Maryland Sector Academy

1
Courses to Employment Sector Based Community
College/Nonprofit Partnerships

• Maryland Sector Academy
• June 25, 2009

2
Whats 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 skillsand
• Creates lasting changes in the labor market
  system that are positive for workers and
  employers.

3
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
  todays 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)

4
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

5
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

6
WSIs Work

• Past 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
  effectivelyespecially over the long-term.
• Inspired by the outcomes and possibilities weve
  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 competitivelyfrom 89
  applications
• Substantial learning research agenda
• Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

9
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?

10
CTE Partnerships

• Austin Capitol IDEA Austin Community College
• Seattle Workforce Development Council of
  Seattle-King County Shoreline Community College
  
• Chicago Instituto del Progreso Latino Wright
  Colleges 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

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Key Strategies

• Make college coursework more accessible to adult
  learners
• Integrate basic education into skills training
• Provide tutoring and academic support
• Provide case management and support services
• Reduce finance barriers to education
• Assist graduates in navigating and advancing
  within higher education and their chosen industry

12
Community College Non-profit Partnership
Schematic
College Innovation Scale
Community sector agencies
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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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To Learn More

• The Aspen Institute
• One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 700
• Washington, D.C. 20036
• [phone]
• E-mail wsi_at_aspeninst.org
• http//www.aspenwsi.org