This brief summarizes findings from implementation, impact, and cost-benefit evaluations of Accelerating Opportunity (AO). AO is a career pathways initiative launched in 2011 that aims to help adults with low basic skills earn valued occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. AO was one of the first efforts…

This report presents the findings of the cost-benefit analysis of Accelerating Opportunity, an initiative designed to help adults with low basic skills earn industry-recognized credentials in high-growth occupations and succeed in the labor market. It compares the value of the benefits associated with AO--principally labor market benefits--with…

This report presents findings from a survey of students enrolled in Accelerating Opportunity (AO) career pathways in spring 2014. AO provides grants to help community colleges create career pathway programs to enroll students with low basic skills into for-credit career and technical education courses to improve educational and employment…

Launched in 2011, the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative aims to increase the ability of students with low basic skills to earn valued occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. AO encourages states to change the delivery of adult education for students interested in learning career skills by enrolling…

A startling number of students arrive at the doors of colleges and universities lacking the essential skills and knowledge required to succeed there. If given the proper tools and supports, the great majority of these students would be able to achieve their goals in and outside of the classroom. But most of them are shuttled off to developmental…

Accelerating Opportunity (AO) combined integrated career pathways at two-year colleges with team teaching, acceleration strategies, supportive services, and policy changes. It aimed to help low-skilled adults earn occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. This final implementation report documents activities…

The second annual implementation report for the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative in four states finds that: (1) colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs; (2) students were satisfied with AO; (3) AO instructors grew more adept at team teaching; (4) colleges struggled to recruit adult education students; (5) states and…

How much does college matter for getting ahead in America? Having a postsecondary education--broadly defined as a credential beyond a high school diploma--continues to be one of the most important factors in getting a good job and advancing in the workforce. By one estimate, 64 percent of jobs in 2018 will require more than a high school diploma,…

Kentucky employers (249 of 800 surveyed) identified adaptability, teamwork, communication, and problem solving as entry-level and advancement skills. Over 50 percent did no preemployment testing. Responses indicated areas needing change: training focused on workplace basics, accessible training delivery, and preemployment assessment services. (SK)

This report presents the results of a 1977 statewide survey designed to determine whether Kentucky's public school teachers feel they are adequately prepared to teach the basic skills and whether they feel adequate time is available to teach the basic skills. Data were gathered through questionnaires distributed to a random stratified sample of…

Basic skill performance levels of third-, fifth-, seventh-, and tenth-grade students attending schools in the Appalachian School Districts of Kentucky are reported and discussed. School district scores on the reading, language and mathematics subtests of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills clearly show that children in most Appalachian school…

The sustained effects studies of Title I programs in 130 school systems in Kentucky were analyzed. The purpose of the review was to examine the types of questions asked, the results of the studies, and the ways in which results were interpreted and utilized. There were 109 summer effects studies. These showed that overall, the gains of Title I…

A study examined relationships among per capita personal income (and by inference, socioeconomic status) of various area development districts of Kentucky and student performance on basic skills tests. The students tested were admitted to the teacher education program at Eastern Kentucky University in 1983-84. The hypothesis tested was: There is…

To provide a reliable correlation of how the "basics" are strengthened by implementing career education units, concepts, and/or skills into existing curricula, the Career Education Project of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative studied the achievement of career education and non-career education students in reading, mathematics,…

In order to analyze the effectiveness of school districts in Kentucky, a study looked at basic skill test scores in reading and language at two grade levels, 3rd and 10th. In order to take into account student differences between school districts, the percentage of students in the "below average" range on the Short Form Test of Academic…