This week's Research WG call presenter: Kathy Booth

[Carla Casilli]

Hey all,

We're pleased to announce that during this Friday's 1pm EDT Research WG call Kathy Booth, Senior Research Associate at WestEd, will be presenting her extremely interesting research into the realms of community colleges, educational policies, learning pathways, and workforce connections. See the informational links below for a deeper dive.

You won't want to miss this call: here's the etherpad link containing dial-in info.

Skills-Builder Findings

• Many adults are enrolling in community colleges to fill in skills gaps, transition to new careers, or keep up-to-date on evolving technologies. As a result, one in ten higher education awards are certificates that can be earned in a year or less. Many adults also elect to take one or two courses to fulfill their training needs and do not earn a credential. 
• While these skills-builder students are becoming more common on college campuses, conversations about success still assume that college entails enrolling in a multi-year program of study that culminates in a credential.
• Currently, many colleges and states are making policy decisions that will shape which kinds of programs are offered, whether students will get into courses, and how success will be measured. There is a risk that the focus on long-term certificates, degrees, and transfer to four-year institutions will de-prioritize short-term training options and skills-builder students, thus exacerbating the skills gap reported by many employers.
• Colleges will be better able to prioritize offerings that are of high value to both students and employers if colleges have access to data on more comprehensive workforce training outcomes—such as whether students secure an industry-recognized credential, improve their employment status, or increase their earnings—in addition to conventional completion metrics.

Skills-Builder Resources

• Building More Comprehensive Measures of Workforce Training Success
  

This four-minute video explains why including factors such as wage gain, employment retention, and third-party certification would better capture the full range of career and technical education outcomes.

Audience: policy makers and college decision makers

URL: http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/LaunchBoard/Videos.aspx#video1

• How Workforce Pathways Shape College Outcomes and Earnings Gains
  

This eight minute video examines the multiple types of workforce training offered by community colleges and their associated earnings gains, as a means of documenting the value of both short-term and long-term educational pathways.

Audience: policy makers, college decision makers, and workforce education practitioners

URL: http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/LaunchBoard/Videos.aspx#video2

• The Ones That Got Away: Why Completing a College Degree Is Not the Only Way to Succeed
  

This 22-page brief draws on numerous studies to explore alternative approaches to measuring how well community colleges serve career and technical education students.

Audience: policy makers, college decision makers, and workforce education practitioners

URL:  http://www.wested.org/resources/the-ones-that-got-away-why-completing-a-college-degree-is-not-the-only-way-to-succeed/

• Or, review more comprehensive resources at: http://www.wested.org/project/quantifying-non-completion-pathways-to-success/
  

Looking forward to connecting with you all on Friday!

Carla

Carla Casilli

Director of Design + Practice

Badge Alliance

Site: http://badgealliance.org

Blog: http://carlacasilli.wordpress.com

Twitter: @carlacasilli

Skype: cmcasilli

[Nate Otto]

Fabulous. Thanks, Carla for organizing!

Nate,
Research WG Secretary

[Fred Prasuhn]

Greetings all:

Apologies for not being active on the call yesterday. I was traveling and listening as able. The information shared is great.

Best wishes to all...fred