Community Partnerships for Adult Learning
Building Partnerships Partnership Profiles Self-assessment Tool Business Guide About Us Search Home " "
The ToolBoxCreating CommunitiesCurriculum and InstructionProfessional DevelopmentWorkforce DevelopmentTechnologyProgram ManagementMore Resources
Supported by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education
of the U.S. Department of Education
Commitment Comes in All Shapes and Sizes
" "

Complete Report
HTML version PDF version

Other Profiles

As part of the Community Partnerships for Adult Education initiative of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, US Department of Education, twelve community partnerships were selected for their promising approaches to expanding and improving adult education. Although diverse in size, population, and location, as well as in their approaches to collaboration and adult education, these partnerships share a strong commitment to adult learners and their families. This report synthesizes the findings from research on and site visits to these communities, focusing on how they leverage resources and coordinate activities to provide more and better services to adult learners.

The twelve community partnerships are:

  • Nine Star Enterprises and its partners in Anchorage, Alaska

  • Workforce Alliance for Growth in the Economy (WAGE) and its partners in El Dorado (Union County), Arkansas

  • READ/San Diego and its partners in San Diego, California

  • The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County and its partners in Palm Beach County, Florida

  • The Certified Literate Community Program (CLCP) and its partners in Houston County, Georgia

  • The North Idaho College Adult Education Center and its partners in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

  • Jefferson County Public Schools Adult and Continuing Education (JCPSAE) and its partners in Louisville, Kentucky

  • Juntos and its partners in Holyoke, Massachusetts

  • The Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative and its partners in Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • The Decker Family Development Center and its partners in Barberton, Ohio

  • The Donald H. Londer Center for Learning and its partners in Portland (Multnomah County), Oregon

  • The Midlands Literacy Initiative (now called the Jobs, Education & Life Skills Community Council of the United Way of the Midlands) in Columbia (Richland, Fairfield, Lexington, and Newberry counties), South Carolina

Key findings

  • Partners include adult education providers, state and local government, public school systems, community colleges, libraries, community- and faith-based organizations, workforce development agencies, and businesses, among others.

  • Partnerships take time to develop and require mutual trust and open communication from the partners.

  • Strong leadership, common goals, and broad participation from the community contribute to the partnerships’ success.

  • Coordinating activities expands services, improves client access, attracts more resources, and helps avoid duplication of services.

  • Partnerships work well when all partners are strongly committed to serving the needs of adult learners and of their communities.

  • Government regulations and funding requirements can be both an incentive and an obstacle to forming and sustaining partnerships.

  • Partnerships face challenges with respect to securing sufficient funds, collecting and sharing data, serving learners with learning disabilities, and recruiting learners, instructors, and volunteers.