‘Ability to benefit’ students lose federal aid

College doors will shut for the neediest students on July 1, when federal aid is cut to would-be students who lack a high school diploma or GED. Currently, these students can take a basic skills test to prove their “ability to benefit” from college classes or successfully complete six credits. The new federal budget cuts off aid to these students to save Pell Grant money, notes Inside Higher Ed.

College administrators say they worry the new policy will shut out older students seeking training to find a new job, immigrants, and students in states where money for basic adult education has been cut in budget crises.

Either those students will turn to riskier private loans, they say, or — more likely — they’ll just give up on pursuing higher education.

Community colleges and for-profit colleges enroll the most “ability to benefit” students, though the total amounts to only 1 percent of the community college population. The new policy “runs counter to the missions of many of our colleges,” said David Baime, vice president for government relations at the American Association of Community Colleges.

Only a third of high school dropouts without a GED earned a college credential in six years, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics. That’s no worse than students who’d completed a GED.

“Ability to benefit” students are more likely to default on student loans. As a result two major for-profit educators, Kaplan and Corinthian Colleges, no longer enroll “ability to benefit” students.

California tackles remediation challenge

California’s second-tier state universities and community colleges are taking on a huge remedial challenge, reports the Sacramento Bee.

In the California State University system, which accepts the top third of high school graduates, 57 percent required remediation in English, usually writing, or mathematics, usually algebra.  At community colleges, 85 percent are unprepared for college-level math and 70 percent are unprepared for college-level English.

High school juniors can answer extra questions on the state exam to test their college readiness under CSU’s Early Assessment Program. In 2011, 23 percent of test-takers were ready for college English and 15 percent for college math at the end of 11th grade. Some students take 12th-grade courses to improve their college readiness. Those with high EAP scores don’t have to take a placement test in college.

This summer, CSU will require for the first time that incoming students begin remedial work before their freshman year under a new Early Start program. Students can fulfill the requirement by taking a basic skills course at their local community college or CSU campus if available, or by taking an online session.

In addition, Sacramento State, Los Rios Community College District and the Sacramento City Unified School District have created a Pathways coalition modeled after a Long Beach partnership that links  K-12 schools, community colleges and Long Beach State.

Colleges want students to take a fourth year of math and to stress writing in English courses.

Sheree Meyer, an English professor and now associate dean for undergraduate studies at Sacramento State, said students read literature in high school, but “get the experience of writing the kinds of assignments we would expect them to do in freshman composition.”

Fearing more funding cuts, most Cal State campuses will not admit transfers for spring quarter 2013, increasing crowding problems at community colleges. No campus will take freshmen. CSU also may deny admission to up to 25,000 qualified applicants in fall 2013 if Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure fails at the ballot box.

‘Early Start’ is too little, too late, say profs

Overwhelmed with remedial students, California’s second-tier state university system will require a 15-hour  “Early Start” summer class for new students who aren’t prepared for college-level classes. California State University professors think it’s too little, too late, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

“I’m not at all optimistic that it’s going to help,” said Sally Murphy, a communications professor who directs general education at Cal State East Bay, where 73 percent of this year’s freshmen were not ready for college math. Nearly 60 percent were not prepared for college English.

“A 15-hour intervention is just not enough intervention when it comes to skills that should have been developed over 12 years,” Murphy said.

The CSU system admits freshmen whose grades and test scores place them in the top third of high school graduates. Yet, statewide,  64 percent in the 2010 entering class needed remedial work in math, English or both. Early Start is supposed to help more students complete remedial work in the first year. If they don’t, they won’t get a second year. The course may be taken online, at a CSU campus or at some community colleges.

The need for remediation is “a terrible indictment of the K-12 system,” said Jim Postma, a Chico State chemistry professor and chairman of the systemwide Academic Senate. ”If a factory was building cars and the lug nuts kept falling off the tires, you would do something pretty dramatic about it. We keep adding the lug nuts back to the tires rather than trying to figure out what the problem is.”

More CSU students are taking basic skills classes at community colleges, competing for space with community college students who hope to transfer to four-year universities. “We’re all trying to figure out how to handle these students who are woefully unprepared,” said Mark Wade Lieu, an Ohlone College instructor who directs remedial education for the state’s community colleges.

