Resources & Publications: State Workplace and Adult Education Policy

• Apr 22, 2013  |  Marcie Foster Testimony to the Committee on Education on the FY14 Budget for the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education In 2013, it is a complete misnomer to label adult education as simply a "literacy" program. It is so much more. Adult education is an oft-overlooked and integral part of the District's workforce development system. Gone are the days when one could attain self-sufficiency with only a high school diploma. Today's workers need higher level skills and often postsecondary-level credentials to compete for jobs in the changing economy. In fact, by 2018, 71 percent of all jobs in D.C. will require some postsecondary training beyond high school. Yet far too many workers in the city are falling far short of these credential requirements and will be left behind. Download PDF
• Mar 25, 2013  |  Allegra Baider, Vickie Choitz, Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, Marcie W.M. Foster, Linda Harris, Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Neil Ridley, Julie Strawn Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States This toolkit is designed to help interagency state teams identify and facilitate "braiding" of federal resources to design and develop career pathways and bridges into them for adults and out-of-school youth. The toolkit also will help state teams identify state policy barriers to using federal resources for career pathways and bridges and, ideally, address them. Read Online   |   Download PDF
• Jun 28, 2012  |  Marcie Foster with Lennox McLendon Sinking or Swimming: Findings from a Survey of State Adult Education Tuition and Financing Policies At no time in recent history has the importance of adult education been greater and the funding more threatened. Despite the fact that as many as 93 million adults in the U.S. may need basic skills services to improve their economic prospects, funding for these services is stagnating at the federal level and being slashed in statehouses and state agencies across the country. Demand remains high, with at least 160,000 people on waiting lists that exist in nearly every state. To begin the conversation about how to meet existing and emerging needs with shrinking resources, CLASP and the National Council for State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE) surveyed state directors of adult education in February 2012. The goal was to glean information about important policies that govern the way adult education is funded, including the costs borne by local districts, community colleges, and other providers and by the states, the federal government, and students. Download PDF
• Feb 27, 2012  |  Marcie Foster Shifting Gears Winter 2012 Newsletter The Winter 2012 edition of Transmissions is the last newsletter of the Shifting Gears initiative, which ended on December 31, 2011. Although this work is formally ending, we hope that other states and the federal government can benefit from the lessons learned from this groundbreaking work. Read Online   |   Download PDF
• Oct 03, 2011  |  Vickie Choitz and Julie Strawn CLASP Testimony for the Record on Nontraditional Students On Sept. 30, 2011, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance held a hearing on higher education regulations and nontraditional students. CLASP submitted comments focusing on the primary barriers to access and persistence for nontraditional students and promising strategies and policies and the role of the federal government in helping nontraditional students in overcoming the barriers. Download PDF
• Aug 23, 2011  |  Julie Strawn Farther, Faster: Six Promising Programs Show How Career Pathway Bridges Help Basic Skills Students Earn Credentials That Matter Students forced to complete a long sequence of remedial or English language classes before they can begin their postsecondary program rarely earn college certificates or degrees. This brief highlights six promising programs that show how career pathway bridges help lower-skilled students move farther and faster along college and career paths through dual enrollment in linked basic skills and occupational certificate courses. Because creating such bridges requires collaboration across college silos, they can also transform the way colleges operate. Download PDF
• Jun 08, 2011  |  Patrick Kelly and Julie Strawn Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College Just as our economy is demanding that more workers have some postsecondary education or training, the number of recent high school graduates, our traditional source of such workers, is leveling off and even declining in many states. This brief provides relevant data on higher education on a national scale with some broken out by state. Read Online   |   Download PDF
• Mar 15, 2011  |  Julie Strawn New Path to Federal Student Aid for Those with No High School Diploma or GED New policy allows students without a high school diploma or GED to qualify for federal student aid if they successfully complete six credits in lieu of passing an Ability-to-Benefit test. Basic skills bridge programs could be designed to help students earn the critical six credits. NOTE: These provisions have been eliminated for newly-enrolled students as of July 1, 2012. Download PDF
• Sep 13, 2010 Webinar: Helping Low-Income Adults and Disadvantaged Youth Earn Credentials and Build Careers: Leading Foundations Speak about Policy Priorities Postsecondary education and credentials are key to economic mobility for individuals and economic competitiveness for our nation. Yet too many low-income adults and disadvantaged youth are locked out of the opportunity to earn credentials and are falling further and further behind. To combat this national challenge, CLASP has launched a new project, the Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success (C-PES) and kicked off the initiative with a policy discussion featuring thought leaders from the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation. Each of these foundations has made improving postsecondary access and success a top priority. During this webinar, they discuss their specific policy priorities for helping lower-income adults and disadvantaged youth attain postsecondary credentials and achieve economic mobility. Read Online
• Jul 08, 2010  |  Julie Strawn Shifting Gears: State Innovation to Advance Adult Workers and the Economy in the Midwest Read Online   |   Download PDF
• Jun 11, 2010  |  Neil Ridley Workforce Investment Act: Strengthening Priority of Service for Low-Income Adults through WIA Reathorization A key feature of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is a tiered service delivery structure that provides core, intensive and training services to adults and dislocated workers. WIA requires states and local areas to implement a priority of service for public assistance recipients and other low-income adults when local adult funds are determined to be limited. Although federal regulations suggest that funds are "generally limited" and that a priority of service is likely to be needed, states and local areas have considerable flexibility to define the policy and determine whether and how to implement it. An early evaluation of WIA revealed that implementation of priority of service varied widely in states and localities. Download PDF
