State strategies to facilitate adult learners' transitions to postsecondary opportunities

Prior research has classified strategies to facilitate adult learners' transitions to postsecondary opportunities into five broad categories: advising, General Educational Development-plus (GED-plus), English as a second language, career pathways, and college preparatory (Zafft, Kallenbach, & Spohn, 2006). This two-part study relied on interviews with directors of state- and local-level adult education programs and existing data sources to explore how states facilitate adult learners' transition to postsecondary education. One part of the study used data from interviews conducted in 2014 with adult education directors in six Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest Region states. The study found that states use different combinations of strategies within and across these five categories to facilitate transition. The second part of the study used data from the National Reporting System for Adult Education Programs and found large variation across states in adult learners' postsecondary participation. Part of this variation may reflect inconsistencies in reporting across states. This report suggests areas for future research that can build on the findings described here. [This report was written in collaboration with the Midwest College and Career Success Research Alliance.]