On Mar 15, Chris King gave a presentation on short- and long-term effects of workforce investment and training to the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, England. Research conducted in the Austin and Travis County area showed that long-term strategies for employment have produced higher, sustained earnings outcome. In contrast, shorter term strategies do lead to an initial increase in earnings but was not sustained over time. King also discussed the assumptions that have historically limited the evaluation of the impact on workforce training and concludes with observations for improving evaluations. 

Click here to view or download the full presentation “Evaluating Workforce Investments: Short- and Long-Term Training Results and Larger Measurement Questions.”

On Feb. 21, NPR’s Morning Edition referenced Chris King, director of the Ray Marshall Center, and Carl Van Horn, director of Rutgers University’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, in the news story discussing a new program in Ohio’s jobs offices that offers job placement and training to unemployed people. Click here to read the full NPR article.

The Ray Marshall Center has released a new publication, Challenges, Promising Programs, and Effective Practices in Adult Developmental Education, by Rheagan Coffey and Tara Carter Smith. The paper provides an overview of the state of adult education in Oklahoma and the nation, and details challenges facing the field.  It goes on to highlight successful programs in the areas of GED/Adult Basic Education, ESL Education, and Developmental Education. Finally, the paper reviews best practices in adult education and provides recommendations for further consideration by adult education stakeholders in the Tulsa community.

The Ray Marshall Center is beginning work with the Texas Workforce Commission on a new project Texas Workforce Data Quality Initiative. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment Training Administration for $1 million over 3 years. The grant is one of twelve made in the country.

The Community Action Project of Tulsa County (CAP) received a five-year $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (HHS/ACF) to expand the CareerAdvance program beginning in July 2011. This grant is one of 17 awarded by HHS/ACF in the country. CareerAdvance is a dual-generation antipoverty program that works to increase the success of early childhood development programs by providing parents with education and job training. The George Kaiser Family Foundation provided the initial funding for the program in 2008. Researchers from the Ray Marshall Center led the design of the program’s workforce training model. The Center will receive a portion of the grant to continue providing implementation and evaluation work for the program. Over the next five years, CareerAdvance plans to help 285 new participants pursue careers in healthcare and related fields. Dr. Robert W. Glover traveled to Tulsa to participate in the project’s launch meeting in January. CAP had organized the meeting to brief and fully engage program partners and gather feedback on the evaluation plans for the five-year project.

In January, Robert W. Glover, Tara C. Smith, Christopher T. King, Rheagan Coffey published findings on the initial implementation of CareerAdvance, a pilot program conducted by the Community Action Project of Tulsa County aimed at providing low-income parents of children in early  childhood centers with education, workforce training, and skill certification. The first year had a cohort of 15 participants. The study documents the accomplishments of the program in its initial year of operation, reviews the challenges faced by the program and its participants, and draws lessons and recommendations from the experience.
Click here to view the report.

On Jan. 31, Ray Marshall Center director Christopher King participated in the 2011 Texas Family Impact Seminar hosted at the Texas State Capitol. Seminar attendees include state legislatures and legislative staff. Dr. King, along with Cassius Johnson, the director of public policy at College Summit and former Barbara Jordan Fellow from the LBJ School of Public Affairs (2002), were the featured speakers for this year’s topic, Getting To and Through College: Strategies for Improving College Attendance and Completion Rates in Texas. Dr. King presented recent data collected from the Central Texas Student Futures Project which looks at factors that affect college enrollment, student demographic trends, and strategies for improving enrollment and completion of postsecondary education. The objective of these Seminars is to provide state policymakers with nonpartisan, high-quality research on issues that affect families in Texas. The Texas Family Impact Seminar is a collaborative initiative between the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin and Texas Tech University.

To view Chris King’s presentation, click here.
To learn more about the Texas Family Impact Seminars, click here.

In January 2011, the Central Texas Student Futures Project released the report, Findings from the 2010 Senior Surveys, by Greg Cumpton and Shelby Tracy. The report presents findings from a spring 2010 survey of area high school seniors. The annual senior survey is a key component of the Student Futures Project. Comparisons of data and trends between the class of 2010 and previous years’ classes are also presented. Click here to view the report.

In Nov. 2010 and Jan. 2011, Deanna Schexnayder provided updates on the Student Futures Project to the Greater Austin Chamber’s College Readiness and Enrollment Support Team (CREST). CREST is made up of area school districts and college representatives working to improve student preparation and enrollment in postsecondary education. The presentation from January 2011, presented data from the recently published Findings from the 2010 Senior Surveys, as well as a comparative look at post high school employment rates among the different graduating classes.  At the November meeting, Schexnayder discussed the most recent college enrollment rate statistics and trends over the past several years. 

Click here to view the Jan. 2011 presentation.
Click here to view the Nov. 2010 presentation.