• Apr 22, 2010  |  Julie Strawn The Role of Education and Training in the TANF Program: Read Online On April 22, Julie Strawn testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the importance of education and training in today's economy, and the role that TANF can play in helping low-income parents obtain economic opportunity and better the lives of their children. Download PDF
• Mar 22, 2010  |  Evelyn Ganzglass, Andrew Reamer, Brandon Roberts, Whitney Smith, Rachel Unruh Recommendations for Incorporating Postsecondary and Workforce Data into Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Read Online   |   Download PDF
• Apr 29, 2009  |  Evelyn Ganzglass and Julie Strawn Using Increased Funding Under WIA to Create Multiple Pathways to Marketable Postsecondary Credentials and Middle-Class Employment This paper discusses how the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) system can use new funding and flexibility under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to implement cutting-edge workforce education and training strategies that can help low-skill adults and out-of-school youth gain the skills and credentials they need to fill the pipeline of skilled workers for jobs important to local economies. It focuses on career pathways as a framework for strengthening employer engagement and linkages among workforce education and training programs; and as a model for improving how training and related services are delivered in the WIA adult, dislocated workers and youth programs. Download PDF
• Mar 12, 2008  |  Amy-Ellen Duke and Julie Strawn Overcoming Obstacles,Optimizing Opportunities: State Policies to Increase Postsecondary Attainment for Low-Skilled Adults This paper, by Amy-Ellen Duke and Julie Strawn, provides an overview of state policies that can be most successful in helping lower-skilled adults enter and succeed in college and careers. The paper introduces a series of state policy reports developed as part of Breaking Through, a national project that is helping community colleges identify and develop institutional strategies that can enable low-skilled adult students to enter into and succeed in occupational and technical degree programs at community colleges. Download PDF
• Dec 20, 2007  |  Amy-Ellen Duke and Evelyn Ganzglass Strengthening State Adult Education Policies for Low-Skilled Workers At a time when employers increasingly need better educated and skilled workers to succeed, too few states have taken significant actions to improve adult education and literacy. This brief, prepared for the Working Poor Families Project, provides an overview of state adult education policies and programs and recommends ways they can be strengthened to provide better job advancement opportunities for lower-skilled adults and older youth. Download PDF
• Oct 18, 2007  |  Julie Strawn Policies to Promote Adult Education and Postsecondary Alignment This paper was prepared for the third meeting of the National Commission on Adult Literacy on August 20, 2007. As introduced by its author, CLASP senior policy analyst Julie Strawn, the publication focuses on "helping adults with lower skills and/or limited English proficiency earn postsecondary credentials that open doors to family-supporting jobs." It examines obstacles to moving toward this goal--with major attention to lack of alignment between federal and state adult education efforts, job training services, and postsecondary education policies. It also draws attention to the financial, personal, and family challenges that prevent adults from seeking and completing programs. Numerous policy and action recommendations are given for the commission's consideration. The 28-page publication is also available in bound version from the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (for pricing and ordering instructions, bheitner@caalusa.org). Read Online   |   Download PDF
• Feb 21, 2007  |  Christopher Mazzeo, Brandon Roberts, Christopher Spence, and Julie Strawn Working Together: Aligning State Systems and Policies for Individual and Regional Prosperity Julie Strawn of CLASP coauthored this new report, from the Workforce Strategy Center, which asserts that the current systems are not working effectively to produce the kinds of knowledge workers need for our new economy. The paper examines state policy and system improvements that would enhance the ability of workers to gain skills to advance to better jobs and the ability of employers to find skilled workers. These improvements include increasing access to postsecondary education and training; enabling current students to succeed and complete marketable credentials; increasing transitions between literacy, language, and postsecondary education and training programs; incorporating employer demand and state economic priorities in educational planning; expanding the capacity of postsecondary institutions; and measuring program results. Download PDF
• Apr 06, 2006  |  Amy-Ellen Duke, Karin Martinson, and Julie Strawn Wising Up: How Government Can Partner With Business to Increase Skills and Advance Low-Wage Workers Helping low-wage workers upgrade their skills is a critical part of public policies to advance workers and to attract and retain "good" jobs—those that pay enough to support a family and offer health care, sick leave, and other important benefits. One promising approach has states and local governments partnering with business and industry to train workers and encourage the creation and retention of good jobs. This report examines five such training partnerships underway in four states, and offers innovative practices, challenges, and lessons learned for states and localities. Download PDF
• Sep 29, 2005 Employment and Training in the Response to Katrina: Some Principles for Ensuring Access to Jobs and Training As communities rebuild in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it is critical that local residents have access to the jobs created. CLASP offers specific recommendations to policymakers, program administrators, and advocates to ensure that recovery efforts bolster the skills and circumstances of low-wage workers, and help families and communities emerge stronger than they were before the floodwaters rose. Download PDF
• Mar 01, 1999  |  Jodie Levin-Epstein Seeking Safe Haven: How Two States Have Approached the Minor Parent Living Arrangement Rule Illinois and Vermont implemented a minor parent living arrangement policy prior to the 1996 law. Both have policies designed to protect those for whom the living arrangement rule might prove problematic due to abuse at home or other causes. This in-depth exploration is designed to assist those who work on the policy or with teen parents to gain insights into the nuances of implementation from the perspective of two states with experience. Download PDF