El Centro College Houston Community College System  


 

Program Design

 

Introduction

The Adult Education Transitions to College level Technical Programs project offered GED students that had passed three or more parts of the GED test or scored at the 10th grade level on the TABE test the opportunity to attend an introductory course in computers or health careers at no cost to the students. The courses were offered as continuing education courses. Courses are 32 hours in length, and the class size is limited to ten students. After students complete the introductory course, obtain their GED, and enroll in their chosen program at the college, the respective college’s staff will assist them in obtaining 2 credit hours for the course. While attending the course, students learn successful study skills, receive information about a variety of careers and receive assistance in applying for financial aid.

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Terminology

Adult Basic Education (ABE) - Pre-college courses such as general educational development (GED), English- as- a second language (ESL) or other developmental course work.

General Educational Development (GED) - Tests measure the outcome of a high school education. The GED Tests consist of five tests, one in each of these subjects: Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Writing Skills, and Interpreting Literature and the Arts.

Tech Prep - is a comprehensive and articulated program that offers students the opportunity to study in a career program in high school and either gain credit or experience which will assist students in their transition to higher education.

Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) - Assessment instruments used to measure the basic academic skills of adult students in career, technical, and adult education programs. These assessment instruments measure skills in reading, language, mathematics and spelling.

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Program Development

The design of the program should reflect the needs of the local community. Input from the local school district, college, one stop centers, state agencies and other interested community organizations should determine the design of the project. Develop and meet with an Advisory and Focus Group to include GED instructors, technical program faculty, and community organization personnel, to plan, develop, evaluate, and disseminate the project’s results. Potential students should be surveyed to determine the best time and days to hold the classes to encourage retention. Revise the course curriculum to include life skills training to prepare the student for the college environment. Introduce students to representatives from the college’s student services such as Admissions, Financial Aid, Counseling/Advisement, Learning Center, and Student Support Center.

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Goals, Objectives/Activities and Timelines

The project was funded with the goal of developing a pipeline to success for ABE students to obtain a community college technical certificate or associate degree using the Tech Prep model. Goals, Objectives/Activities were given timelines so that we could measure the status and success of the project.
Following is an example of the timeline for goals, objectives/activities:

Goal: 1.. Develop and pilot a marketing strategy for high-demand technical programs that focuses on identifying and enrolling Adult Basic Education students in entry-level technical courses.
Objectives/Activities
Timeline Planned
1.1. Develop and meet with Advisory Group, including ABE educators, technical program faculty, partner institution personnel and employers, to plan, develop, and evaluate program and disseminate results.
9/1/2003 - 8/31/2004
1.2. Develop a marketing plan and accompanying materials focusing on recruitment of ABE students for technical courses.
9/1/2003 - 10/15/2003

Goal: 2.. Design the program using the Tech Prep model to motivate and support Adult Basic Education students to continue in and complete technical programs.
Objectives/Activities
Timeline Planned
2.1. Recruit and enroll students in the program.
10/15/2003 - 12/15/2003
2.2. Review and revise curriculum as needed
10/15/2003 - 11/15/2003
2.3. Hire instructors.
11/1/2003 - 11/30/2003
2.4. Begin classes.
1/15/2003 - 1/15/2003
2.5. Evaluate classes.
5/15/2004 - 6/15/2004

Goal: 3.. Develop, pilot, and electronically disseminate best practices in establishing partnerships between ABE programs and technical programs to increase completion rates of special populations students in technical programs.
Objectives/Activities
Timeline Planned
3.1. Develop and update project website including information on best practices in recruiting ABE students into technical courses, and awarding credit for transition courses.
12/1/2003 - 8/31/2004
3.2. Develop and make presentations using a panel focus group to disseminate program outcomes. (Attend TACHTE and TACHE Conferences in Spring and Summer 2004.)
2/1/2004 - 8/31/2004

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Measures of Success

  • To compare the total number and percentage of GED students who enroll in the technical education companion courses to local and statewide averages of college- bound students.
  • To assess the number and percentage of GED students that complete the technical “companion” course and eventually go on to enroll into the College's technical programs with the state average of college bound students.

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