The Penn Foster Blog

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) International conference in Chicago. This year's theme was "Partners in Progress: Unite to Educate America's Workforce," and the sessions examined partnerships among universities and colleges, corporations, government, non-profit organizations, and workforce developers. This year's theme was timely as it took place against the backdrop of the results from the Presidential election.      

Too many career colleges cater to students fresh out of high school, leaving adult learners without the support and programs they need for success. Adult learners have varied academic and life experiences, and need specialized consideration and attention to make the most of their education. Making sure your school a welcoming environment for this experienced and diverse demographic can open up a new channel for enrollments, and help you cater to students who are eager to further their careers. To help guide your marketing and outreach efforts, here are a few things adult learners look for in a career college.

Testing in an online learning environment is taking on a new look with the expansion of new technology solutions to protect the integrity of online courses. Online proctoring services offer a way for schools to maintain the strict testing environment of a brick-and-mortar school, while also providing a more structured and convenient option for students. Below we take a look at Penn Foster's transition over to online proctoring, in an effort to continue building a modern distance learning opportunity for students across the nation.

AdvancED is the largest community of education professionals in the world. Serving as a trusted partner to over 32,000 schools, AdvancED is a non-profit organization that conducts rigorous, on-site reviews of Pre-K - 12 schools to ensure that all learners realize their full potential. Joining this esteemed list of partners, Penn Foster High School is proud to announce that we are now nationally accredited by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission. After a thorough review, AdvancED made their accreditation decision based on Penn Foster's deep concern for student success, strong culture, and unique use of digital learning technologies and resources.

As an education partner to more than 1,000 public and private high schools, Penn Foster looks forward to joining the conversation this weekend, specifically with regards to new strategies and solutions for improving student outcomes. Our Common Core-aligned courses, Credit Recovery and Summer School programs, and Dropout Retrieval Solution allow school districts across the nation to increase graduation rates, and improve outcomes for students at-risk of dropping out or those who have already dropped out. Our solutions are offered online, allowing students to learn at their own pace while giving your school an alternative method to address your students' needs. Drop by our booth #930 to learn more or schedule a meeting with us in advance.

Released every two years, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s 2016 Society at a Glance report provides an overview of social indicators and addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends. The 2016 report, published just last month, notably highlights the challenge presented by "NEETS" and explores solutions to better support jobless and disengaged youth.

Educators, for-purpose organizations, and employers alike have cause to celebrate. America's high school graduation rate is at a new record high of 83.2%, meaning more young people than ever before will have a better chance of success in today's job market. Additionally, African American and Latino students are graduating at record rates, and gains for disabled students and students of low-income families were seen as well. Unfortunately, this still means that 16.8% of young people of the traditional high school age are falling through the cracks, and will have an exponentially lower chances of success in their careers over their lifetimes without a high school diploma. What will become of this forgotten 16.8%? What sort of economic implications will this have for our country?

Penn Foster is happy to announce that our Director of Early Childhood Education, Nancy Moretti, Ed.D. (ABD), M.S., has accepted the added role of Facilitator for the Student Interest Forum (SIF) at the NAEYC. Nancy has answered a few key questions below about her history of volunteer work and the importance of continued professional development in the early childhood education space:

When addressing the issue of youth unemployment, it is critically important to raise our collective sensitivities to the cultural gaps that exist between Opportunity Youth and employers. What do we mean by cultural gaps? Young, motivated workers present a huge untapped resource that could potentially fill the employment gap in the market today, yet currently remain disconnected from the workforce. Employers have historically not engaged Opportunity Youth, for fear that these are not the right candidates for the jobs.  We believe employers must step up and develop a Cultural Intelligence and empathy towards this untapped cohort and engage them actively.  

For organizations working with Opportunity Youth, the mission is to position students for long-term employment. Obviously, the thought and work that goes into doing this is more complex than the mission statement sounds. There are a number of different philosophies for how to most effectively train and skill students. But, a common starting place is to look at the data to understand the local economy and determine which jobs and technical skills are in demand.