SNAP to Skills

Dear Colleagues:

Yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that 10 states have been selected to take part in SNAP to Skills, a first-of-its-kind, peer-to-peer effort to help state agencies design improved employment and training programs for adults participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to help them find employment and ultimately move off the SNAP program.

States selected for SNAP to Skills include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee. In October 2015, USDA announced that the Seattle Jobs Initiative* would create an intensive technical assistance program to help states to build better, stronger Employment and Training (E&T) programs.   E&T programs may include job search training, education activities (including basic skills training, English language learning, vocational training, postsecondary education), self-employment or on-the-job training, and job retention services.

Is your state participating?  Is your program participating?  Are your learners participating?

Cynthia Zafft

Postsecondary Completion Moderator

*Seattle Jobs Initiative offers low-income individuals training that leads to college credentials in growing local industry sectors.  According to their website, "We creatively align support services – intensive college navigation, housing, childcare and transportation – to provide participants the best opportunity to complete their career pathways and to secure and retain well-paying jobs."

Comments

Thanks, Cynthia, for sharing this announcement with the LINCS Community. The SNAP to Skills Project (S2S)  builds on USDA’s commitment to connecting SNAP recipients to work by providing our state partners the tools they need to build job-driven training programs designed to help SNAP recipients become economically self-sufficient. SNAP to Skills is about helping states reduce their SNAP caseloads the right way—by helping SNAP recipients find a good-paying job.

The SNAP to Skills Project can offer something to ALL States. In addition to the direct TA provided to 10 States, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), in collaboration with SJI, will be developing a series of policy briefs, webinars, learning opportunities, a new website, and an E&T "workbook" that will walk States and their partners through the steps of developing a job-driven E&T program as well as help them identify best practices for serving SNAP participants. This wider array of resources will be available to ALL States and they should begin to roll out very soon.

We have even more support from our Regional Offices, who have recently expanded their capacity to help States create expanded and job-driven E&T programs. FNS Regions are a little different than Dept of Ed regions, so make sure to check which region you are in. As always, feel free to ask us if you have any questions or want more information.

If you're still wondering what SNAP E&T is and how it can fund job-driven literacy, education, and training for SNAP recipients, we encourage you to look at our website: http://www.fns.usda.gov/ET-policy-guidance.

Hi Marcie:

Great to hear from you.  Thank you for the link to the FNS regions and additional resources.  I was looking at the E & T Toolkit's appendices (p. 55 onward) that nicely lay out information about allowable expenses (often shared with the state) that are reasonable and necessary...and really make a difference for adult learners:  transportation, childcare, uniforms, books, etc.   I'm wondering if there are members of our community who have connected with their Food & Nutrition Services (FNS) regional office.

Cynthia

As we look toward job-driven training, often people need to begin with their High School Equivalency in order to build foundational skills that transfer into job training. I understand that we need to contextualize instruction so adults can enter the workforce and earn sustainable wages. However, before we begin with job training, we need to consider the skill gap in basic education. I encourage programs to look first toward the college and career readiness that is included in the educational training for the High School Equivelancy programs and then transition students quicklly into job-training. 

 

Hi Kathy:

I think the adult college and career readiness standards (see resources) are key to thinking about what it takes to function in our society.  I do want to say, however, that contextualized learning gives adults an opportunity to reflect on and apply those standards in the real-life setting of employment, which I think adults find engaging, energizing, and appealing. I guess I am saying it isn't one and then the other...but this is a great community to reflect on this issue.  What do members think?

Cynthia

I agree that contextualized learning gives students the step forward in a sustainable entry level job. However, as I work with teachers across a 20 state span, I hear how overwhelmed they are trying to meet the needs of students seeking a high school credential, contextualizing instructuction for a specific career, dealing with multi-level classes, and adjusting instruction to meet the changing and growing needs in our field.

At heart, I believe we should be focusing on teaching college and career readiness skills so students can move from their HSE into credit bearing job training. There was a post on another strand from CT Turner that explained the high reaching goals of the GED(r) being more than an HSE, but rather a way to prepare learners for higher ed. I believe the HiSET and Tasc Test are aligned with this thinking - getting students ready for the next phase.

