Adult Education & Employment

SCAA has explored the issues of adult education and employment since the 2007 publication of Working to Learn, Learning to Work: Unlocking the Potential of New York’s Adult College Students. Working adults are the cornerstone of the New York State economy. Unfortunately, 2.8 million working-age young adults and adults in the state do not have a high school diploma. The odds of this population going on to postsecondary success are slim if they don’t receive the necessary supports - both financial and emotional.

SCAA’s work on this issue also includes an in-depth look at the GED-to-college track, with the publication of Getting Serious About the GED in 2009. SCAA’s work in this area is primarily funded by the Working Poor Families Project. WPFP is a national initiative focused on state workforce development policies involving: 1) education and skills training for adults; 2) economic development; and 3) income and work supports.

Resources:

Letter on GED funding strategies

June 24, 2010 New York CAN letter sent to Assembly Member Catherine T. Nolan regarding support of certain strategies adopted by the Board of Regents and State Department of Education to address funding challenges of current GED operations.

AN ACTION AGENDA FOR ESOL

A March 2010 report from The Center for an Urban Future, builds on the 2006 joint SCAA report Lost In Translation, a report which found that while immigrants have been fueling the population growth of communities in nearly every corner of New York State, from Suffolk County to Syracuse, the state-run English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program has not come close to keeping pace with demand. Immigrants are playing an increasingly important role in the economic life of New York’s communities, but today’s economy offers few opportunities for obtaining a job, let alone advancing in one, without at least some English proficiency.

Getting Serious About the GED: How New York Can Build a Bridge from High School Dropout to Postsecondary Success

This November 2009 SCAA report answers the following questions: Why are GED pass rates in New York State so poor? Why do GED holders fail to achieve postsecondary success—primarily by not enrolling and succeeding in college? Then, it recommends strategies for increasing both pass rates and successful transition to higher education and training, with the belief that the educational funnel can be widened significantly.

See SCAA's May 19, 2010 testimony before the Assembly Standing Committee on Education regarding the General Educational Development (GED) Test Public Hearing.

Diploma Attainment Among Teen Mothers

New Child Trends research finds that one in three (34 percent) of young women who had been teen mothers did not earn a high school diploma or a GED, compared with only 6 percent of young women who had not had a teen birth.

Governor's Resources Page for Working Families

A one stop shop for services, located on the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance website, has links to information about nutrition programs, tax filing assistance, job placement services, and more.