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Each of the three colleges implementing I-BEST recruited students with low levels of basic skills attainment for the study and program. Interested applicants first took the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System math and reading assessments to determine eligibility for I-BEST. The scores required on the assessments for eligibility for the program varied slightly across the three colleges but generally reflected reading and math abilities between the elementary and high school levels. Eligible people then met with program staff to enroll in the study. After completing a consent form and baseline surveys, program staff randomly assigned people to the intervention and comparison groups. Random assignment occurred from November 2011 to September 2014, with 315 people assigned to the intervention group and 317 to the comparison group.
People were randomly assigned from November 2011 to September 2014, and the study presents findings for Years 1 to 6 after random assignment.
The Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) evaluation was funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
More than 60 percent of study participants were older than 25, and about 58 percent were female. About half were White, not Hispanic (55 percent), and about one-quarter were Hispanic (26 percent). Most participants had a high school diploma or less education (71 percent total). In the year before random assignment, about 60 percent received benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Three community and technical colleges—Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College, and Everett Community College—implemented the I-BEST program as part of the PACE evaluation.
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) designed I-BEST in the 2004–2005 academic year as a pilot program at 10 community and technical colleges throughout the state. SBCTC expanded the program to all 34 public community and technical colleges in the state in 2005–2006 and 2006–2007.
I-BEST offered occupational training courses to students with low skills in public community and technical colleges in Washington State. Each college's I-BEST program was a course with a structured career pathway and gave students the ability to gain college credits and credentials toward careers in high demand. I-BEST offered courses in a variety of areas, including the nursing, electrical, and clerical fields. Two courses included internships or clinical experience. Participants in the I-BEST intervention groups at the three colleges in the PACE evaluation could access additional financial supports for tuition and supportive services, as well as a dedicated advisor who provided academic supports and career planning.
People in the comparison group could access occupational and educational supports through other programs in their communities and could take non-I-BEST courses at the three I-BEST colleges in the PACE evaluation.
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Across the three colleges, the length of the I-BEST program varied from one to three quarters.
Washington SBCTC and Open Society Foundations
The study evaluated the I-BEST program at three colleges in Washington State: Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College, and Everett Community College.
Psychosocial skills, life stressors, and family structure