I have seen some wonderful examples of bridging programs. Illinois, led by ICCB and the Southern Illinois Professional Development Center, has outstanding curricula models in line with the Career Clusters. However, the only way this is working is through extensive planning at the state and program level, leadership from PD experts, and buy in at the teacher level. But we are still seeing teachers that are increadibly overwhelmed trying to make all the connections work for students. 

I wonder though, are we pushing students into careers that we want them in because we identify a need, and students desperatly want employment? And once they enter a job because we have assisted them in developing the necessary skills  - what opportunity do they have for advancement? Should we focus on building skills for the HSE and then transitioning students to career training which will not only allow for entry level, but also advancement? 

Hi Kathy:

There are so many things coming at teachers -- it is very overwhelming.  And, I know they don't want to push students into dead-end jobs or jobs they are not interested in, just because the jobs are available.

I was wondering about your thoughts in the second paragraph above.  Along with college and career readiness, would it be a lifelong learner perspective, too?

Cynthia

Added:  The SNAP to Skills initiative does seem to include college and career readiness as a focus since they are looking at postsecondary education needs.

Hi, Kathy -

Thanks for your insightful comments here.  The questions you pose in the last paragraph have got me thinking more about what you and others are seeing with your learners.  In theory, career pathways should provide learners with the training and skills for entry level jobs, and also advancement opportunities leading to mid-skill employment in the future.  

However, this can be a challenge to guarantee, as labor market demands change over time.  Depending on the learners' timeline for completing required training to advance into higher skilled employment, the labor market demand may, or may not, still be as strong as it was originally.  The more quickly learners are able to complete advance level training, the greater the likelihood that the labor market will be in their favor when they are seeking mid-skill employment opportunities.  

This leads me to ask, how can we encourage and support learners to continue beyond the basic, entry-level training sooner, rather than later?  There are multiple challenges for learners to stay in education longer, and complete often expensive certification and licensure requirements, but what have you, and others, found most helpful in promoting learners' continued progress from entry-level to mid-skill job preparation?  One thought is starting with contextualized instruction earlier in their education, but I hear you that this may be limiting learners still exploring career options, and also be overwhelming to instructors trying to implement contextualized curriculum with lower-literacy learners.

Thanks again for bringing your perspective to this important topic of conversation!

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com

 

 

  

Kathy,

I really understand your question:  Should we focus on building skills for the HSE and then transitioning students to career training which will not only allow for entry level, but also advancement? 

What I don't get is what I am missing when many people say we must prepare students/clients for career training.  I must have a misperception of the "ladder".  I am building a student's skills so that he/she can be successful on the HSE.  By doing so, I am also working hard to prepare the student to transfer those skills to career training.  I believe that if we provide only contextualization without transfer, this may limit a student's choices.  To me, teaching transferability of skills is more important than simple contextualization. Maybe it's just semantics.  Can anyone tell me what I am missing?  NP =)

Hi Norene,

I am eager to learn more about how you help students who are preparing for a de-contextualized HSE exam to transfer the skills they have learned to new contexts. How do you teach transfer of skills? If you have something you have written about that, can you share it with us? If not, and if you have the time, please write something that you could share here.

You might be interested to know that a while ago Adult Education researcher Dr. Thomas Sticht posted in the AAACE-NLA discussion list that some research suggests that transference of basic skills learned in a context, apparently any meaningful context, is more likely than transference of skills taught in a de-contextualized basic skills learning environment. If you email him, perhaps Tom could provide citations for those studies.

Thanks,


David

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

Mike, Kathy and others,

A huge problem for high school students, college students and adults in the U.S. is that they do not have work experience and do not know much about what is expected at work, what the opportunities at work might be for subsidized training and further education and, perhaps most important, what they enjoy and can do in a work environment. I wonder if there are ways to include "hands-on" work exploration for adults, particularly those who may not be working at present. These experiences could be accompanied by work-contextualized instruction. These experiences might range from "job shadowing" and volunteer work projects to full-blown short-term apprenticeships and internships. I know this may not be possible for low-income adults who may already be working two or three jobs and going to classes, but for those who have been laid off or who have a working family member who can provide some income these may raise awareness and open doors to otherwise unknown opportunities for learning and work.. Each of these experiences could provide a different context for English language learning, contextualized reading, and many work-related skills like teamwork and problem solving.

