Anyone in adult literacy and education knows that there is a huge focus right now on workforce development. As employers report being unable to fill openings with skilled workers, the federal government, through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act, has made it a priority to fund programs that provide job readiness training.
Adult education programs are going all in to support workforce initiatives, but many Integrated Education and Training (IET) and career pathways service models in use are designed for high school equivalency-level learners. For programs that serve students not yet at that level, finding resources and support to tailor a career pathways service model for low-level learners can be difficult.
“As we become more and more focused on career pathways and Integrated Education and Training, there is a real danger of leaving behind the students who need us the most: the lower level, struggling learner,” said Jeffrey A. Fantine, Ph.D., national adult education consultant and professional development specialist.
“As we become more and more focused on career pathways and Integrated Education and Training, there is a real danger of leaving behind the students who need us the most: the lower level, struggling learner.”
To address this need, Fantine has created the Career Pathways Assessment and Planning System, a tool educators can use to ensure career pathways services are accessible to every learner. He will present his methodology during a two-part, four-hour professional learning opportunity that we are presenting February 1 and 8.
During the first part of the course, Fantine will cover how community-based programs can assess their current career pathways service model, identify what is missing or what can be improved, and develop a plan to build a more comprehensive model specific to their needs. Fantine will follow up in the second part teaching participants how to take the career pathways services they developed and deliver it to their lower-level learners.
“If we want our services to continue to be accessible to low-level learners, we must implement career pathways service delivery models that will allow them to participate,” Fantine said. “This is what I plan to emphasize, and I not only say it, but I also show participants how to do it.”
The course costs $95 to attend and participants will receive a collection of ProLiteracy New Readers Press WorkWise and Career Power books, worth $185, as well as strategies from Fantine on how to use these materials to support contextualized instruction. In addition, participants who complete both parts of the course will earn four continuing education units (CEUs).
Reserve your spot
Space is limited. Don’t miss this important training.
Part 1: Creating a Comprehensive Career Pathways Model
February 1, 2024, 1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. ET
Part 2: Providing Career-Contextualized Instruction to Low-Level Learners
February 8, 2024, 1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. ET
Career Power is a new series designed to bridge low-level learners to IET programs using contextualized lessons to teach the interpersonal and academic skills needed in the workplace.