In attendance: Deborah Andrews, Bruce Dahlquist, Maria Grace, Connie Nelson, Mina Reddy, Andrea Perrault, Laurie Sheridan, Jude Travers, Gloria Watanabe.

Announcements:

• DOE/ACLS is holding its first statewide Workforce Development Conference on Dec. 13 in Marlboro. (Andrea Perrault handed out flyers). It is free.
• The Patrick-Murray Transition Team is holding community meetings on Workforce Development over the next few weeks across the state; a schedule will follow. The Workforce Solutions Group (of which MCAE is a member) is organizing testimony, especially from students. MCAE is soliciting testimony and written statements from ABE programs, staff and learners. Statements can be submitted to the Transition Team web site at www.patrickmurraytransition.org.

The Advisory group toured the new Worcester Technical High School site and was impressed with the facilities there, the relevance of training offered and equipment available to actual workplace needs and uses, and the programs to meet students' needs in a holistic way. Peter Crafts, the School's Director of Vocational/Technical Education, and the Principal for Education, led the tour, and provided background on the history, plans and vision for the new school, and answered questions. Students in the school's culinary arts program provided excellent refreshments for the Advisory group. The school extends for ¼ mile, so there was not enough time to see everything, but it is quite impressive.

There are currently 1250 students in the school, whose capacity is around 1600. Equipment has been donated by a large variety of businesses, from manufacturing, auto repair, cosmetology, hospitality, building trades, health care, and many other sectors. The school also provides meals, child care, a store, a bank, and many other services to accommodate students' needs. It is beautiful and modern, with up-to-date equipment and training for jobs of the future. The Advisory group thanked Bruce Dahlquist for arranging this tour and meeting site.

The Advisory broke into three small groups on the following topics, based on the three priority areas identified at the last Advisory meeting (October 12):

Group 1: Integrating ABE/WFD in ABE Programs/Classrooms
Group 2: Linkages with Business/workplace education
Group 3: Linkages with the Workforce Development System

Each group developed and presented answers to the following guiding questions:

1. What progress have we seen in the field in this area?
2. What challenges or barriers do ABE programs and practitioners face in this area?
3. What training and resources need to be provided for teachers and programs to do well in this area?
4. What professional development formats and delivery methods will work best for this area, keeping in mind both research on effective professional development and constraints on practitioners' time?
5. What can SABES do to help move the field forward in this area?

Small Group Summaries

Group 1: Integrating ABE/WFD in ABE Programs/Classrooms (Mina, Jude, Andrea)

1. Use products SABES has developed, in programs (e.g., Career Awareness mini-course, Integrating Job Readiness workshop, etc.)
2. Integrate professional development into programs (e.g., staff meetings, etc.); help directors on leadership re professional development
3. Distance Learning; advance and follow-up through distance learning
4. Survey programs
5. Work with lower-level learners and GED
6. Practice/analyze applications
7. NO NEW PRIORITIES!

Group 2: Linkages with Business/workplace education
(Maria, Deborah, Connie, Cathy)

1. Progress so far:
   1. State grants –
   • More readily available for short-term independent training
   • Planning grants
   • More realistic/flexible RFP
   2. More providers for the businesses to use
   3. Businesses more willing to participate and offer resources (in-kind, release time, pay for classes)
2. Challenges
1. Funding – especially up-front
2. Ability to provide release time
3. Incumbent worker programs – getting supervisors on board
4. Sustainability – need to understand amount of time, $$, staff turnover, no regularity
5. Relationship building
6. Providers/private sector differences
7. Logistics because of work, second jobs, kids, transportation
8. Turnover among administrators as well as participants
3. Training resources
1. Comprehensive training course for workplace teachers
2. Train teachers re: culture and communication, proper channels
3. Executive preview for supervisors to improve access for teachers/students
4. Meetings of teachers and partner organization providers to increase problem-solving and decrease isolation
5. Bring in speakers from industry, offer tours, etc., for community-based programs
6. MORE TIME – people are required to do prep and other tasks without being paid
4. Professional Development
1. Ongoing sharing/problem solving of teachers
2. Comprehensive workplace teacher training course – DOE credential
3. Mentoring system
5. SABES
1. Help provide the above
2. Offer training on consistent basis throughout the year due to turnover and new businesses needing training

Group 3: Linkages with the Workforce Development System
(Bruce, Laurie, Gloria)

1. Need for more information and relationship-building: some ABE programs don't even know the WIB in their region
2. Have the Career Center staff visit the program
3. Have SABES train ABE staff to be able to help learners access job info on-line
4. Use the new SABES Career Awareness course with ABE programs
5. Have SABES do on-site training for programs (one program or a few together), do more program-centered training
6. Identify jobs and job categories accessible to ESOL and low-literacy learners
7. Have a SABES set-aside in the state budget to provide funding for training those not yet in jobs – in addition to funding for career ladders for incumbent workers

The SABES Workforce Development Advisory will assist in making recommendations for the upcoming SABES workplan for FY08 (July 2007 - June 2008). SABES already has a two-year workplan in place that was negotiated a year ago for FY07–08. For FY08 it will be updated, based on learning and recommendations from FY07, but overall parameters are in place. Workplan preparations will start soon, and the workplan process will occur in late February or early March 2007. It is hoped that negotiations with DOE will conclude shortly after that.

The Advisory would like SABES to:

1. Share its proposed priorities with the Advisory
2. Share a draft of the FY'08 workplan with the Advisory
3. Let the Advisory know what happens to certain ideas that were proposed by the Advisory but dropped (not included in the workplan)-there are probably good reasons for this, as not everything can be included, and things are dropped during negotiations.

Advisory members liked the format of this meeting. The small groups worked well, the guiding questions were good, and the PowerPoint supplied needed background and information. Laurie will e-mail the PowerPoint presentation to other members of the Advisory who were not present.

The Advisory will meet again in late March. Laurie will poll Advisory members for good dates, and confirm a date ASAP (plus a snow date).