Resources

This online tool kit provides state and local program administrators with information regarding the key components of work-based learning (WBL), an instructional strategy that enhances classroom learning by connecting it to the workplace. It offers guidelines and resources related to creating a state WBL strategy, engaging employers, collecting data, and scaling effective programs. 

Across the US, millions of workers with limited reading, math, or digital problem-solving skills hold jobs across the service sector. This report offers a fresh analysis of rigorous data, painting a picture of the approximately 20 million American workers employed in key service-sector industries who lack foundational skills. It highlights promising practices and interventions used by U.S. employers to help their workers to upskill, and details key policy levers that can foster economic mobility for these workers. 

This report is based on a first-of-its-kind study of the progress and outcomes of low-skill adults in community colleges. Key findings: (1) Attending college for at least a year and earning a credential provides a substantial boost in earnings for adults who begin with a high school diploma or less.  (2) Short-term training, such as that often provided to welfare recipients, may help individuals get into the labor market, but it does not seem to help them advance beyond low-paying jobs.  (3) Neither adult basic skills education by itself nor a limited number of college-level courses provides much benefit in terms of earnings.

Minnesota State (our community and technical college system) outlines its policies for undergraduate admissions, including Ability to Benefit and eligible career pathway programs. 

This article outlines the clear connections between The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) and The Adult Education & Family Literacy Act (WIOA Title II), providing succinct guidance about Perkins V, important issues to consider, questions to ask your Perkins V partners, tips from the field, and a helpful list of additional resources.  The implication is that efforts must be aligned between the career and technical education and adult education systems to provide on-ramps to postsecondary education and training for adult education populations; these pathways should be written into the Perkins V State Plans. 

Ability to Benefit (ATB) allows a student without a high school diploma or equivalency to receive Title IV student federal financial aid to pay for postsecondary education and training if they are enrolled in a Title IV eligible career pathway program that includes a contextualized adult education component and navigation support.  This two-page issue brief provides succinct guidance about ATB in career pathway programming, tips from the field, and a helpful list of additional resources.

This guide identifies action steps that learners can take to achieve their college and career goals. The knowledge and skills outlined in it are specific and teachable.  The guide is divided into three sections: college readiness; career readiness; and the intersection of college and career readiness. Simple concept maps and readiness charts help navigators understand the skills and knowledge students need to attain in each area and help them communicate with students about the ways in which career and college planning should be jointly addressed.

Note that the Minnesota Food Code was updated on January 1, 2019.  Some of the curriculum in the ATLAS curriculum resource library may pre-date this updated Code.  Check the major changes to ensure that students are learning current information. For example, the term Certified Food Manager has been changed to Certified Food Protection Manager. 

There is much to understand about a career as a language interpreter if an ABE program and partners want to build a career pathway in this area.  This document is a compilation of information about certification, training programs in Minnesota, employment opportunities, potential ABE roles, and critical issues to consider.

A useful one-page list of key resources that can be used in a one-room schoolhouse setting to assist students preparing for the driver’s license written exam.  Includes the official MN Driver’s License Manual, several study sites and practice tests.

Minnesota's ACP Program Development Cohort provides ABE managers with a facilitated, supported, year-long cohort as they work to create or strengthen a career pathway program in collaboration with WIOA partners in their localities. Key features include an experiential learning approach, a mix of face-to-face and online interaction and presentation, peer partners, coaching calls, goal-setting, and local action steps.