Identifying and Working with Partners in Your Community to Enhance Successful Transitioning of Learners

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1 Identifying and Working with Partners in Your Community to Enhance Successful Transitioning of Learners Presented by Lori Strumpf Strumpf Associates: Center for Strategic Change June 2012

2 CA Middle Skill Job Requirements from California s Forgotten Middle Skills Job Report: October 2009 Middle-skill jobs represent the largest share of jobs in California some 49 percent and the largest share of future job openings. Middle-skill jobs are those that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor s degree. Prior to the recession, California was already experiencing shortages of middle skill workers in crucial industries. With rising unemployment in the state, this is precisely the time to ensure we are training the middle-skill workforce that will be critical to our economic recovery and long-term success. Addressing the need for middle-skill workers will require attention not only to educational opportunities for young people, but also for those already in the workforce. Fifty-eight percent of the people who will be in California s workforce in the year 2020 were already working adults in 2005 long past the traditional high school-to- college pipeline. Strumpf Associates June

3 California s Total Job Openings by Skill Level, Job Openings 43% 32% High Skill : 4 year college or more 25% Low Skill: HS diploma or less Middle Skill: More than HS, less than 4 year Strumpf Associates June

4 Effective Practices: In 4 Areas Organizational and Administrative Practices, including: Improving transition of students from adult education to postsecondary education is an institutional priority for community college and adult education programs. Strong collaborative partnerships exist among college programs, adult education programs, business/industry, and community-based organizations. Institutions have innovative and flexible admissions and enrollment policies that facilitate transitions. To evaluate the effectiveness of courses and programs, student data systems track transitions and outcomes across programs. Strumpf Associates June

5 Program Component Practices Including: Programs inform adult education students about the opportunities in and benefits of higher education. Programs provide adult education students with assistance in meeting the financial demands of college. Personalized support, such as peer mentoring, tutoring, or case management, is provided before, during, and after transitioning. Programs provide effective matriculation services, including assessment that is aligned between adult education and postsecondary programs Strumpf Associates June

6 Instructional Practices Including: Adult education and postsecondary curriculum are aligned, sequential, and progressive to provide a seamless pathway for transition students. Instruction is contextualized so that transition students see the connection between basic skills education and academic or vocational content. Programs include career planning as a part of the curriculum. Curriculum and scheduling are designed to be flexible, chunked, and modularized with multiple entry and exit points. Sufficient language instruction is provided for English-as-a-secondlanguage learners. Institutions provide accelerated courses/programs that give transition students the opportunity to quickly meet their goals And Staff Development Practices Strumpf Associates June

7 Developing an Array of Services These programs generally have organized services for adult learners in three areas: Academic preparation: providing instruction in math, reading, writing, and computer use. Counseling: supplying information on financial aid, stress and time management, study skills, personal support, and orientation to college life. Mentoring: helping orient learners to college activities and offering encouragement and support. Strumpf Associates June

8 Establishing Collaborative Partnerships. ABE programs operating in community-based organizations, school districts, correctional settings, and other institutions have the challenge of establishing relationships with external organizations, such as community colleges and counseling programs, to develop transition services. Community colleges can be helpful in providing staff and space for transition classes, as well as college orientation services for learners. Collaboration between ABE programs and other institutions and agencies can result in expanded services for adult learners as well as access to other opportunities Strumpf Associates June

9 Partnership Defined A partnership is a voluntary and collaborative joining of two or more entities; it can include entire organizations or be focused on single-function groups. The organizational form requires that all participants work together to achieve a common purpose or task. In working together, partners will, to varying degrees, share risks, responsibilities, resources and competencies. The relationship s underlying purpose is to extend resources, improve work throughput or grow some aspect of each partner to its benefit. Partnering is characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility; the purpose is to achieve a pre-specified goal. Good partnerships have a clearly defined expectation for outcomes of the relationship and an understanding of the processes and work that will be required to achieve its goals; these need to be in place before work begins. Strumpf Associates June

10 Where are your current partnerships? Co-existence Co-operation Co-ordination Collaboration "You stay on your turf and I'll stay on mine." "I'll lend you a hand when my work is done." "We need to adjust what we do to avoid overlap and confusion." "Let's work on this together." Co-ownership "We feel totally responsible." Strumpf Associates June

11 Typical Partnership Structures Based on knowing your motivation for forming a partnership, consider which of the described structure types would best serve your needs. Short-term (temporary) partnerships Informal voluntary partnerships Formal voluntary partnerships Statutory partnerships Strategic partnerships or joint ventures Strumpf Associates June

12 Challenges What are the elements to your program that assist with transitioning adult learners? What are the challenges? Strumpf Associates June

13 When it works.. Strumpf Associates June

14 ABOUT LORI Lori Strumpf has over twenty-eight years in the field of organizational development and change management in human services and workforce development organizations. Lori has been in business as Strumpf Associates: Center for Strategic Change for the last 28 years. She is a nationally known expert in organizational management, training and design for education, training, and human resource development systems. Prior to starting her business, Lori was the Assistant Director for the National Association of Private Industry Councils. She is on the board of the National Youth Employment Coalition and was a founding member. She has been a Senior Associate at Brandeis University, Center for Human Resources, Heller School for Public Policy. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C. to work on the Vice President s Task Force for Youth Employment, Lori was the Assistant Director to a project for court diverted delinquent youth. She also worked at Florida State Prison, counseling prisoners. Strumpf Associates is a small cadre of training and consulting experts, headquartered in Washington, DC. The Principals in Strumpf Associates have decades of experience helping organizations manage change, build systems, build leadership teams, and improve program quality and customer satisfaction. The Center provides organizational change management consulting and executive coaching to schools, workforce organizations, and welfare organizations. Over the last several years, Lori has helped design and implement over 250 one-stop career development centers. Currently, she works on behalf of the business community in partnership with local elected officials in eight communities around the country to assist in developing a strategic approach to workforce development. Lori Strumpf has a Masters and Specialist Degree in Educational Counseling from the University of Florida. Strumpf Associates June

15 Strumpf Associates: Center for Strategic Change Our Mission... Managing change. Building systems. Improving quality. Helping organizations re-think their business and refine their services Our Vision We excel at partnership with our customers to invest our resources, skills, ingenuity, and dedication to create positive change. We seek to do all we can to inspire others to join us and make a difference within their communities. Strumpf Associates: Center for Strategic Change helps human resource organizations improve the quality of their delivery systems and services by ensuring the connection to workplace skills. We provide technical assistance, leadership training, partnership facilitation, creative problem solving and practical research - all designed to improve customer satisfaction. Strumpf Associates June

16 Strumpf Associates: Center for Strategic Change (cont.) Who We Are... Strumpf Associates is a small cadre of training and consulting experts. We are headquartered in Washington, DC. The president and founder, Lori Strumpf, is a nationally known expert in training and design for education, training, and human resource development systems. She has written numerous publications, including a four-book series and teachers guide on Essential Skills for the Workplace: Building Workplace Competencies, published by Contemporary Books. She has also developed a Functional Context Instruction ToolKit, an interactive teaching and reference tool, available on CD-ROM. Principals in Strumpf Associates have decades of experience helping organizations manage change, build systems, build leadership teams, and improve program quality and customer satisfaction. How To Learn More... For more information about Strumpf Associates: Center for Strategic Change, please call. Telephone: Fax: or at strumpfctr@aol.com Strumpf Associates June