This is the second of a two-part review of the recently completed MI-RAISE Design Lab. See the first part here.
The soon-to-be-announced 2024 Innovation Investment Awards grants contain bold ideas to drive improvements in postsecondary attainment for adult Michiganders.
Most of these ideas got their start in another innovation: the recently completely Michigan-Regional Adult Initiative for Skills and Education Design Lab. The Michigan Center for Adult College Success created MI-RAISE to provide an environment for colleges and universities leaders to devise systemic improvements to the ways they serve working-age students.
Now that MI-RAISE has wrapped up its nearly year-long “design sprint,” it is time to assess how well it served postsecondary institutions. The Center believes in sharing the learnings — both the good and bad — as part of our continuous improvement process.
Checking our work
Thirteen institutions participated in MI-RAISE. In monthly convenings that alternated between virtual and in-person, we worked with leaders in this work from across the country to highlight and examine best practices in serving adult learners.
Institutions conducted a self-assessment lead by the Education Strategy Group team, received coaching assistance from Sova Solutions, and learned to identify and how to communicate with their potential adult learner population with assistance from CollegeAPP. There was no cost to institutions to participate.
An independent third-party evaluation by Basis Policy Research shows participants rated the series of workshops as broadly successful at:
- Supporting the design of innovative solutions for adult learners
- A simple and straightforward application process
- Coaching to apply for innovation grants
- Sharing best practices for adult learners
- Broadening the understanding of barriers adult learners face
- Providing structure and inspiration to develop comprehensive solutions
The evaluation also revealed areas for improvement — including a longer window to apply, more clarity about the time commitment, and stronger connections to external partners such as employers and local workforce boards — which The Center will incorporate in its ongoing role as the state’s resource for best practices that meet the needs of the adults at postsecondary institutions.
Progress toward multiple objectives
One of the goals of MI-RAISE was to support postsecondary institutions in developing quality proposals for the Innovation Investment Awards grant program administered by The Center. We received many impressive applications and look forward to announcing the awards later this fall.
Another goal was to develop a model of technical assistance that The Center can use to continue sharing best practices. MI-RAISE also provided an opportunity for The Center to build meaningful relationships with postsecondary institutions across the state.
At the conclusion of MI-RAISE in June 2024, The Center contracted with Basis Policy Research to conduct a third-party evaluation to provide insights on how well the program met these goals. Basis surveyed participants and conducted interviews to develop its report.
Key findings
The highest-rated topic by survey respondents was coaching, with a score of 8.48 on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the most useful. Other high-rated topics were Innovation Investment Award development support (7.91), and monthly design technical assistance workshops and presentations (7.48). Even the lowest-rated topic, navigating the variety of funding streams, received a score of 7.09.
Participants also had high satisfaction with the exploration of data tools. According to the Basis report: “At least 90 percent of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they understood the steps required to increase adult completion rates using data driven decisions.”
When participants were asked which best practices they planned to implement following MI-RAISE, the top four cited were proactive advising, guided pathways, eliminating barriers for transfer students, and career aligned pathways.
In interviews with Basis, “participants shared that the MI-RAISE Design Lab helped them in identifying barriers faced by adult learners such as managing full-time jobs, caring for family members, transportation, housing, and the ability to navigate a complex system.”
Interview participants also stated that MI-RAISE helped broaden their understanding of barriers — and to better understand how their institutions can mitigate those barriers: “All participants agreed that their work in the MI-RAISE Design Lab provided the necessary structure and inspiration to generate comprehensive solutions to address these barriers, something many stated that they did not have the opportunity to consider until this process.”
Recommendations for improvement
Based on the surveys and interviews, Basis proposed several improvements for future design labs:
- Providing full detailed agendas, with a timeline for meetings, and goals in advance
- Extending the application due date window up to six weeks
- Connecting institutions with external assets such as employers and local workforce boards
- Streamlining communication structures through a hosted webpage with a calendar
The Michigan Center for Adult College Success will use these recommendations to increase communication and coordination between postsecondary institutions in its work boosting adult completion rates statewide.
Partner observations
The Center also solicited feedback from its partners in MI-RAISE. The feedback provided additional insights that The Center is incorporating into our next design lab plans. Feedback from our partner organizations included:
- Requiring applicants to share what they know about their adult students at the outset. If applicants don’t have that information, require them to include adult student experience and progression data in their proposed work plan.
- Require institutions to explain exactly how the adult student experience will change with proposed reforms.
- Strengthen the emphasis on a common commitment to prioritizing students’ interests and experiences.
- Reinforce connections and serve as an intermediary between postsecondary institutions.
- Utilize The Center’s ability to access and analyze data to better assist institutions in developing their data access and capacity.
Our own findings
It has been inspiring to see how colleges and universities across Michigan are working to help more adult learners enroll and succeed. While we strive to meet institutions where they are, we learned through this process we will need to adapt to better manage the variation of readiness of institutions in adopting the best practices, while still maintaining the opportunity for interactions amongst the entire design lab cohort.
This work is more important than ever. These credentials, and the skill attainment they represent, are becoming essential in our knowledge-based economy. They open the door to opportunity for families.
Taking a broader view, adult learners are essential to Michigan’s ability to compete economically by meeting the state’s goal for 60% of working age adults to have a skill certificate or degree by 2030.
That math is simple, but getting there is not. That’s why The Center for Adult College Success was authorized by the Legislature and launched by TalentFirst in 2023. The Center is here to support colleges and universities as they help more adult learners get the education and training they need.
If we continue to see the commitment we saw in the MI-RAISE Design Lab, we can be confident these objectives will be within reach. We are energized to persist in our work with Michigan’s postsecondary institutions to develop an environment where adult learners can thrive.
