Wisconsin RISE: Moraine Park Technical College

Certificates delivered through an IBEST approach provide local dislocated workers an on-ramp to a career pathway

In the spring of 2009 Moraine Park Technical College's (Moraine Park) first IBEST (Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training) Artisan Baking certificate pilot was offered. The certificate–a seven-credit instructional sequence designed after extensive input from local businesses–is complemented with three credits of specifically designed supportive ABE/ELL instruction, with part of the sequence being team taught. This approach to teaching the Artisan Baking certificate resulted in a 92% completion rate, with improved employment outcomes for over 80% of the certificate completers (even in a severe regional economic downturn). In addition, since the certificate is the first step in a career pathway sequence, many of the participating students are continuing to work toward higher-level educational goals.

Moraine Park's IBEST approach (along with similar “IBESTed” certificates throughout the Wisconsin Technical College System) team occupational faculty with ELL and ABE faculty to provide short term education and training to students with English language and Basic Education challenges. The approach provides just the right level of education, in just the right amount, for students to succeed in workforce training, yet provides these skills at a much faster rate than if they took basic skills first and only then moved into workforce training. National research has shown that students in an IBEST approach:

Earn five times more college credits than other ABE/ESL students
Are fifteen times more likely to complete workforce training
Have lower dropout rates
Get jobs and/or continue education with skills to succeed at the next level

Moraine Park Technical College President Gayle Hytrek says the College has wanted to increase the number of students who enroll in degree programs after completing their ABE/ELL coursework. "With the IBEST program students take program classes in conjunction with ABE/ELL classes so they not only have a marketable skill when they finish the IBEST program but also have credits which are part of a diploma or degree program. The IBEST Artisan Baking program was a win-win for the students who completed the program, the businesses who were able to hire skilled bakers and for Moraine Park. It certainly is a format we will replicate in other programs."

Sandra Huenink, Dean of ABE at Moraine Park, commented on the results of the pilot: “At the inception of the program there was an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and apprehension among the diverse individuals enrolled in the baking classes. The first two weeks of content classes were exceptionally hard for some, especially those with little to no formal education. Not only were they trying to learn the material, but they were trying to learn how to become good students at the same time. This is where the basic education instructor became integral.

“The feedback received by all those involved in the IBEST program has been overwhelmingly positive. Even those staff members who seemed a bit skeptical at the inception found themselves realizing just how much of a difference this program made in the lives of the students who were involved with it. The Culinary Arts Instructor reported that he learned new teaching techniques that will be utilized in all of his instruction. Although apprehensive in the beginning about skill levels and the format, he reported that this group of students exceeded the amount of material usually covered in these courses.

“But the most impressive feedback came from the students themselves. There seemed to be a repetitive nature to the feedback concerning the personal growth that each of the students felt in completing the program. Each student said in his/her own words that a new confidence was found in self on a daily basis, not just in school, but in life. The two who were already employed bakers felt that they had been given a new perspective on what they do. Those who were new to the field altogether found not only new skills that prepared them to work, but experienced significant growth in their self-confidence.

“This approach is a great ‘on-ramp’ onto career pathways for dislocated workers, and we will work in partnership with other occupational areas to expand this successful model”.