1. Career Pathways Strategies:
How do College-based Programs Help Students Persist and Complete?
Karen Gardiner
Abt Associates
National Council for Workforce Education
October 2019
San Antonio, TX

2. The Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) Study is supported by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (Contract #s: HHSP YC and HHSP WC).
The contents of this presentation do not necessarily represent the official views or policies of OPRE, ACF, or HHS.

3. Presentation Overview
Describe PACE evaluation
Summarize college-based programs’ designs
Describe program implementation
Instruction
Advising
Employment Supports
Review short-term impact findings

4. What is the PACE Evaluation?
Separate evaluations of nine promising employment and training approaches, within a common conceptual framework: career pathways
Postsecondary education and training organized as a series of manageable steps leading to successively higher credentials
To engage and retain participants, programs integrate four components:
Academic and non-academic assessment
Innovative basic skills and occupational training instruction
Academic and non-academic supports
Connections to employment
Led by Abt Associates, sponsored by ACF, with additional support from foundations and (for 3+ programs) Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) Program funds

5. Evaluation Design Program-level evaluations Implementation study
Assessed extent, quality of program implementation per design
Key data sources: program MIS, staff surveys, observation and interviews with staff, participants, other stakeholders
Impact study
Randomly assigned eligible applicants to treatment (access to program) and control (no access) groups at 1:1 ratio
Main data sources: surveys (at the point of random assignment and 18 months later), local college records

6. Programs Based at Community & Technical Colleges
Multi-step programs that span basic skills remediation through multiple, stackable credentials
Pima Community College’s Pathways to Healthcare
Washington State’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program (3 colleges)
Short-term programs to accelerate basic skills remediation to prepare for occupational training
Madison College’s Patient Care Pathway Program
Des Moines Area Community College’s Workforce Training Academy-Connect

7. Multi-step Programs Program Pathway Supports & Services
Pathways to Healthcare
Pima Community College
Accelerated college readiness “bridge”
16 programs organized into 5 multi-step pathways
Two academic advisors (pre- and post-training enrollment)
One non-academic advisor to screen for barriers and link to supportive services
Scholarships for training, books, license fees
Tutoring, study groups
I-BEST
3 Washington community or technical colleges
Credit bearing certificate programs ladder into next academic step
Basic skills instructor integrated into occupational training
Advising (during PACE) to navigate college, career planning, link to supports
Financial support to “fill the gap” in tuition
Basic skills support classes

8. Short-term Programs Program Next Step Supports & Services
Patient Care Pathways Program
Madison College
Semester-long “academies” ladder into 1- and 2-year healthcare credentials
Bundle occupational and contextualized basic skills courses
Proactive advising to develop academic plan, identify potential barriers, navigate college
Instructional supports for chemistry class, tutoring
Assistance with financial aid forms
Workforce Training Academy-Connect
Des Moines Area Community College
Linkage to Workforce Training Academy occupational courses/credentials
Online basic skills remediation
Advising from Achievement Coach
No tuition
Transportation supports
Benefits screening

9. More Flexibility to Design Innovative Instruction: Basic Skills Education
Programs designed and implemented basic skills education so could incorporate:
Contextualization (incorporate basic academic skills in the context of an occupation or “real-life” situation)
Active learning techniques (Instructional approaches emphasize project-based learning and problem-solving tasks)
Flexible schedules (offer training at convenient times and places)
Acceleration (reorganize curricula to enable completion in a shorter (calendar) time period)
Pathways to Healthcare example of Active learning techniques include:
Writing instruction: “E-journaling”—responding to a weekly question in writing—to familiarize students with computers and professional writing.
Reading and speaking: Students participated in a book club to hone their reading and speaking skills. The instructor addressed conventions such as bold and italics and what they meant, and asked questions to gauge understanding.
Note taking to prepare for occupational training: The instructor demonstrated how to use flash cards, marginal notes, underlining and starring text, to help students understand medical terminology.

10. Fewer Examples of Innovative Occupational Training
Programs most often used standing college courses
Open to wider student population
Limited ability to incorporate adult learning techniques, flexible schedules
Exception = I-BEST
Integrates basic skills into occupational training
Courses “team taught”; basic skills instructors present and participating at least 50% of occupational class time
Basic skills instructors use concepts from students’ coursework as vehicle to build basic skills

11. All Programs Incorporated Advising
Varied in how often advisors met with students and topics discussed
Single advisor model more common; addressed range of academic and non-academic issues
Patient Care Pathway Program
WTA-Connect
I-BEST
Multiple advisors specialize in academic and non-academic supports
Pathways to Healthcare
Often recommended—but not mandated—number of sessions
Students in most programs did not participate in recommended number

12. Impact on Receipt of Career Counseling

13. Impacts on Help Arranging Supports

14. Employment Connections Limited or Not Provided
College employment services for completers include:
Workshops
Pathways to Healthcare & WTA-Connect
In-program experiential learning for healthcare programs
Pathways to Healthcare & I-BEST
Informal; through instructors or other contacts
I-BEST & Pathways to Healthcare
One program provided no employment services
Patient Care Pathways Program goal = enrollment in healthcare occupational training program

15. Impacts on Receipt of Employment Services

16. Impacts on Education

17. What is Next? PACE 36- and 72-month reports will examine
Employment outcomes for all programs
Average rate of employment, average earnings, job characteristics, career progress
Cost-benefit analyses for some programs
Educational outcomes
Next steps on the pathway
Receipt of longer-term credentials

18. Where to Find More Information
Websites
and-education
Project Team
Nicole Constance, ACF, PACE & CPIO Project Officer
   
Karen Gardiner, Abt Associates, PACE Project Director
Larry Buron, Abt Associates, CPIO Project Director