Putting Learning Back into Welfare to Work

National Conference on Family LiteracyApril 30, 2013

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TANF Career Pathway Pilot in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Robert E. Paponetti, Executive Director

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TANF Participation Rates

• Set minimum work participation standards that a state must meet

• Standards are performance measures computed in the aggregate

• Specified percentage of families are engaged in specified activities for a minimum number of hours

• Penalties if standards are not met

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Core Vs. Non-Core Hours• Participant must be engaged in approved

activities at least 30 hours per week• Core hours must be met or non-core hours do

not count for the time period• Core activities include unsubsidized or

subsidized employment, OJT, Job Search/Job Readiness, WEP, Community Service, Vocational Education

• Non-Core activities include education and job skills training directly related to employment and GED preparation

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Cuyahoga County Challenge

• Most requested core activity is vocational training, yet almost two-thirds of candidates do not meet minimum math and reading level

• Most candidates not meeting minimum levels are sent to a WEP assignment with option to complete basic skills on their own

• Basic skills is non-core activity and must be scheduled around core activity to ensure compliance

• Most candidates do not pursue basic skills, become disinterested in WEP, drop out, resulting in failed participation rates

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Opportunity

• Vocational Education is defined as organized education programs that are directly related to the preparation of individuals for employment in current or emerging occupations requiring training.

• Basic Skills Education may be counted as long as it is a necessary and regular part of the vocational educational training.

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Proposed Pilot

• American Red Cross State-Tested Nurse Assistant Training Program linked with an ABLE Program

• Currently STNA is 130 hours, 30 hours per week, 8th grade reading and math minimum requirement

• Increase to 250 hours, 30 hours per week, 6th grade reading and math minimum requirement

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Summary

• Research participation rates• Contact state office as well as local

TANF and WIA offices• Approved training program may be a

better approach than a pilot• Do not let time go by – keep

communication lines open

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Contact Information

Robert E. Paponetti Executive Director

The Literacy Cooperative1331 Euclid Avenue

Cleveland, OH 44115216-776-6181

rpaponetti@literacycooperative.orgwww.literacycooperative.org

Paul Burke, DirectorOffice of Adult & Career Education Services

Youth Development & Family ServicesRochester City School District

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For more information on the Family C.A.R.E.E.R.S program please contact:

Paul BurkeDirector

Office of Adult & Career Education ServicesRochester City School District

30 Hart StreetRochester, New York 14605

(585) 262-8072paul.burke@rcsdk12.org

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Learning Gains for TANF Clients, or How to Manage

Misaligned Policies

Dr. Judith RényiExecutive Director

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The Problem: Misaligned Policies

TANF Goal: employment within 90 days, and a defined list of work preparation activities that does not include learning; Funder’s Goal: measurable learning gainsClient Goal: comply with TANF rules on how they spend their time to get their moneyTeaching Goal: show educational gains

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Time is the enemy

• The funder targets only clients with no more than 125% of the poverty level and reimburses only for services that show documented learning gains;

• Working with TANF clients simplifies the income level documentation problem, BUT

• TANF clients are extremely short-term learners (fewer than 12 hours); standardized post-tests cannot be used to show learning gains;

• Only those in a special program for pregnant women will stay long enough for a standardized post-test.

• EARN Centers are NOT motivated to hang on to the clients or to refer them to learning.

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Managing the policy arena

• Targeted Skills Assessment satisfies the funder’s need for results on a very short-term basis: Targeted Skills are micro-skills, teachable and observable in the space of a single lesson.

• Multilevel Literacy classes in the EARN Centers

• Focused teaching and assessments18

Foundation Skills Wheel

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Foundation Skills Framework

Workforce Education Research Center Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy, Pennsylvania State University

Six levels of “Reads with Understanding,” including:

W.1.1 Demonstrates word recognition and alphabetization skills

W.1.2 Uses active reading strategies

W.1.3 Reads and interprets signs, symbols, abbreviations, and acronyms

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Foundation Skills Framework• Four levels of “Writes Clearly and Concisely”

• Three levels of “Listens with Understanding”• Four levels of “Speaks Clearly and Concisely”• Five levels of “Applies Mathematical Concepts

and Operations”• Four levels of “Observes Critically”• Five levels of “Uses Technology”And twelve additional, specialized workplace skills categories, each with numerous levels.

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Foundation Skills Resources

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/resources___documents/9086/workforce_education_resources/523341

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Pre-test and Post-test EACH lesson

• Learners are TABE assessed prior to entry in class

• Learners attend multilevel classes, but are doing individualized learning plans in each class

• Learners are pre- and post-tested at each lesson

• Data collected on student achievement of targeted skills

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Pilot DemographicsAugust – October, 2012

• N=125• Income of all participants 125% of

poverty line• 88% female and 12% male• Ages from 17 to 71• 14% ESL and 86% non-ESL

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Using data to evaluate the effectiveness of the model

• Learner feedback • Comparing pre- and post-tests as a

measure of learning • Weekly spreadsheets • Collecting data on types of learning

gains based on Targeted Skills Assessment, attendance, and number of learning gains

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Math28%

Reading25%

Writing31%

Communication10%

Specialty6%

Skills Gains Attained in Pi-lot

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Math Reading Writing Communication0

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40

60

80

100

120

140

160

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Percentage of gains for each skill

Gains

Num

ber o

f ski

lls

85%

55%

80%

94%

69%

Specialty

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W5.1

W5.5

W2.1

W5.4

W1.6

W2.2

W1.1

W2.3

W1.4

W1.5

W2.4

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

87%

85%

83%

81%

80%

75%

54%

52%

50%

46%

37%

Gain Percentage of Most Taught Skills

Gain percentage

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87% of the Learners made at least One Gain

Out of 125 learners:

• 109 achieved at least one gain

• 16 achieved no gains, mostly because they dropped out after doing the pre-test

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Outcomes for the Policy Agenda

• Demonstrated gains for the investment = happy funder

• Demonstrated gains for the learner = something to add to the resume, and better capacity to pass employment tests, gain and retain employment

• Incorporation of state-approved framework in practice = happy state Dept. of Education

• Guide to future practice and curriculum 30

Next Steps

Online 30-course curriculum with: • built-in, industry-relevant activities and

assessments at all levels from low intermediate through 10th-grade math. Each activity in each course will be industry-cluster based for a minimum of three cluster in the highest growth industries in Philadelphia.

• framed by the NRS levels, with a cross-walk to • the Common Core of Learning, and • the PA workforce literacy framework.

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Questions?

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