Search

Prins, E., Clymer, C. Elder, S.F., Needle, M. & Raymond, R., & Toso, B. W. Career Pathways Programming for Lower-Skilled Adults and Immigrants: A Comparative Analysis of Adult Education Providers in High-Need Cities. Funder: Institute of Education Sciences ($399,908). 2015-18

Many adult education providers seek to develop career pathway programs that build low-skilled adult learners' core skills (e.g., math, reading) in preparation for specific careers or fields (e.g., health care). In this project, representatives of adult education programs in Chicago, Miami, and Houston worked with researchers to understand how providers in each city integrated career pathway components into their services. This information will help programs understand and improve practices as well as create the foundation for subsequent collaboration and research.

This grant was a partnership between the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy (Esther Prins, Carol Clymer, & Blaire Toso) and Houston Center for Literacy (Sheri Foreman Elder), Miami-Dade County Public Schools (Mark Needle), and Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition (Rebecca Raymond).

The project included three research phases: (1) a survey of adult education providers (n=147, a 72% response rate); (2) focus groups with 18 adult education providers (five to seven per city); and (3) case studies of six successful programs (two per city).