Hi Everyone,

I am pleased to welcome you to our discussion on tranisitioning from getting a GED to enrolling in postsecondary education. We will hear from our guest speakers, Barbara Garner, Cynthia Zafft and Sandy Goodman, and hopefully from many of you as we discuss the findings of John Tyler and Magnus Lofstrom, which are described in the article below.

Our plan was to first hear an overview of the research and its implications from Barbara Garner, but her introductory message has been lost in transit, and she is stuck in Denver without e-mail access (due to snow and flight cancellations). Hopefully she will be here tomorrow! In the meantime, I would like to invite you all to send in comments about your reaction to the  findings of this study. 

Cynthia and Sandy will also introduce themselves, and discuss transition strategies after we have covered the research implications. 

All the best,
Julie
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February 26 - March 2

Transition from GED to Postsecondary Education

This will focus on the results of a study by NCSALL researcher John Tyler of Brown University and colleague Magnus Lofstrom of the University of Texas at Dallas. The study found a low rate of enrollment in postsecondary education among GED holders as compared with high school graduates, and is described in Tyler’s article in FOB 8C, “Is the GED an Effective Route to Postsecondary Education?”. Barbara Garner, editor of Focus on Basics, will introduce the findings, and then Cynthia Zafft, Director of the National College Transitions Network, and Sandy Goodman, Director, New England College Transition Project
at World Education, Inc. will discuss promising strategies that are being done to address this issue.

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Recommended Reading:

Is the GED an Effective Route to Postsecondary Education?
A Conversation with John Tyler
by Barbara Garner
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=1155

Recognizing that high school is not enough, growing numbers of adult basic education programs (ABE) are emphasizing the transition to postsecondary education. What impact does earning a certificate of General Educational Development (GED) have on the post secondary enrollment of high school dropouts? Brown University professor and NCSALL researcher John Tyler and a colleague, Magnus Lofstrom of the University of Texas at Dallas, examined this question using data from Texas. Focus on Basics asked John Tyler to summarize the results and discuss the questions they raise.

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Webcast from the National Institute for Literacy: 
Research on the Economic Impact of the GED Diploma Panel Discussion
Moderated by Dr. David J. Rosen, and featuring Dr. John Tyler, Sara Fass and Sue Snider. 

http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/webcasts/ged/webcast_ged.html

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Focus on Basics, Transitions Issue (6D)
http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=154  
This contains several articles about different aspects of transitions.

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Guest Speakers:

Barb Garner was the editor of all 31 issues of "Focus on Basics", and co-author with Sara Fass of "Beyond the GED: Making Conscious Choices about the GED and Your Future." Having studied statistics with researcher John Tyler, she enjoys working with him to make sure his research findings reach the adult basic education community.

Cynthia Zafft, MA, is the director of the National College Transition Network (NCTN), a network to support ABE staff, programs, and state programs in establishing and strengthening ABE-to-college transition services through technical assistance, professional development, collegial sharing, advocacy and increased visibility for this critical sector of the adult basic education system.  Prior to coming to World Education, Cynthia coordinated several federally-funded postsecondary education transition projects for the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.  The ICI is part of a national network of university-acts research, and provides assistance to organizations to promote inclusion of people with disabilities in school, work, and community activities.

Sandy Goodman has been the Director of the New England College Transition Project at the New England Literacy Resource Center/World Education since November 2006. Prior to joining the College Transitions team, she directed a career ladders project under the Skillworks initiative called Partnership for
Automotive Career Education (PACE) and facilitated collaboration between community based organizations, post-secondary and secondary education institutions, and private sector employers. Before PACE, she directed a community based ABE program in Boston that served approximately 400 people each year, and was also active in a number of city and statewide planning and advocacy efforts. She has a BA in Women's Studies/Social Thought and Political Economy from UMass, Amherst and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government.
When: Feb.26-March 2.


Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Edu
----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Focus on Basics mailing list
FocusOnBasics at nifl.gov
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Message sent to jmckinney at worlded.org.

Julie McKinney
Discussion List Moderator
World Education/NCSALL
jmckinney at worlded.org