bridging workforce development and higher education dr. shelley b. dixon dr. nan l. travers ms. lisa...

Bridging Workforce Development and Higher Education

Dr. Shelley B. DixonDr. Nan L. TraversMs. Lisa Sax

NYATEP-NYSDOLWorkforce NY 2011 Fall Conference

October 18-19, 2011Albany, NY

2Agenda

• Introductions• Overview – SUNY Empire State College• Higher Education Today• Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

– What it means

– Current trends

– Implications from research

• Connecting the Dots for Workforce Development• Q & A

3SUNY Empire State College

• Largest college of arts and sciences in SUNY – 20,000 students

• 35 locations throughout New York and online• Associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees• Advanced graduate certificates• Unique mission within SUNY• 60,000 alumni since 1971

4Higher Education in a

• Economic vitality and higher education are strongly linked.

• Demand for workers with college education will outpace supply by 300,000 per year in U.S.

• Less federal and state support for higher education, more financial burden on individuals.

References: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce; The Lumina Foundation; The Futures Forum: Exploring the Future of Higher Education, Harvard University

Downturned Economy

5

US Department of Education

• College Completion Toolkit (2011) - strategies to help students complete college degrees.

• Included in the report:

Prior Learning Assessment

6Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

• Students articulate their college-level learning and use evidence to document that learning, usually in a portfolio format.

• Faculty and/or Content Experts assess the student’s learning and make college credit recommendations

• The college or university grants college credits based on the assessment

7Historical Developments in PLA

• American Council on Education (ACE):• Military experiences - 1945

• Extra-institutional learning - 1974

• College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB):• College level exams – 1930’s

• College Level Examination Program (CLEP) – 1967

• The Educational Testing Services (ETS) • College entrance exams - 1947

8Historical Developments (cont.)

• Other Standardized college-level exams:• The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support

(DANTES)• Thomas Edison College Examination Program (TECEP)

• The Cooperative Assessment of Experiential Learning (CAEL) -1974 - studied adult learner practices – created 10 principles for Prior Learning Assessment

• Between 1968-1974, 13 postsecondary institutions were developed to address the needs of adult learners, including PLA practices - including

SUNY Empire State College (1971)

9SUNY Empire State College

• Students self-design their own degree plans based on latest industry needs and personal and professional learning goals.

• Liberal transfer policies allow evaluated college-level learning to be applied toward degree.

• Students can be assessed for college-level learning acquired through workplace experiences – Prior Learning Assessment.

10Current Trends in PLA

• Recognized as a valid process by:– U.S. Dept of Education– Accreditation Agencies– Many Ministry of Education in other countries

• US & Canadian Postsecondary Institutions:– Increase in PLA at undergraduate level– Beginning to be offered at graduate level

• Other Countries– Building practice in workforce development– Some postsecondary institutions

11Current Trends in PLA (cont.)

• PLA Services outside of colleges or universities– Learning Counts (CAEL) www.learningcounts.org– KNEXT (Kaplan) www.knext.com

• Development in Research – Prior Learning International Research Center

(http://www.tru.ca/distance/plirc.html) – Prior Learning Assessment Inside Out: An

International Journal on the Theory, Research and Practice in Prior Learning Assessment (www.plaio.org)

12Research on PLA

• The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) study:– >62,000 students at 48 institutions– Compared PLA participants to non-PLA participants

• Results indicated PLA participation:– Increased participation rates– Completion rates (13% vs. 6% at Associate Level; 44%

vs.15% at Bachelor level)– Took more credits at institution

Klein-Collins, R. (2010). “Fuelling the Race to Postsecondary Success: A 48-Institution Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes.” www.cael.org

13Research on PLA (cont.)

• Other studies indicate that PLA participation increases:– Self-awareness and personal development– Problem-solving skills– Study skills– Reflection skills– Tacit knowledge– Self-regulated learning

14Activity – Part 1

Take 5 minutes and jot down everything you know about:

Finding Work for Unemployed Adults

15What is College Level Learning?

• Theory: The application, demonstration and context within which the concepts are formed and function.

• Communication: The ability to engage in and use sources of communication to share a discourse of thoughts, opinions and information.

• Relationship Among Ideas: The ability to shape, engage and interpret ideas to provide analytical and critical perspectives, strategies, abstractions, and synthesis and to explore those ideas through focused questions and discourse.

• Utilization of Ideas: The ability to apply and demonstrate ideas and concepts within experiential contexts.

16College Level Learning (cont.)

• Understanding of Self in Relation to Ideas and Learning: The ability to self-regulate and own one’s learning through reflection, suspension of disbelief, intellectual honesty and goal setting and to use self-regulation to engage the learning process.

• Understanding of Self, Learning and Ideas in a Broader Context of the World: The ability to bring contextual awareness from an expanded viewpoint to the learning with the awareness of and appreciation for the perspectives of others.

• Relationship to the Field and Academe: The learning is related to historical and field relevant perspectives and is consistently viewed as college-level across experts within a field and/or multiple faculty members.

17Activity – Part 2

• Pick a partner

• Take turns (5 minutes each)

• Interview your partner on what he or she knows about “Finding Work for Unemployed Adults.”

18Discussion on Activity

• What did you discover about your own knowledge?

• What did you discover about your partner’s knowledge?

• How did this impact your own knowledge?• How can you determine if any of this knowledge

is college-level?

19Implications for Workforce Development• Elimination of duplication of learning• Ability to reach goals faster• Increased access to education and better understanding of depth and application of knowledge • Recognizable credentials expand employment opportunities

• Larger pool of skilled workers with valid credentials that meet job requirements• Gives value to skills and knowledge acquired through work

• Reduction of costs • Quicker ability to respond to industry needs• Higher program retention and completion rates• Aligns with Individual Development Plans

PLA = a strategy to help adult learners transition toward re-employment

20

Questions?

Thank You!

Dr. Nan Travers Dr. Shelley Dixon Lisa Sax

Tel. 518.587.2100 ext. 2728 Tel. 518.587.2100 ext. 2316 518.587.2100 ext. 2851

Nan.Travers@esc.edu Shelley.Dixon@esc.edu Lisa.Sax@esc.edu