Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training

1
Integrated
Basic Education and Skills
Training
NCWE - State Policies that Support Low-Skilled
Adults Advance to College October 22, 2006
Kristin Ockert I-BEST Development Team Member
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What is I-BEST?

• Integrated
• Basic
• Education and
• Skills
• Training
• Training that provides adult basic education and
  specific occupational skills at the same time.

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How did IBEST come about?

• Research
• Economics
• Demographics
• Leadership

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Research

• Workforce and Economic Development
• (NCHEMS, CLASP, MDRC, WA Workforce Board)
• Student Achievement
• (Bridges to Practice, Tipping Point, Student
  Goals Surveys)
• Instructional Practices
• (JFF and IBEST)

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Economics

• Skills Gap
• Employers cant find qualified workers.
• Workers cant find jobs.
• Wage gap
• Low education low wages and high unemployment.
• Family wage jobs at least one year of college
  education and a certificate/degree.

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Demographics

• Most basic skills students are low-income
  workers.
• 80 have work as their primary goal.
• 75 indicate they want further training.

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Challenges

• Many students lack skills needed to enter
  workforce education programs.
• Too many students struggle and dont complete.
• Many students need additional support while in
  vocational training.

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Leadership
State Legislature
Community

• SBCTC

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What does an I-BEST
program include?

• A vocational credential, a good paying job, and a
  clear pathway to a better job.
• Engaged employers and agency partners.
• Partnerships across campus - professional
  technical, basic skills, and student services.
• Deliberate recruitment, screening, and support.
• Simultaneous workforce and basic skills
  instruction, with student gains in both.

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How do we know
that I-BEST works?

• I-BEST students earn more college credits than
  their peers in basic skills.
• I-BEST students complete at a higher rate than
  other ESL or workforce students.

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Where is I-BEST today?

• 23 of 34 colleges engaged - 31 programs approved
• More than 400 learners enrolled
• Occupation clusters include
• automotive technology
• business technology
• trades and manufacturing
• early childhood education
• health care
• corrections
• transportation

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How will more I-BEST
programs be created?

• Technical assistance/training
• Adequate funding structures
• Support from stakeholders
• On-going research

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Research bibliography

• SBCTC Building Pathways to Success for
  Low-Skilled Adult Students Lessons for Community
  College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal
  Student Tracking Study (The Tipping Point
  Research) . http//www.sbctc.ctc.edu/data/rsrchrpt
  s/Resh_06-2-TippingPoint.doc
• SBCTC I-BEST - A PROGRAM INTEGRATING ADULT BASIC
  EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE TRAINING
  http//www.sbctc.ctc.edu/Data/rsrchrpts/Resh05-2-I
  -BEST.doc
• WTECB Employers Having Difficulty Finding
  Qualified Workers. http//www.wtb.wa.gov/Documents
  /EmployerSurvey.doc
• NCHEMS (National Center for Higher Education
  Management Systems) http//www.nchems.org/Staff/d
  ennis.htm
• CLASP The Language of Opportunity Expanding
  Employment Prospects for Adults with Limited
  English Skills. http//www.clasp.org/publications/
  LEP_report.pdf
• JFF Breaking Through - Helping Low-Skilled
  Adults Enter and Succeed in College and Careers
  http//www.jff.org/JFF_Pages.php?WhichLevel3lv1_
  id3lv2_id33lv3_id36ShowProject2
• MDRC Improving Basic Skills - The Effects of
  Adult Education in Welfare-to-Work Programs
  http//www.mdrc.org/area_publications_4.html