I would be interested to learn about these from those who may already offer adult work exploration programs that are accompanied by work-contextualized instruction, for adult basic skills and English language learners.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

Dave, 

First, thanks for facilitating and leading this critical conversation on the benefits and concerns about contextualizing instruction. While I know that all individuals, especially adults, need context in order to engage in the learning process, I believe preparing students for the HSE is a solid beginning. The contextualiziation comes from the introduction of the lesson and the feedback. For example, when teaching how to properly cite information and write extended responses, an instructor can introduce the lesson with... "Consider yourself in college as you are preparing for a carreer... you will need to know how to write and structure a paper." OR, "If you enter the workforce and have to document a situation or communicate with a boss in writing, you need to know how to properly set up your argument." Then, the lesson is taught. This offers instruction in the skills needed for the HSE while helping students make the connections between the content and their life experiences and goals. 

I think a majority of SNAP recipients know how to work at an entrly level. From http://www.hungercoalition.org/food-stamp-myths... "The overwhelming majority of SNAP recipients who can work do so.  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Among SNAP households with at least one working-age, non-disabled adult, more than half work while receiving SNAP—and more than 80 percent work in the year prior to or the year after receiving SNAP. The rates are even higher for families with children—more than 60 percent work while receiving SNAP, and almost 90 percent work in the prior or subsequent year."

I have read similar statistics in many other government resources. Some numbers go as high as 73% of SNAP recipients work full time or multiple part time jobs. The problem is these adults don't know how to advance beyond an entry level job into a sustainable field. This is the intersectionality of College and Career education and adult literacy education. Looking at the skill set that is required to pass an HSE exam, students do develop the academic skills needed to move into employee training or higher education.  

 

 

Kathy and others,

I am not sure who is facilitating this discussion. I think Cynthia Zafft initiated it in the Postsecondary Completion CoP, and she copied her post to the Health Literacy, Career Pathways and Program Management CoPs. I have jumped in as participant, as has Mike Cruse, the moderator of the Career Pathways CoP.  The discussion doesn’t appear to need facilitation; it has taken off pretty well on its own. Maybe it’s that SNAPpy  heading  : - )

Thanks for your comments about SNAP recipients knowing how to work at entry level jobs, Kathy. I am reminded that in 1992 Sheryl Greenwood Gowen published a study of entry-level workers in a functional context workplace basic skills program in a hospital in Atlanta Georgia. The Politics of Workplace Literacy: A Case Study.  If I recall her findings correctly, the designers of the work-contextualized basic skills program believed that it was important for the workers to improve the basic skills they needed to do their jobs better. The workers, on the other hand, had a different context in mind. They wanted to learn the "de-contextualized" basic skills needed to pass the GED so they could get better jobs; they felt that they knew how to do their current, low-paying jobs better than those who were brought in to train them; they wanted better jobs, and knew they needed their GED to get them.  These adults knew what they wanted, were motivated, but were in a program that wasn’t addressing their goals. The study brought home, to me at least, that the “context” in contextualized learning is whatever is important to the learners, that although work-related learning contexts can be highly motivating to adult learners, program designers cannot assume that workplace learning related to one’s present work will automatically be a motivating context. For some learners the context could be job advancement, health-related learning, childrearing-related learning, learning needed to overcome oppression or to organize social change, learning to read to children or grandchildren, becoming a U.S. Citizen, or something else. 

On the other hand, some learners do not have a meaningful and motivating learning context for basic skills learning. They enroll in an adult basic education program because they are mandated by a corrections or parole officer, or a parent, or only because they feel they are “supposed to” have earned a high school diploma. Their goal is to get their HSE credential, but they haven’t a clue about what doors this could open for them, or why they would want to open those doors.

I asked about creating opportunities for transference of skills within the learning experience, especially for learners who are unclear about what they want to do, how they might apply what they are learning to contexts in their lives now and in the future.  I am interested in hearing others’ insights about that too.

I am intrigued by Ed Latham’s descriptions, in a discussion now in several other CoPs, of working with young adults in an alternative education program whose compelling context appears to be online game playing. Ed explains how, starting with that highly motivating context, he is trying to develop students' reading, writing and problem-solving skills too.  I will be interested to follow how this goes.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

 

 

 

David,

I think you hint at an important question here in saying, "some learners do not have a meaningful and motivating learning context for basic skills learning".  Often in these cases, they are responding to external motivators, such as parents, courts, and social service providers.  Your mention of Ed's discussion on using video games to create intrinsically motivating contexts for learning is something I think we need to learn from, but also question.  

