Building Career Pathways for Adult Learners: An Evaluation of Progress in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin After Eight Years of Shifting Gears

Education and Literacy;Employment and Labor

Building Career Pathways for Adult Learners: An Evaluation of Progress in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin After Eight Years of Shifting Gears

The Joyce Foundation's Shifting Gears initiative was launched in 2007 as a state policy change effort in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The goal was to strengthen adult basic education, workforce, and community and technical college systems so that more low-skilled workers gain the education, skills and credentials needed to advance and succeed in our changing economy.

The Joyce Foundation extended Shifting Gears funding from 2012 -- 2014 (referred to as SG 3.0) in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This report reached five primary findings:

  • Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin doubled the total number of their bridge programs from 79 to 196 between SG 2.0 to SG 3.0.
  • Each state effectively institutionalized its adult education bridge program as an ongoing option to address the educational and skill needs of low-skilled adult learners.
  • In two of the three states (Minnesota and Wisconsin), important policy changes expanded financial resources available for adult education bridges, and created the foundation for further advancing adult education bridges.
  • Scale was not achieved during this period in terms of serving many or most of the low-skilled adults who might benefit from bridge programs.
  • The work of Shifting Gears positively influenced the national discourse on workforce development.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Midwestern) / Illinois;North America / United States (Midwestern) / Minnesota;North America / United States (Midwestern) / Wisconsin

From Large Urban to Small Rural Schools: An Empirical Study of National Board Certification and Teaching Effectiveness Final Report

Education and Literacy

From Large Urban to Small Rural Schools: An Empirical Study of National Board Certification and Teaching Effectiveness Final Report

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is a professional organization that provides national certification to teachers who apply for and meet the Board's standards of performance for "accomplished" educators. This study responds to a request from the NBPTS to analyze National Board certification among high school teachers in understudied subject areas and locales to help fill gaps in the research literature.

The research team selected two new locales for this analysis, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Chicago public schools. Chicago, a racially and ethnically diverse city with a population of more than 2.8 million, has one of the largest urban school districts in the country. Kentucky, by contrast, is a largely rural state with some suburban and urban areas, including the Louisville/Jefferson County metro area, population 750,000. Together, these two locales encompass a full range of public school settings.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Southern)-Kentucky;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Illinois-Cook County-Chicago

Growing Together, Learning Together: What Cities Have Discovered About Building Afterschool Systems

Education and Literacy

Growing Together, Learning Together: What Cities Have Discovered About Building Afterschool Systems

In 2003, The Wallace Foundation began an initiative that eventually included five cities -- Boston, Chicago, New York City, Providence and Washington, D.C. -- to help them develop afterschool systems. At the time, a few cities and organizations were pioneering this approach (L.A.'s Best in Los Angeles, The After-School Corporation in New York, After School Matters in Chicago), but it was still a novelty. Five years later, Wallace examines lessons learned from this initiative, which posited two central premises:

  1. Children and teens can gain learning and developmental benefits by frequent participation in high-quality afterschool programs.
  2. A coordinated approach can increase access to, and improve the quality of, afterschool programs.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Northeastern)-Rhode Island-Providence County-Providence;North America-United States (Northeastern)-New York-New York County-New York City;North America-United States (Northeastern)-Massachusetts-Suffolk County-Boston;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Illinois-Chicago Metropolitan Area;North America-United States (DC Metropolitan Area)

Lessons From the Local Level: DACA's Implementation and Impact on Education and Training Success

Education and Literacy;Immigration

Lessons From the Local Level: DACA's Implementation and Impact on Education and Training Success

This report examines the ways in which local educational institutions, legal service providers, and immigrant youth advocates have responded to the first phase of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Based on extensive interviews with stakeholders in seven states -- California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Texas -- the report identifies initiatives undertaken by educational institutions and other community stakeholders to support DACA youth's education and training success, and examine the impact of deferred action on grantees' academic and career pursuits. It provides examples of promising practices, additional challenges, and key takeaways at the high school, postsecondary, and adult education levels, as well as an exploration of the nature and scope of DACA legal outreach initiatives.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Midwestern) / Illinois;North America / United States (Northeastern) / New York;North America / United States (Southern) / Florida;North America / United States (Southern) / Georgia;North America / United States (Southern) / Maryland;North America / United States (Southwestern) / Texas;North America / United States (Western) / California

School Leadership In Chicago: A Baseline Report

Education and Literacy

School Leadership In Chicago: A Baseline Report

Leadership matters. And it matters a lot in Chicago's schools. At The Chicago Public Education Fund's 15th Anniversary, for the first time, we publicly released the data that is guiding our strategy. Data from surveys and focus groups of district, charter and turnaround principals citywide. This data reflects our best understanding of why principals succeed, why they stay or leave, and how we can all do a better job enabling their success and retention in the schools that need them most.