Ohio’s state universities are shifting remediation to community colleges, notes the Hechinger Report.

Arizona college to require 7th-grade skills

Pima Community College in Tucson will restrict admission to high school graduates or GED holders with at least seventh-grade proficiency in reading, writing and math, starting in 2012. The new admissions standards will encourage success, writes Roy Flores, the college president, the Arizona Star.

“Students who test below this level have little chance of succeeding in a college environment,” Flores writes. Only 5 percent of students in remedial classes advance to college-level work.

Pathways to Pima will replace PCC’s lowest-level developmental education classes with counseling, diagnostic testing and “self-paced, computer-based or face-to-face learning modules” that will prepare low-skilled students to meet the seventh-grade standard and start college. Students in Pathways programs will not earn college credit or be eligible for federal aid.

Of 35,000 students at PCC, about 2,300 students — 6.3 percent — test below the seventh-grade level.

Pima is abandoning its mission to save money, argues Pamela Powers in the Tucson Citizen.

With the new entrance procedures and the elimination of remedial classes, Pima will cut approximately 200 adjunct professor positions.

PCC has done little to help low-skilled students, writes Greg Hart, a former adult education dean at the college. A 2000 task force recommended replacing remedial classes with a “skill-mastery model,” but nothing was done.

Certificates can prevent dropouts

A certificate in a high-demand occupation such as welding, machine tools, information systems or surgical technology pays off for young people, according to Emily Hanford at American Radio Works.

Forty-one percent of workers with certificates earn more than same-age workers with an associate’s degree, according to a Georgetown study, and 27 percent earn more than four-year college graduates.

It’s faster to earn a certificate and — for those who choose a community college — a lot cheaper than pursuing an academic degree.

Tennessee’s Technology Centers offer structured job training that leads to a certificate. Students pick the occupation. They’re told what courses to take. There’s no general education and no electives.  “We do not act like Burger King here,” says Carol Puryear, who directs the Murfreesboro Tech Center. Students do not get to “have it their way.”

. . .  there are no remedial classes, yet all students get tutoring in math and reading skills and have to demonstrate they’ve mastered the knowledge needed for their particular occupation. Students go to a computer lab once a week and work their way through a program, with an instructor to help when they need it. Students work at their own pace – not only when it comes to math and reading skills, but in other courses too.

“Everyone’s on an individualized training program,” says Puryear. “So if you come in and you excel in brakes in automotive, you will move through that section faster. And then when you get to the electronics, you may have to slow down a little bit.”

About 70 percent of the students earn a certificate, usually within 18 months, and more than three quarters find jobs in their field.  That compares to an 11 percent graduation rate at Tennessee’s community colleges.

That’s real dropout prevention, writes Daniel Luzer on Washington Monthly‘s College Guide.

Basic skills, job training are team effort

The Dallas Urban League and El Centro College (ECC) are partnering on a program that combines basic skills, English fluency and job training, reports Community College Times.  Using a state Adult Basic Education Innovation Grant, ECC will offer classes to 150 students with very low reading, writing and math skills.

During the first year, students in the program will receive training at Dallas Urban League facilities in basic workplace skills, such as computer applications and workplace vocabulary, along with developmental courses in English and math. Instruction will be provided by both ECC faculty and Urban League staff.

At the end of the year, the students will be enrolled at ECC ready to start college-level work leading to a certificate in welding, office support, transportation and material moving, health care or another high-demand occupation.

Some ECC enrollees lack sixth-grade reading skills, said Pyper Wilkins, executive dean. The new program will be geared to adults. “They could be high school dropouts, high school graduates who never tried to go to college, or the recently unemployed who realize they can’t really do anything without more training.”

CUNY will help train black, Latino males

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Young Men’s Initiative will offer basic skills classes, job training, paid internships and mentoring to young black and Latino men. City University of New York hopes to play a key role, reports Inside Higher Ed.

Whenever there’s a conversation about educational or workforce preparedness goals in New York City, CUNY is going to be involved,” said Suri Duitch, associate university dean for continuing education and deputy to the senior university dean for academic affairs at CUNY. “

LaGuardia Community College will get funding to expand its health training program and Bronx Community College will be able to spin off a peer mentoring program for young men seeking a GED.

