The Adult Tutoring Program within the Literacy Center of West Michigan has been running monthly professional developments (PDs) (known as tutor in-services) for volunteer tutors since early 2021. All in-services fit into at least one of the categories of strategies, life skills, civics, next steps, or digital literacy. The team has been able to…

This paper used data from a multi-institutional study of community colleges developing and implementing degree reclamation strategies (adult reengagement and reverse credit transfer) to understand and unpack the factors that influence implementation and capacity development. The data come from seven colleges that are implementing equity-focused…

In an era of increasing complexity, the majority of local land-use decisions in the United States are made by volunteer citizen planners. Often these elected or appointed volunteers enter their positions with a passion for their communities but without appropriate background training. The Michigan Citizen Planner Program was developed to address…

This mixed methods analysis examined provider perspectives on barriers and facilitators to parent training use with Medicaid-enrolled clients. Provider survey data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression models and thematic analysis was used to analyze follow-up interviews with providers. Qualitative themes were developed inductively…

"Reskilling for the Pandemic Recession and Recovery" focuses on the U.S. economic downturn since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on Black and Hispanic individuals, women, and people without a postsecondary degree. Considering these challenges, the brief details policy proposals for…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest unemployment that the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression, with particularly heavy job losses for Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers. In this set of studies commissioned by Lumina Foundation, the authors examine actions that states and community colleges can take to address the needs of…

Education can have a tremendous impact on how we, as humans, understand and relate to each other and the larger environmental systems to which we belong. In efforts to address the role of education in alleviating and eliminating social suffering and environmental degradation in many of the worlds' diverse communities, the purpose of this critical…

The Michigan Center for Student Success commissioned this study to determine whether strategies employed to improve adult students' success at 41 Breaking Through colleges nationwide have taken root at Michigan's original colleges and spread beyond them. A statewide survey revisited four of the colleges profiled in previous publications, and the…

Higher education institutions are continually seeking to recruit nontraditional adult students yet struggle at the same time to meet their needs effectively. The following case study offers strategies to address this situation by documenting the pedagogical design and initial outcomes of an interdisciplinary, nineteen-month leadership-themed…

Partnerships between community colleges and employers to create apprenticeships have been around for decades. These traditionally have covered fields like the building trades--electrical, construction and others--as well as heavy manufacturing like the automobile industry. Inspired partly by a new federal apprenticeship consortium--and $175…

This replicated study (A. Tucho, 2000, "Factors Influencing the General Educational Development [GED] Program at Community College of Philadelphia as Perceived by the GED Students") determined which of the 3 types of educational barriers (institutional, situational, and dispositional) represented the major difficulty preventing adult…

In February 2009, Macomb Community College held an unusual student "graduation" in a suburban office building. There were 25 "graduates"--all males, many of whom had 10 to 15 years of experience as auto body designers working for original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) and their suppliers in the Detroit metropolitan area. They…

This paper examines a burgeoning network of organizations that is inventing new forms of community renewal and citizenship education. Their names vary--some call themselves public policy institutes, others centers for civic life--yet they share a common methodology, one aimed at tackling tough public issues, strengthening communities, and…

This study describes a program evaluation of a community college adult program for underprepared learners in the eastern lower peninsula of Michigan. The purpose of the program is to make postsecondary education more accessible to those adults who typically would not consider postsecondary education an option. Guided by Cross's adult learning…

The purpose of this qualitative research study is two-fold: (1) to narrate the realities and perspectives of adult students' learning experiences in a General Education Development (GED) preparation program in a Mid-western urban city; and (2) to document the thinking of the former director of adult education at the state level to understand the…