If these game-based learning resources tap into internal motivators for learners, they have value.  However, we should also consider how these learners will learn to adapt to more external motivators, such as are required in many workplaces.  I'm curious what impact gaming will have on learning, both in the classroom and on the job.  What are the motivating similarities and differences required for success in these two different environments?

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com 

I just read about this app in The Wall Street Journal's article, "Play This Game and Win a Job!".  Stockfuse is part of a recruitment trend that invites people to play app-based games as a means to finding qualified job candidates.  It will be interesting to see where this trends heads as these new hires are integrated into their company culture, and 'real world' expectations.

Mike Cruse 

Mike and others,

A colleague, the owner of a small consulting business,  mentioned today that she has been trying out these digital games herself, and finds them intriguing. She mentioned this in the context of our meeting about building career pathways systems. Let's keep our eye on this "games as job-applicant screeners" trend. If anyone spots a game for testing job applicants' basic skills, soft skills, problem solving skills and/or problem solving in technology-rich environments (PSTRE) skills, please let me know about it.

David J. Rosen

djrosen123@gmail.com

This New York Times article, Your Next Job Application Could Involve a Video Game, is two years old, but offers an interesting perspective on the evolution of game-based job applications, along with some names to look out for in the marketplace.  Below are two that might speak to what you're looking for with adult learners.

Knack - uses video games as a screening device to determine how creative, cautious, adept at multitasking or easily distracted, among other attributes, potential job applicants are. Its “Wasabi Waiter” game, for example, casts the player as a server at a sushi restaurant who must figure out what dishes to recommend. 

Good.Co  - incorporates elements of personality – such as emotional intelligence – which are relevant to the workplace, and in understanding the fit between people and organizations. 

Another good piece on the growth of gaming in the hiring process is this National Public Radio (NPR) story, Will A Computer Decide Whether You Get Your Next Job?  What are the trends in hiring that we need to prepare learners for in a technology-based economy? 

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com

 

Greetings, again, from Postsecondary Completion.  Just a couple of thoughts:

About 25% of SNAP recipients do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent (see http://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/more-than-500000-adults-will-lose-snap-benefits-in-2016-as-waivers-expire); many work but churn in and out of low paying, entry level positions.  I'm thinking that SNAP to Skills might bring resources to the table for SNAP clients needing adult education and postsecondary education and training provided through a cross-system collaboration, paying for expensive items like textbooks, uniforms, special equipment.  These are often the items that poor adults can't afford but need.  So, it isn't so much about adult education providing technical training in lieu of "basic skills" (I put quotes because, as Noreen, Kathy, and others have mentioned, HSE skills are skills needed for college and career readiness), but more about partnering to give those adults interested in a specific pathway the resources that they need but can't afford.

Cynthia Zafft

Postsecondary Completion Moderator

Partnering is key.  We can't do everything and need to remember the strength of our own skillset.  

OK, I really do contextualize curriculum every day when I ask students to write about a TedTalk or an article or a youtube video, e.g.Why some of us do not have one true calling? by Emilie Wapnick; Technology Changing How Students Learn, Teachers SaySimon Sinek: Why good leaders make you feel safe .  I contextualize learning when I discuss with a student what reading skills are needed to read a science article and then practice the skills and the transfer of those skills.  It is a blended learning situation.  

Maybe my problem is just my problem.  I have difficulty with folks thinking that we are not contextualizing when we are teaching skills.  Chicken or the egg?  Egg or the chicken?  I want my students to be able to read in any given context, and so a solid foundation is what I am giving them.  We use tools like the MCIS to help students determine direction besides the HSE.  However, if I do not point out the skills they are using to complete this task, I am remiss in my job.  

I have always loved playing Tag, for it is a game that involves others.  As an educator, I know I can not do everything, but I can certainly find another person to help in the learning process.  And, hopefully, that person is the learner.  When I say, "Tag, you're it!", I am hoping that the learner understands enough to play the game.  We in the West have always loved saying, "Howdy, Partner!"