Adult Learner Transitions
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PATH:
Postsecondary Awareness:
Transition to Higher Education:
Building a Bridge from Adult Education
to Postsecondary or the Workplace
by Adeline Silva, Guadalupe Ruvalcaba, Aaron Smith, & Rene Coronado
Nationally, in 2004, of all entering college freshmen, 35% - 40% took at
least one developmental educational course in reading, writing, or mathematics
(The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, National Cross
Talk, Fall 2005). In the Alamo Community College District (ACCD), made up
of four colleges in the San Antonio area, over 60% of all entering freshman
took developmental math classes in the fall of 2006 (Alamo Community College).
The four colleges within the ACCD District are San Antonio College, Northwest
Vista College, St. Philip’s College, and Palo Alto College. Although
these figures include both high school and General Educational Development
(GED) graduates, they illustrate the need for entering freshman to be better
prepared to succeed in college. C. Adelman (U.S. Department of Education,
2004) states that students who have to take developmental reading classes
for more than a year have only a 5% persistence rate. A study done by the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) showed that students taking
developmental classes are 41% more likely to drop out of college.
It is not only necessary to help prepare GED graduates for postsecondary
education. Many of our GED graduates who are not planning to work toward
a traditional college degree need the skills necessary to transition to
vocational programs and the workplace. Programs that address adults’ specialized
skills and experiences in the classroom also enable workers to improve their
general literacy levels.
It is with information such as this that the Postsecondary Awareness: Transition
to Higher Education (PATH) Committee was established. This committee is
made up of adult education, college, correctional, and workforce administrators
whose primary goal is the development of an educated and skilled workforce
within the San Antonio area. Organizations
represented on the committee include the following:
- Adult Education fiscal agents including:
- San Antonio ISD Adult Education Program
- Northside ISD Adult Education Program
- North East ISD Adult Education Program
- Education Service Center, Region 20 Adult Education Program
- Alamo Community College District
- Windham School District
- Alamo WorkSource
- City of San Antonio
- Coastal Bend Community College
- Project GREAT (Getting Results Educating Adults in Texas) Center
for the South Central Region, located at Education Service Center, Region
20
- Project RIO (Reintegration of Offenders)
Another goal of the PATH committee is to share resources and ideas that
will help create a seamless network of services for adult learners wanting
to enhance their quality of life. Professional development opportunities
are also offered to PATH member organizations’ staffs as a way to
enhance career growth. For example, training provided by the ESC-20 Project
GREAT is made available to ACCD developmental education teachers.
The PATH committee has been meeting since the Spring of 2006. One of the
first documents reviewed by the committee was the Texas Workforce Commission’s “A
First Look at Adult Education in Texas.” This study, published in
2003, recommends that in order to meet the varied needs of Texas’ adult
population, joint collaboration between Texas LEARNS, Texas Workforce
Commission, and The Texas Higher Education Coordination Board and its’ local programs is necessary. Utilizing
the study’s recommendations, the PATH committee forged ahead, perhaps
not knowing what the end result would be – but always realizing the
need to form a systematic, lasting effort to utilize each program’s
resources to address the many needs of adult learners as they transition
from adult education programs to postsecondary education or the workplace.
Another document used by committee members as a foundation for its efforts
was Judith A. Alamprese’s article “Approaches
to ABE Transition to Postsecondary Education” (NCSALL). This article states that any
effort to bridge a student from adult education to post-secondary or workplace
requires a collaboration that focuses on three areas: awareness and orientation,
counseling and referral activities, and comprehensive programs. Examples
of joint activities that could be developed include holding college orientation
events at major adult education learning center sites (awareness and orientation),
inviting college advisors to adult education sites to meet with GED students
(counseling and referral activities), and developing college preparatory
GED classes for students with a goal of attending and succeeding in college
(comprehensive program). The committee has focused on the deficiencies found
in each of these three areas and the strategies and activities that could
reduce or eliminate these gaps.
It is the hope of the PATH committee members that the efforts of this committee
will form a lasting system within the San Antonio area, forming a bridge
that our adult students can traverse in order to reach their goals – be
they college enrollment/success or increased workplace opportunities.
References
Adelman, C. (2004). Principal
indicators of student academic histories in postsecondary education, 1972-2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.
Alamprese, J.A. (2004). Approaches to ABE Transition to Postsecondary Education.
Focus on Basics, 6, (D), 26-27.
Horn, L.J., MPR Associates and Carroll, C.D., Nontraditional
undergraduates: Trends in enrollment from 1986 to 1992 and persistence
and attainment among 1989-90 beginning postsecondary students. National Center for Education
Statistics. Retrieved March 7, 2007 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=97578
Long, B.T. (Fall 2005). The remediation debate:
Are we serving the needs of underprepared college students? The National
Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, National Cross Talk. Retrieved
March 7, 2007 from http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0405/front.shtml
About the Authors
Dr. Adelina Silva
Alamo Community College District
District Director of Student & Community Program Development
lsilva@accd.edu
Ms. Guadalupe Ruvalcaba
San Antonio ISD
Director, Adult Education Program
GRuvalcaba@saisd.net
Mr. Aaron Smith
Alamo WorkSource
Labor Marketing Analyst
Aaron.smith@twc.state.tx.us
Mr. Rene Coronado
Education Service Center, Region 20
Coordinator, Adult Education Program
Rene.coronado@esc20.net
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