24989.08-Workforce Training A

Study Name

Workforce Training Academy (WTA) Connect

Study Sharepoint ID

24989.08

Evaluation name

Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE)

This study received a high study quality rating because it is a low-attrition randomized controlled trial with no known issues that suggest the findings cannot be attributed to the intervention.

Design

Randomized controlled trial

Services

Occupational or sectoral training

Work readiness activities

Employment coaching

Job search assistance

Settings in which the intervention was studied

Urban only

Demographics

Subgroups

Subgroup data - Female

Subgroup data - Male

Subgroup data - White

Subgroup data - Black

Count age

Count Young Adults

Count Hard-to-employ

Count Disability

Count chronically ill

Count mentally ill

Count substance dependent

Count formerly incarcerated

Count Justice involved

Count limited work history

Count homeless

Count immigrants

Count refugees

Count veterans

Count female

Count Male

Count Any postsecondary education

Count With a high school diploma or GED

Count No high school diploma or GED

Count Married

Count Parents

Count Single Parents

Count Non-Custodial Parents

Count Employed

Count Self employed

Count Unemployed

Count Disconnected/discouraged workers

Count general low-income population

Count Very low income (as classified by the authors)

Count welfare population

Count long-term welfare recipients

Count Asian

Count Black or African American

Count Hispanic or Latino of any race

Count American Indian or Alaska Native

Count Pacific islander

Count White

Count More than one race

Count Unknown race

Percent female

62.60

Percent Male

37.40

Percent Any postsecondary education

23.20

Percent No high school diploma or GED

40.10

Percent With a high school diploma or GED

59.90

Percent Employed

37.80

Percent general low-income population

100.00

Percent Black or African American

47.40

Percent Hispanic or Latino of any race

15.30

Percent White not Hispanic

33.80

Study Characteristics

Group formation formatted

Between April 2012 and December 2014, researchers randomly assigned 943 adults with low incomes and low skills to an intervention (470) or comparison condition (473). Applicants were eligible if they had math and reading skills at the sixth- to eighth-grade level, and had income at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Study timing formatted

WTA Connect operated from 2012 to 2015. Participants were followed for 18 months after random assignment.

Study funding formatted

The Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education evaluation was funded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation within ACF, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sample Characteristics

Participants were adults with low skills and low incomes. Most participants were female (65 percent in the intervention group and 60 percent in the comparison group). Roughly half of participants in each group were Black, not Hispanic (50 percent in the intervention group and 45 percent in the comparison group) and about one-third of participants in each group were White, not Hispanic. Most participants did not have education beyond a high school degree. Approximately 40 percent in each group lacked a high school diploma or equivalent certificate.

Implementing organization formatted

Des Moines Area Community College

Program history

WTA Connect began with the start of the study, though a key program goal was to prepare participants for an existing program, the WTA. WTA had been operating for 12 years before the start of WTA Connect.

Treatment condition formatted

WTA Connect offered no-cost occupational training, academic advising, and employment services to adults with low incomes who had math and reading skills at the sixth- to eighth-grade level. The program provided internet-based instruction designed to improve math and reading skills to the ninth-grade level and a life-skills course. The goal of the initial education was to prepare participants for enrollment in an occupational training program, the WTA. After completing the initial education, participants could enroll in occupational training in certificate courses, including administrative support, health care, and manufacturing fields. Participants also received supportive services, including transportation assistance, and academic support, including coaches and tutors. Upon completing occupational training, participants received job-readiness courses and employment coaching.

Comparison condition formatted

The comparison group could not access WTA Connect services and did not have access to free tuition for remediation courses. They did have access to tuition-free occupational training courses but had to first achieve a passing score on an assessment. Before enrolling in occupational training courses, the intervention group and the comparison group took a life-skills course.

Mandatory services formatted

None

Timing of study formatted

Participation length varied. The program began with a life-skills course that lasted 17 hours. Occupational training courses lasted between 2.5 and 16 weeks. After completing occupational training, participants spent 24 hours in career-readiness training.

Program funding formatted

The state of Iowa (including the Iowa GAP Tuition Assistance Program and the Iowa Pathways for Academic Career and Employment fund), Open Society Foundations, and private funders

Setting details formatted

Des Moines Area Community College operated WTA Connect in Des Moines, IA.

Delivered by public or private entity?

Public

Secondary domains examined

Psycho-social skills; Life stressors; Career knowledge; Availability of career supports; Parental engagement and child outcomes

Citations/manuscripts

Earliest publication year

2018

Most recent publication year

2019

Manuscripts