In partnership with Lumina Foundation and Achieving the Dream, Equal Measure served as learning and evaluation partner for the Prioritizing Adult Community College Enrollment (PACCE) initiative. Our vignettes spotlight promising strategies for adult learners from two of the participating community colleges.
The PACCE initiative was designed to scale strategies for increasing the enrollment and reenrollment of adult learners—particularly Black and Latino students—in high-quality credit and non-credit programs. Through the initiative, 20 colleges in eight states received grants and technical assistance from October 2021 through May 2023. As Lumina Foundation’s learning and evaluation partner, Equal Measure explored community colleges’ context, approach, and early implementation of promising adult learner strategies.
ESL Learners at Colorado Mountain College: Understanding, Respect, and Support
Equal Measure visited Colorado Mountain College (CMC) to learn about its support for adult ESL learners. The project team found that CMC knows and is continuously learning more about the community it serves. CMC gathers data to implement strategies and make decisions aligned with adult learners’ wants and needs.
CMC ESL staff use an asset-based ESL adult learner lens that rejects conflating English language skills with intelligence and intentionally positions bilingual staff to support ESL learners.
Read the Colorado Mountain College vignette
Small and Mighty: Fulton-Montgomery Adult Learner Success
At Fulton-Montgomery (FM) Community College, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, Equal Measure found that FM creates individualized career pathways and short-term credentialing, allowing adult learners to tailor their coursework to align with regional internships and employment opportunities.
FM also benefits from a small, tight-knit college community in rural upstate New York. Possibilities blossom when staff, faculty, and leadership take an all-hands-on-deck approach toward improving learner experience and outcomes.
Learn more in the Fulton-Montgomery Community College vignette
Actionable Findings for the Field
Strong data, de-siloing, mindset shifts, and genuinely centering learners in decision making are crucial markers of success when developing new pathways and support. These insights offer lessons for community colleges and funders seeking to support adult learners.
DOWNLOAD THE VIGNETTES:
COLORADO MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
FULTON-MONTGOMERY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS:
- Alice Soo-a Choe
- Victoria Worthen Lang
- Katie Mosher
- Steph Skinner
- Kelly Sloane