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The report of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) national evaluation synthesizes implementation findings from the Round 3 third-party evaluations, for which grantees procured third-party evaluators as part of their grant-funded projects. This report focuses on the capacity-building activities the Round 3 grantees implemented to support “systems reform innovations” or “systems changes” within and across institutions to provide education and training to adult learners leading to high-demand jobs. Capacity-building activities that colleges undertook to change their systems could involve developing career pathways, providing supports for adult learners, engaging employers as strategic partners, and collaborating across colleges.

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Research Questions

• What service delivery and/or system reform innovations were implemented to help improve employment outcomes and increased skills for participants?

Key Takeaways

• Embedding collaboration as a core element of an initiative appears to help community colleges’ implement their capacity-building efforts.
• Creating a continuum of support for adult learners, from enrollment to the workforce, can strengthen colleges’ capacity to ensure educational and workforce success.
• Using comprehensive approaches to career pathways—including stacked and latticed credentials, transfer and articulation agreements, instruction redesign, supports for participants, and partnerships—appears to support improved educational outcomes for participants.
• Providing more guidance and assistance can help grantees use various tools to assess their project’s implementation and improve their project throughout the grant period.
• Embedding a formal role for the state education and workforce agencies in the grant project can help colleges develop data sharing agreements and create statewide policies and practices to support adult learners.

Citation

Eyster, L., Briggs, A., Durham, C., Hafford, C., Spievack, N. (2020). Urban Institute. Systems Change in Community Colleges: Lessons from a Synthesis of the Round 3 TAACCCT Third-Party Evaluation Findings. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.