If our Baseline Report tells us one thing, it is this: Great principals want to stay. But they need our support, our trust and our investment every day to make the impossible doable and to continue doing right by the nearly 400,000 students they serve citywide.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Illinois-Chicago Metropolitan Area

The Retention of Chicago's Arts Students in Comparative Perspective

Arts and Culture;Education and Literacy

The Retention of Chicago's Arts Students in Comparative Perspective

Highlights:

* 58 percent of Chicago arts-school alumni took up residence in the city within 5 years of the date of their last attendance. Of the regions compared in this report, only New York City has a greater portion of its arts-school alumni taking up residence in the city within 5 years, at 66 percent.

* 51 percent of Chicago arts-school alumni were out-of-state applicants who came to Chicago and were still living in the city within five years of their last date of attendance. This is the second highest portion of out-of-state applicants taking up residence in the city of their alma mater. New York City's rate was highest at 54 percent.

* Of arts-school alumni who searched for work, 38 percent of those attending school in Chicago obtained work prior to leaving their institution; 85 percent obtained work within a year. Alumni from other regions had similar experiences.

*50 percent of Chicago's alumni reported that their first job or work experience was "closely related" to their arts-school training. However, alumni from institutions in Los Angeles County, Cleveland/Columbus and New York City reported higher rates of their first work experience being closely related to their arts training.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Midwestern) / Illinois / Chicago Metropolitan Area;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Massachusetts / Suffolk County / Boston;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Massachusetts / Middlesex County / Cambridge;North America / United States (Western) / California / Los Angeles County;North America / United States (Western) / California (San Francisco Bay Area);North America / United States (Midwestern) / Ohio / Cuyahoga County / Cleveland;North America / United States (Midwestern) / Ohio / Franklin County / Columbus;North America / United States (Northeastern) / New York / New York County / New York City

Teaching Artists Research Project

Arts and Culture;Education and Literacy

Teaching Artists Research Project

There have been remarkable advances in arts education, both in and out of schools, over the last fifteen years, despite a difficult policy environment. Teaching artists, the hybrid professionals that link the arts to education and community life, are the creative resource behind much of this innovation. Their best efforts are redefining the roles the arts play in public education. Their work is central to arts organizations' strategies for civic engagement and diverse audiences. Excellent research has shown that arts education is instrumental to the social, emotional, and cognitive development of thousands of young people. But little is known about teaching artists. The Teaching Artists Research Project (TARP) deepens our understanding of world of teaching artists through studies in twelve communities, and it will inform policy designed to make their work sustainable, more effective, and more meaningful.

A dozen study sites were selected where funding was available to support exploration of the local conditions and dynamics in arts education: Boston, Seattle, Providence, and eight California communities (San Francisco/Alameda County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Salinas, and Humboldt County). A thorough literature review was conducted, and NORC conducted stakeholder meetings and focus groups, identified key issues and began designing a multi-methods study that would include surveys for both artists and program managers as well as in-depth interviews of stakeholders -- teaching artists, program managers, school officials, classroom teachers and arts specialists, principals, funders, and arts educators in a wide variety of venues.

There are no professional associations and no accreditation for teaching artists, so a great deal of time was spent building a sample of teaching artists and program managers in every study site. The survey instrument was developed and tested, and then fielded on-line in the study sites sequentially, beginning in Chicago, and ending with the southern California sites. To assure a reliable response rate, online surveys were supplemented by a telephone survey. Lists of potential key informants were accumulated for each site, and interviewers were recruited, hired, and trained in each site. Most of the interviewers were teaching artists themselves, and many had significant field knowledge and familiarity with the landscape of arts education in their community. The surveys collected data on some fundamental questions:

  • Who are teaching artists?
  • Where do they work? Under what terms and conditions?
  • What sort of education have they had?
  • How are they hired and what qualifications do employers look for?
  • How much do they make?
  • How much experience do they have?
  • What drew them to the field? What pushes them out?
  • What are their goals?

Qualitative interviews with a subsample of survey respondents and key informants delved deeply into the dynamics and policies that drive arts education, the curricula and pedagogy teaching artists bring to the work, and personal histories of some artists. The interviews gathered more detailed information on the local character of teaching artist communities, in-depth descriptions and narratives of teaching artists' experiences, and followed up on items or issues that arose in preliminary analysis of the quantitative survey data. These conversations illuminated the work teaching artists believe is their best and identified the kinds of structural and organizational supports that enable work at the highest level. The interview process explored key areas with the artists, such as how to best develop their capacities, understand the dynamics between their artistic and educational practice, and how to keep them engaged in the field. Another critical topic explored during these conversations was how higher education can make a more meaningful and strategic contribution toward preparing young artists to work in the field.

