Increasing Academic Achievement: SkillsCommons Field Guide of TAACCCT Innovations

Cheryl Martin, Program Manager, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Erin Berg, Community College Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education

Matthew Cloud, Assistant Professor & Department Chair, School of Information Technology, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

Anne Kamps, Dean of Learning Solutions, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Using learning modules based on competencies can help learners get to credential attainment faster and with less expense.  The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program funded the creation and enhancement of Competency-Based Education programs, which measure student achievement based on mastery of competencies as demonstrated through performance-based assessments.  Hear two TAACCCT grantees present resources they developed and strategies that they found effective for enacting CBE programming.

Ivy Tech IT Pathways state level consortium implemented fun and authentic learning and assessment opportunities for students, and that led to job placement!  Through regional and statewide contests tied to other activities of a career fair, conferences and training, faculty, business, and students were engaged to evaluate and change curriculum, leading to direct employment of students.  By the second year, 40 employers were looking to hire thousands of students.

Making The Future: The Wisconsin Strategy consortium of 16 community colleges collaborated to implement a statewide Credit for Prior Learning policy to help recruit and retain students.  Due to the rising cost of higher education and the expansion of non-traditional training programs, Credit for Prior Learning has gained momentum for colleges to use as a recruiting tool to mitigate the overall cost of tuition for students and reduce the time to completion.  Thousands of accredited U.S. colleges now recognize and grant credit for prior learning.

The SkillsCommons Field Guide of TAACCCT Innovations is a compilation of innovations in motion, created under the SkillsCommons leadership team at California State University-MERLOT.  The field guide shares insights and pragmatic applications by state systems and colleges who are bolstering workforce development.

This webinar is part of the Innovations Leading to Career Success Webinar Series and showcases strategies and resources developed by community colleges engaged in career-focused education and training.  The colleges featured throughout the series are grantees of the TAACCCT program, a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education.

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• Posted by: Laura Casertano
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