Moving Beyond the GED: Low-Skilled Adult Transition to Occupational Pathways at Community Colleges Leading to Family-Supporting Careers – Research Synthesis

Publication October 2007

This review of research is part of a larger project which identified exemplary community college programs that employ innovative curriculum and instructional practices in order to help low-skilled adults attain a family sustainable wage. The project goal was to identify best practices that are replicable at other community colleges. These programs and models combine Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Educational Diploma (GED), and sometimes English as a Second Language (ESL) programs with the opportunity to attain postsecondary credentials leading to gainful employment at a family sustainable wage. The project involved three universities and was part the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education funded by the Office of Adult and Vocational Education, U.S. Department of Education. This review of the research was a first step in that project and summarizes what is currently known about low-skilled adults and programs for them.

Park, R. J., Ernst, S. E., & Kim, E. (2007, October). Moving beyond the GED: Low-skilled adult transition to occupational pathways at community colleges leading to family-supporting careers. St. Paul, MN: National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, University of Minnesota.

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