Bridges to Careers for Low-Skilled Adults: A Program Development Guide

Women Employed, 2005

Toolkit Purpose

The overarching goal of this guide and the Career Pathways initiatives which informed its creation is to broaden the understanding of the potential contribution of bridge programs to workforce development. More specifically the guide is intended to serve as a resource for developing and implementing bridge programs. According to the guide, "Bridge training programs prepare adults who lack adequate basic skills to enter and succeed in postsecondary education and training, leading to career-path employment. Bridge programs seek to enable students to advance both to better jobs and to further education and training, and thus are designed to provide a broad foundation for career-long learning on the job and formal post-high school education and training."

Publisher

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and Center on Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Intended Audience

Bridge program developers, managers, and coordinators as well as partners, employers, unions, four-year colleges, and other stakeholders

Career Pathways Target Population

Low-skilled, low-literate adults who are locked in low-wage jobs or are unemployed

Based On

Women Employed launched the Illinois Career Pathways Initiative in 2003 to focus on building Career Pathways through bridge programs that would enable low-skilled individuals to combine basic education and employment to advance over time to better jobs and higher levels of education and training, including four-year degrees.

Summary of Toolkit Approach

This guide is organized in chapters which cover background information on bridge training programs, specifics of bridge program development, costs and funding associated with bridge programs, implementation and management of bridge programs, bridge program evaluation and continuous improvement, and building statewide support for bridge programs. The guide also includes program profiles of existing bridge programs, as well as a glossary.

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Bridges to Careers for Low-Skilled Adults: A Program Development Guide

https://womenemployed.org/sites/default/files/resources/BridgeGuide.FullReport.2...

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