The TARP report includes serious reflection on the conditions and policies that have affected arts education in schools, particularly over the last thirty years, a period of intense school reform efforts and consistent erosion of arts education for students. The report includes new and important qualitative data about teaching artists, documenting their educational background, economic status, the conditions in which they work, and their goals as artists and educators. It also includes new insights about how learning in the arts is associated with learning in general, illuminating findings from other studies that have suggested a powerful connection between arts education and positive outcomes for students in a wide range of domains.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Midwestern) / Illinois / Cook County / Chicago;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Massachusetts / Suffolk County / Boston;North America / United States (Western) / California;North America / United States (Western) / Washington / King County / Seattle;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Rhode Island / Providence County / Providence

Teaching Artists Research Project

Arts and Culture;Education and Literacy

Teaching Artists Research Project

There have been remarkable advances in arts education, both in and out of schools, over the last fifteen years, despite a difficult policy environment. Teaching artists, the hybrid professionals that link the arts to education and community life, are the creative resource behind much of this innovation. Their best efforts are redefining the roles the arts play in public education. Their work is central to arts organizations' strategies for civic engagement and diverse audiences. Excellent research has shown that arts education is instrumental to the social, emotional, and cognitive development of thousands of young people. But little is known about teaching artists. The Teaching Artists Research Project (TARP) deepens our understanding of world of teaching artists through studies in twelve communities, and it will inform policy designed to make their work sustainable, more effective, and more meaningful.

A dozen study sites were selected where funding was available to support exploration of the local conditions and dynamics in arts education: Boston, Seattle, Providence, and eight California communities (San Francisco/Alameda County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, San Bernardino, Santa Cruz, Salinas, and Humboldt County). A thorough literature review was conducted, and NORC conducted stakeholder meetings and focus groups, identified key issues and began designing a multi-methods study that would include surveys for both artists and program managers as well as in-depth interviews of stakeholders -- teaching artists, program managers, school officials, classroom teachers and arts specialists, principals, funders, and arts educators in a wide variety of venues.

There are no professional associations and no accreditation for teaching artists, so a great deal of time was spent building a sample of teaching artists and program managers in every study site. The survey instrument was developed and tested, and then fielded on-line in the study sites sequentially, beginning in Chicago, and ending with the southern California sites. To assure a reliable response rate, online surveys were supplemented by a telephone survey. Lists of potential key informants were accumulated for each site, and interviewers were recruited, hired, and trained in each site. Most of the interviewers were teaching artists themselves, and many had significant field knowledge and familiarity with the landscape of arts education in their community. The surveys collected data on some fundamental questions:

  • Who are teaching artists?
  • Where do they work? Under what terms and conditions?
  • What sort of education have they had?
  • How are they hired and what qualifications do employers look for?
  • How much do they make?
  • How much experience do they have?
  • What drew them to the field? What pushes them out?
  • What are their goals?

Qualitative interviews with a subsample of survey respondents and key informants delved deeply into the dynamics and policies that drive arts education, the curricula and pedagogy teaching artists bring to the work, and personal histories of some artists. The interviews gathered more detailed information on the local character of teaching artist communities, in-depth descriptions and narratives of teaching artists' experiences, and followed up on items or issues that arose in preliminary analysis of the quantitative survey data. These conversations illuminated the work teaching artists believe is their best and identified the kinds of structural and organizational supports that enable work at the highest level. The interview process explored key areas with the artists, such as how to best develop their capacities, understand the dynamics between their artistic and educational practice, and how to keep them engaged in the field. Another critical topic explored during these conversations was how higher education can make a more meaningful and strategic contribution toward preparing young artists to work in the field.

The TARP report includes serious reflection on the conditions and policies that have affected arts education in schools, particularly over the last thirty years, a period of intense school reform efforts and consistent erosion of arts education for students. The report includes new and important qualitative data about teaching artists, documenting their educational background, economic status, the conditions in which they work, and their goals as artists and educators. It also includes new insights about how learning in the arts is associated with learning in general, illuminating findings from other studies that have suggested a powerful connection between arts education and positive outcomes for students in a wide range of domains.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Midwestern) / Illinois / Cook County / Chicago;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Massachusetts / Suffolk County / Boston;North America / United States (Western) / California;North America / United States (Western) / Washington / King County / Seattle;North America / United States (Northeastern) / Rhode Island / Providence County / Providence

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