July 31, 2024
Contact: Melissa Villarin
Office: 916-327-5365
Office E-mail: MVillarin@CCCCO.edu
Convergence Model of Promising Practices’ Advances Student Outcomes to Attain New Skills and Earn Living Wages
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Community Colleges and the California Department of Education today released a new report that offers specific practices to better meet adult students’ needs and close persistent equity achievement gaps. The California Adult Education Program (CAEP) is the largest adult education system in the nation serving 481,200 students.
Twelve local adult education sites (six adult schools delivered by K-12 education systems and six community colleges) from more than 400 sites were selected for this research study, Closing the Equity Gap for Adult Learners in California:7 Promising Practices to Advance Student Outcomes. The study captured why and how student performance and employment outcomes at these 12 sites, especially for students of color, far exceeded state average metrics.
“There are nearly seven million Californian adults who do not yet have a credential, and in today’s competitive job market, new or advanced skills are a must to earn a living wage,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian. “As an equity focused workforce training system, this report provides a roadmap for how all adult education programs can best serve many of California’s hardest to reach residents.”
The report’s findings align with the California Community Colleges’ Vision 2030 framework’s three goals of equity in success, equity in access and equity in support. By ensuring students, both current and future, have access to data driven practices improves their overall social and economic mobility opportunities.
According to the study, in California just over 30% of adult education students earn a living wage. Yet within the 13 Adult Education Regional Consortia where student demographics mirror the state’s racial-ethnic diversity, this statistic rises to an average of 40%, reaching up to 60% for one regional consortium. Moreover, California’s statewide average for adult education students indicates that 10% of CAEP students earn a postsecondary non-degree Career Technical Education (CTE) certificate and another 8% complete a postsecondary credential. By contrast, the average CTE and postsecondary completion rates are 18% and 9%, respectively, for the adult learners within the CAEP programs assessed in this study that serve African American, Hispanic and/or Asian students.
The seven converging promising practices, when integrated, can increase the number of CAEP students, especially students of color, succeeding in education and career, include:
- A Student Concierge Approach
- Intentional and Structured Regional Partnerships
- Workforce-Forward Responsive Leaders
- Data-Informed Decision Marking Beyond Compliance for Continuous Improvement
- Strategic Resource Allocation
- Practices that Empower Students
- Integrated Student Support Services
The 12 systems reviewed in the study included, ABC Adult School, Cerritos College, College of the Sequoias, Compton College, El Camino College, Feather River College, Paramount Adult School, Plumas Unified School District, San Diego College of Continuing Education, Sweetwater Union High School District, Torrance Unified School District and Visalia Unified School District.
According to the report’s conclusion, while not every local program has demonstrated deep implementation of all seven promising practices, there is merit in considering how all CAEP sites in California and across the country could connect a comprehensive set of strategies to improve the lives of adult learners.
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 116 colleges serving 1.9 million students per year. California community colleges provide career education and workforce training; guaranteed transfer to four-year universities; and degree and certificate pathways. As the state’s engine for social and economic mobility, the California Community Colleges supports the Vision 2030, a strategic plan designed to improve student success, our communities and our planet. For more information, please visit the California Community Colleges website or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
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