developmental classes while taking college-level classes)

Some overlap & movement between – e.g. students in ABE Math level 6 often test out of Math 094, a DevEd class (content is the same)

North’s IBEST Pathways:NAC - 1 qtrPhlebotomy – 2 qtrAccounting – 2 qtrHVAC – 3 qtr - hybrid

Most popular = NAC (every quarter)Excellent retention in all (over 80%)

Closing the loop - Assessment

Regression‐Adjusted Estimates of Probabilities of Outcomes for First‐Time I‐BEST, Non‐I‐BEST Workforce, and Non‐I‐BEST Non‐Workforce Students

Outcome I BEST ‐ Non IB Workforce ‐ Non IB ‐ Non Workforce‐

Received College Credit 0.57 0.18 0.01 Received CTE College Credit 0.55 0.18 0.01 College Credits Earned 18.2 9.1 1.1 CTE College Credits Earned 17.2 7.6 0.5 Persisted to Next Year 0.40 0.48 0.28 Received Award 0.26 0.03 0.00 Achieved Basic Skills Point Gain 0.53 0.40 0.33 Difference in Log Wages (Post Prior) ‐ 0.03 ‐ 0.02 ‐ 0.04 ‐ Difference in Adjusted Quarterly Hours Worked (Post Prior) ‐

17.54 ‐ 24.06 ‐ 20.83 ‐

Note: From CCRC Working Paper # 20 (Zeidenbert,Cho, and Jenkins, 2010)

The best reason for I-BEST

Study “Increasing Transitions to college for returning adults with low academic skills”

Mixed methodsStage 1: focus groups at 3 colleges

◦Transcribed the recordings◦Created themes and aggregated◦Built a survey from the data

Stage 2: Surveys to studentsProctored in upper level ABE classes At Washington State CTCs

Research QuestionsHow should community colleges design and offer

programs for low-skilled adult ABE students to best mitigate the multiple barriers to college success?

How many students used, or plan to use, I-BEST for transitioning into college programs?

What reasons do ABE students give for not using I-BEST programs?

What would a perfect program be that would fit into the students’ lives?

When and how would it be offered?Are there ABE students who are not interested in

accessing college-level courses/programs? What reasons are given for this? How could these students be served?

Focus group voicesDo you want to continue into college-level courses?

(Probe on why or why not)What do you know about I-BEST programs? Are you

planning to use an I-BEST pathway? If not, why not?What factors do you think will help you transition

into college-level classes? (Probe on life circumstances; support at the college; personal attributes)

What difficulties or challenges are you facing now with staying in school?

If you could design a program to fit your life better, how would that look? When, where, and how would it be offered? What supports would you need?

Results589 returned surveys from 13

institutions◦Demographics◦College Knowledge◦I-BEST Knowledge◦Expected Barriers◦Designing the Perfect Program

ResultsWhy don’t more students go to I-

BEST programs?◦They just don’t know enough about

them to choose them.

Results, cont.Upper level ABE students don’t

understand the processes for basic college entry requirements – for example, how to fill out a FAFSA or how to pick the classes they need that quarter.

Students feel a fair amount of concern about this

Results, cont.Former ESL students also

struggle with understanding the American higher education system. The number of choices baffle them.

Results, continuedThe systems and supports that the students identified as being most important for them in transitioning show that the most worrisome areas for Washington student are:

1. the costs of college,2. concern about their own

abilities as college students, 3. their concerns about getting

good advising and planning assistance.

The Perfect ProgramDays 4-5 days per week, a few

hours per dayInclude advising and registration

help◦Instructors would clearly explain

what they want◦Instructors would care about them◦Tutoring would be available for them

Bloomer, T. (January 2008) Increasing Student Achievement for Basic Skills Students. SBCTC Research Report No. 08-1

Prince, D. & Jenkins, D. (November 2005) Building Pathways to Success for Low Skill Adult Students: Lessons for Community College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal Student Tracking Study SBCTC Research Report No. 06-2

Prince, D. (April 2005) I-BEST: A Program Integrating Adult Basic Education and Workforce Training SBCTC Research Report No. 05-2

SBCTC website - Fall Reports – Selected Program Student Characteristics

SBCTC website – I-BEST fact sheethttp://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/abepds/ibest_factsheet_10.09_001.pdf

Zeidenbert, M., Cho, S.W., & Jenkins, D. (2010). Washington State’s

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (I-BEST): New Evidence of Effectiveness. New York: CCRC, Teacher’s College, Columbia University. Retrieved from http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=805

References

Thank you!

questions?