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Iowa's Adult Literacy Program
Employability Benchmark Report
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
The purpose of this mini-report is to respond to Iowa's Lieutenant Governors request for additional information from the Iowa Department of Education regarding Iowa's adult literacy program employability benchmarks. The initial report titled Iowa's Adult Basic Education Annual Benchmark Report: Executive Summary for Program Year 2001 (July1, 2000-June 30, 2001) reported the attained benchmarks for the two National Reporting System (NRS) employability measures. (i.e. "Entered Employment" and "Retained Employment"; Table 2, p.9) .
The NRS employability measures are designed to report on adult learners, enrolled in Iowa's adult literacy program, who have indicated that their primary or secondary goal was to "Enter Employment" or "Retain Employment". A data matching strategy was initiated to determine the number and percent of those enrollees who actually achieved employability goals. The percent of the program enrollees who did achieve an employability goal was compared to the benchmark levels negotiated with the United States Department of Education: Division of Adult Education and Literacy (USDE: DAEL). The Iowa Benchmark Report (Table 2, p.9) indicated that Iowa obtained a 75% benchmark level (as compared to a negotiated 52% level) on the "Entered Employment" employability benchmark measure. The report also indicated that Iowa achieved a 71% benchmark level (as compared to a negotiated 77% level) on the "Retained Employability" employability benchmark measure.
Iowa's Lieutenant Governor posed two (2) additional research questions regarding those adult learners who achieved the employability measures. The research questions were:
- What percent of those adult learners who achieved an employability goal were considered to be minority population(s);
- What percent of adult learners who were members of a minority population(s) and also indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability achieved their goal.
- What percent of those adult learners who achieved an employability goal were considered to be a member of disabled population(s).
- What percent of adult learners who were members of a disabled population(s) and also indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability achieved their goal.
RESEARCH RESULTS
This section of the report is designed to provide answers to the above referenced research questions. This section is divided into the following subsections: (1) Minority Population(s) Employability Results, and (2) Disabled Population(s) Employability Results.
Minority Population(s) Employability Results
The following findings were designed to answer the research question relating to employability benchmarks for those Iowa adult literacy program enrollees who achieved an employability goal and were considered to be members of minority populations. The research findings are as follows:
- A total of 20,161 adult learners were enrolled in Iowa's adult literacy program during Program Year 2001 of which 6,734 (33.41%) were members of minority populations and 13,427 (66.59%) were members of the majority population. The minority figure of 33.41% program enrollees compares to an overall Iowa minority population of approximately 6% as documented by the 1990 census.
- A total of 928 (74.00%) out of 1,254 adult program enrollees who indicated an employability goal achieved their goal. A total of 240 (25.86%) of the 928 program enrollees who achieved an employability goal were members of minority populations. The 25.85% minority employability goal figure compares to an overall minority enrollment figure of 33.41%.
- The following table displays data which indicates the number of persons by ethnicity who indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability as compared to the number and percent who achieved an employability goal. (i.e. 155 persons of Hispanic origin indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability of which 104 achieved an employability goal. This comparison indicates that 67.10% of persons of Hispanic origin who indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability achieved an employability goal). The percentage range for all ethnicity categories was 46.43-100.00% attainment of an employability goal.
Table 1
ABE Employment by Ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Employment Goal | Obtained
Employment Goal | Percent Obtained
Employment Goal |
|---|
| White | 910 | 688 | 75.60 |
| Hispanic | 155 | 104 | 67.10 |
| Black | 114 | 93 | 81.58 |
| Asian | 28 | 13 | 46.43 |
| Native Haw. or Pac. Islander | 6 | 4 | 66.67 |
| Filipino | 7 | 4 | 57.14 |
| American Indian | 33 | 21 | 63.64 |
| Alaskan Native | 1 | 1 | 100.00 |
| TOTAL | 1,254 | 928 | 74.00 |
Disabled Population(s) Employability Results
The following findings were designed to answer the research question relating to employability benchmarks for those Iowa adult literacy program enrollees who achieved an employability goal and were considered to be members of disabled populations. The term "disabled" or "disability status", as defined for NRS reporting purposes, is "learners who have a record of, or are regarded as having, any type of physical or mental impairment, including a learning disability, that substantially limits or restricts one or more major life activities including walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, learning and working". The research findings are as follows:
- A total of 20,161 adult learners were enrolled in Iowa's adult literacy program during Program Year 2002 of which 2,556 (12.68%) were considered to have some type of disability and 17,605 (87.32%) were not classified with any type of disability status.
- A total of 928 (74.00%) out of 1,254 adult program enrollees who indicated an employability goal achieved their goal. A total of 30 (3.23%) of the 928 program enrollees who achieved an employability goal were considered to have some type of disability. The 3.23% disability employability goal figure compares to an overall minority enrollment figure of 12.68%.
- The following table displays data which indicates the number of persons who were classified as disabled and who indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability as compared to the number and percent who achieved an employability goal. (i.e. 86 persons classified as disabled indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability of which 30 achieved an employability goal. This comparison indicates that 34.88% of persons classified as disabled and indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability achieved an employability goal).
Table 2
ABE Employment by Disabled/Non-Disabled
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Ethnicity | Employment Goal | Obtained
Employment Goal | Percent Obtained
Employment Goal |
|---|
| Disabled | 86 | 30 | 34.88 |
| Non-Disabled | 1,168 | 898 | 76.88 |
| TOTAL | 1,254 | 928 | 74.08 |
CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions are as follows:
- A significant number of Iowa's adult literacy eligible minority populations are being served in Iowa's community college based state wide adult literacy program.
- A significant number of minority populations enrolled in Iowa's adult literacy program and who indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability achieved an employability goal.
- A significant number of Iowa's adult literacy eligible disabled populations are being served in Iowa's community college based state wide adult literacy program.
- A respectable number of disabled populations enrolled in Iowa's adult literacy program and who indicated their primary or secondary goal was employability achieved an employability goal.
April 1, 2002
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