CUNY is also incorporating some of the findings from the city’s original round of research into other programs already in place. “One commonality of all the effective programs is that they helped young men find and keep a stable adult in their lives,” Duitch said. “And we will incorporate those into our models as well.”

As part of the initiative, city high schools’ performance grades will factor in the success rates of black and Latino male students.

The new adult ed: Basic skills plus job skills

Jobs for the Future‘s Accelerating Opportunity has awarded grants to 11 states to transform adult education by integrating basic skills and job training.

Over 26 million adults lack a high school diploma, but less than 10 percent are enrolled in adult basic education programs. Many who try adult ed quit after a semester or two without earning any credential.

“The number of adults without skills and credentials beyond high school is a national crisis threatening our economic recovery,” says Marlene B. Seltzer, president of JFF. “At the same time, employers are having difficulty finding qualified workers to fill skilled positions that command a higher salary.”

Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin will receive $200,000 grants to support the redesign effort. In the second phase, five states will receive implementation grants of $1.6 million.

The initiative, which will involve nearly 40 community colleges and 18,000 adult learners,  builds on JFF’s Breaking Through, as well as Washington State’s I-BEST program.

Funders include the Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations. The National Council on Workforce Education, National College Transition Network, and the Washington State Board of Community & Technical Colleges will partner with JFF on the project.

CCs learn how to train Michigan workers

In Leaving No Worker Behind, Jobs for the Future analyzes how five community colleges implemented Michigan’s program to train unemployed workers and other low-skilled adults for high-demand jobs. No Worker Left Behind encourages adults to sign up for two years of education and training, usually at a community college. The state covers up to $5,000 a year for  tuition, fees and books and provides child-care subsidies and transportation allowances.

From its start in 2007 through 2010, more than 150,000 adults enrolled in NWLB-financed training; more were steered to Pell Grants. Some 59 percent of participants found a new job after completing their training.

The five colleges in the study developed programs for older workers, strengthened basic literacy and numeracy, updated computer skills and instilled confidence in adults who doubted their ability to succeed in college.

Most dislocated workers lacked literacy and numeracy skills. Colleges tried to integrate basic-skills instruction with preparation for college-level vocational training, but “rarely redesigned an entire program” to meet the needs of dislocated workers.

For the future, the study recommends:

>>Reward collaborative relationships between community colleges and Workforce Investment Boards.
>>Target benefits to adults with low basic skills.
>>Support a shift in the Adult Basic Education system to support postsecondary transitions.
>>Develop a common understanding of college readiness among workforce and higher education systems.

Due to the limitations of Michigan’s data systems, it’s  impossible to say whether   NWLB substantially increased college access or employment, the study concluded.

Employers teach basic skills

When adult education classes aren’t available, employers are stepping in to teach reading, basic math and English fluency to low-skilled workers, writes Sarah Butrymowicz on the Hechinger Post.

Mya Maw, a 52-year-old Burmese immigrant, longs for a stable office job in Boston, where she’s raising twin teenage daughters and washing dishes at a hotel. To help reach her goal, she spends most mornings sitting through two hours of English or computer instruction, taking advantage of free basic-skills classes that are a small but significant part of a fractured U.S. adult-education system.

Hospitals, hotels and the food-service industry often offer classes on company space and sometimes company time. Maw’s classes are offered by her union.

Despite the recession, some employers can’t find entry-level workers with academic skills. They hire for “a rudimentary grasp of English and a good work ethic,” then provide training.

At the hotel training center, workers in basic-skills classes hope to qualify for a “coveted banquet-server position, which can pay up to $70,000 a year.” (Why so lucrative?) Others go on to community college and beyond.

In 2004, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston began training employees to fill dozens of vacancies for lab or surgical technicians. Many needed remedial coursework in basic reading, English, math and science. Then the center added GED preparation and English classes for immigrants.

Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based nonprofit that helps health care companies train their workers, reports that 60 percent of its participants earned certification or a degree and 47 percent received raises.

Some of these workers are immigrants, but others went through U.S. schools without acquiring basic reading, writing and math skills.

Years ago, my grandfather figured out why shipments were going astray in his factory. Some of the forklift drivers couldn’t read; they usually guessed correctly about what went where, but not always. He offered free reading classes after work to anyone who wanted help. The turnout was huge. These were native-born, U.S.-educated Americans.