NCWE: National Council for
Workforce Education
 An affiliate council of the American Association of Community
Colleges (AACC)
 A national forum for administrators, faculty, business, labor, military,
and government in workforce education, to affect and direct the future
role of two-year and other post-secondary institutions in workforce
education and economic development
 The link between policy and workforce education and economic
development by providing support, research, and critical information
to members on current and future trends and policies.
http://www.ncwe.org/?page=bcpiw
Building Community Partnerships to
Serve Immigrant Workers
Funded by the Ford Foundation
Framing the Issue and Integrated
Career Pathways
FRAMING THE ISSUE
On May 15, 2014 the Ford and Kellogg Foundations
hosted a meeting of key stakeholders to understand
both the innovative work that is being done, and the
barriers that impede community college/worker
centers/community-based organizations partnerships
to serve immigrant workers.
WHAT WE KNOW
 The US cannot possibly fill the anticipated 55M job
openings through 2024 without including the
immigrant population.
 Much work needs to be done at the public policy level:
broken immigration system and fragmented national
workforce development system.
WHAT WE KNOW
 Immigrant reform will happen (hopefully) at some
point and we need to be sure that policy aligns the
partners and systems to be able to meet the training
needs of immigrants and immigrant workers.
 In many areas of the country, the community colleges
have the most capacity to “skill-up” the immigrant
workforce but are disconnected from the worker
centers and community-based organizations.
WHAT
WE
KNOW
 Postsecondary credentials are the gateway to familysupporting wages that are critical to breaking the
intergenerational transmission of poverty in America.
 In 2007-2008, more than 2.3M students were enrolled in
federally funded basic skills programs yet less than 2
percent made the transition to matriculation (US
Department of Education, 2010; Wachen, Jenkins, Belfield
and Van Noy, 2012)
WHAT WE LEARNED
 In many areas around the country, a common agenda
or vision around supporting the workforce
development needs of immigrants does not exist.
 Strong relationships between partners are essential!
We need to build capacity to facilitate creating and
sustaining those relationships.
 Collaboration not Competition is Key!
WHAT WE LEARNED
 Certifications and credentials (both college and
industry-based) are essential in supporting immigrants
and immigrant workers in attaining family-wage jobs.
 Learning to blend funding among the partners is huge!
WHAT WE LEARNED
 Community colleges must be more open to new and
innovative teaching models and acceleration strategies
including: Integrated Career Pathways, Contextualized
Instruction, and Stackable Credentials.
 Comprehensive Student Supports both academic and
nonacademic are key to retention and completion.
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Bridge Programs
Career Counseling and Advising
Case Management
Child Support, Transportation
Integrated Career Pathways
INTEGRATED CAREER
PATHWAYS
Career pathways that integrate the teaching
of basic literacy skills and technical education
in order to accelerate the learner’s transition
into and through a college-level career and
technical education program of study.
INTEGRATION AND/OR
CONTEXTUALIZATION
 Integrated curriculum is the incorporation of reading,
writing, or math instruction into the teaching of the technical
content.
 Integrated curriculum can also be the integration of English
Language Learning skills into the teaching of the technical
content.
 Contextualized curriculum involves the teaching of reading,
writing and math against a backdrop of specific subject
matter to which such skills must be applied.
WA I-BEST MODEL
Integrated Basic Education
Skills and Technology
 A collaborative model in which basic skills and CTE faculty
jointly teach, develop plans to achieve integrated program
outcomes, jointly plan curricula, and jointly assess students’
learning and skill development.
 I-BEST challenges traditional notions that students must
complete all levels of Adult Basic Education or ESL before they
can advance in workforce education training programs.
 Students earn college-level credits that are part of a career
pathway while at the same time as mastering critical basic skills
identified by employers.
RESEARCH
PROVEN SUCCESS
I-BEST students were more likely than others to:
 Make point gains on the NRS
• 62% of I-BEST made point gains on the CASAS vs 45% of non IBEST learners
 Continue into credit-bearing coursework
• I-BEST students were 90% likely to earn at least on college credit:
non I-BEST were 67%
 Earn a CTE certificate
• Chances of earning a CTE certificate was 55% for I-BEST and 15%
for non I-BEST
Educational Outcomes of I-BEST Washington State Community and Technical College System’s Integrated Basic
Education and Skills Training Program: Findings from a Multivariate Analysis ; Davis Jenkins, Matthew Zeidenberg
and Gregory Kienzl, 2009
OTHER IMPORTANT COMPONENTS
OF THE I-BEST MODEL
 Partnerships with local community-based
organizations and other agencies to provide
economic and social support services
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Childcare
Housing
Transportation
Emergency Funds
 Comprehensive Student Support Services
 Navigation and Career Advising
 Academic Advising
 Financial aid advising
PATH FORWARD
 Step 1: highlight innovative work that is going on
through the two learning lab site visits
 Step 2: support the teams who are committed to
working together in their own community
 Peer learning among the teams
 Technical assistance
PATH FORWARD
 Step 3: spread the word through Peer Learning at the
NCWE Conference and through supporting the
Community College Consortium for Immigrant
Education (CCCIE)
 Step 4: make this initiative so successful that we are
able to solicit additional funds to take this to scale!