down Go Back to Impact Stories Accelerating Opportunity In partnership with At a Glance JFF helps low-skilled adults advance to better jobs by combining Adult Basic Education and career and technical training, reducing the time to earn valued credentials in a rapidly changing labor market. Capabilities Design Scale Topics Adults Students Employers Postsecondary Adult Basic Education Career Pathways Competency-Based Student Supports Developmental Education Rural Experts Involved Barbara Endel Senior Advisor Lisa Soricone Senior Research Director Rachel Pleasants McDonnell Director Status Done Locations AR GA IL KS KY LA MS Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share via Email
Post How Adult Learners Can Accelerate a Path to Economic Advancement When Heidi Cruz enrolled in a dental assisting program at an Illinois community college, she hadn't finished high school. With support from Accelerating Opportunity, she is now ready to thrive in a rapidly changing labor market.
Post Paying for Integrated Pathways: SNAP Education and Training Funds in Washington The state of Washington has created a funding solution to support integrated career pathways. Its work inspires JFF's Accelerating Opportunity initiative, which leads more underserved learners to a credential of value.
Post Paying for Integrated Pathways: Illinois’ Performance-Based Funding System In work that ties into our Accelerating Opportunity initiative, Illinois has implemented a performance-based funding system to aid student progression.
Post Paying for Integrated Pathways: Kansas' Tiered Funding Model for Student Support In 2014, Kansas signed into law the GED Accelerator and AO-K Proviso, two pieces of legislation designed to support students. This work mirrors much of what the Opportunity Youth initiative aims to accomplish.
In the News Press Release: Year Two of Accelerating Opportunity Initiative Reveals Promising Efforts to Support Student Advancement in Community Colleges
Post “You Can Go After That Dream”: Adult Students Inspire Professionals at JFF Pathways Conference It's never too late to pursue your education. Hear from three students who achieved their dreams of earning a credential and finding a good job at very different times in their lives.
Report/Research The First Year of Accelerating Opportunity: Implementation Findings from the States and Colleges Beginning in 2012, the Accelerating Opportunity initiative provided $1.6 million in grants to five states to help community colleges create career pathway programs for students with low basic skills.
Tool State Youth Labor Law and Workers’ Compensation Statute Table This table is a comprehensive resource that describes the child labor laws and workers’ compensation statutes for each state. The information within this table is intended to help mitigate liability concerns related to youth employment.
Report/Research A Resource Guide to Engaging Employers This resource guide presents working models of successful employer engagement and lessons for securing and sustaining partnerships with employers, in addition to helping education and training providers fully realize the value of such partnerships.
Post Leveraging TANF for Career Training With the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Congress took a step toward improving the connections between workforce and federal assistance programs. With this piece of legislature, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is a mandatory partner in state and local workforce systems.
Report/Research Lessons Learned from Accelerating Opportunity What are the most important aspects of combining Adult Basic Education and career and technical training? After four years of building the Accelerating Opportunity initiative, JFF has the knowledge to help partners replicate and scale this successful approach.
Report/Research The Second Year of Accelerating Opportunity: Implementation Findings from the States and Colleges The second annual implementation report for the Accelerating Opportunity initiative in four states finds that colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs, much to student and employer satisfaction.
Report/Research Accelerating Opportunity: A Portrait of Students and Their Program Experiences from the 2014 Student Survey This report, performed in partnership with the Urban Institute, presents findings from a survey of students enrolled in Accelerating Opportunity career pathways in spring 2014. This survey was conducted to better understand students' experiences and get students' perspective on the AO initiative.
Report/Research “These People Just Keep Trying to Help Me”—Supporting Students to Succeed in College and Career Pathways Community college students today face multiple barriers to achieving their postsecondary goals. In order to help more people juggle the facts of daily life that make it difficult to stay in school and complete credentials, colleges must offer comprehensive, wraparound supports.
Post Accelerating Opportunity Students Speak About Their Pathways to New Careers In honor of National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week , JFF shared two profiles of Accelerating Opportunity students, whose experiences and accomplishments demonstrate the difference an education can make.
Report/Research Implementation of Accelerating Opportunity: Lessons for the Field This report details the first three years of the Accelerating Opportunity initiative, diving into what worked and what lessons were learned along the way.
Report/Research Scaling Innovation in Community Colleges: A Guide to Action As community colleges look for ways to promote student success, the need for scaling effective approaches is critical. This guide builds on a framework developed in a previous JFF publication with four phases of scaling: planning, initiating, expanding, and sustaining.
Report/Research Transformational Teaching: A Team Approach It truly takes a village to help the nation’s 36 million adults with low basic skills access economic opportunities. JFF's Accelerating Opportunity initiative has found extreme value in the team-teaching approach.
Post Transformational Teaching: A Team Approach to Adult Education As the old adage says, there is strength in numbers. With the team-teaching approach, Accelerating Opportunity increases the supports for adults seeking to earn postsecondary credentials.
Report/Research New Evidence on Integrated Career Pathways: Final Impact Report for Accelerating Opportunity This final impact report describes the effect of Accelerating Opportunity (AO) on education and employment outcomes for underprepared adult learners.
In the News Accelerating Opportunity Model Effectively and Efficiently Helps Low-Skilled Students Earn College Credentials
Tool Accelerating Opportunity Field Guide The Accelerating Opportunity Field Guide provides the necessary processes and strategies to help educators redesign Adult Basic Education and career and technical education. Join the national movement today!
Report/Research Promoting Persistence Through Comprehensive Supports This publication provides support and clarity to Accelerating Opportunity–involved colleges and other institutions that are looking for strategies to improve their ability to provide comprehensive supports to adult learners.
Tool Accelerating Opportunity Braided Funding Toolkit Braided funding, the weaving together of various state, federal, and private funding streams, along with funding strategies, is critical to the Accelerating Opportunity initiative and creating integrated career pathways.
Report/Research Thinking Big: A Framework for States on Scaling Up Community College Innovation In the education and workforce fields, it is often difficult to properly scale up "boutique" programs that aim at improving student outcomes. Thinking Big brings the process (and common issues) of scaling up programs to light.
