Bridge Programs’ Promise for Ensuring Equity in Access to Opportunity
Approximately 20 million adults in the United States who have not yet attained a high school credential face barriers to well-paying jobs, highlighting gaps between their skills and job requirements. Critically, individuals from historically marginalized groups—including English learners; Hispanic or Latino individuals; women; and those with multiple barriers to employment—are overrepresented among these adults.
Many adults are screened out of occupational training programs because they do not meet the minimum literacy, numeracy, or English proficiency levels to be successful in these programs. This narrowed pipeline perpetuates systemic inequities and poverty for the most vulnerable adults.
In 2023, AIR partnered with the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) to explore how adult learners with foundational skills needs in Illinois are prepared for economic opportunity and upwardly mobile futures. An innovative approach implemented by the ICCB and adult education providers in Illinois is to offer bridge programs to adult learners, which can serve as on-ramps to integrated education and training (IET) programs or postsecondary opportunities.
Bridge programs provide literacy, numeracy, or English language instruction contextualized in one of 16 nationally recognized career clusters alongside comprehensive support services that make higher level instruction and jobs more accessible and, hence, more equitable.
AIR's Mixed-Methods Study
Despite the promise that bridge programs hold for supporting adults’ economic mobility, little is known about how these are implemented and whether they can improve outcomes for adult learners. To address this research need, AIR launched a mixed-methods study of bridge programs in Illinois through a partnership with the ICCB.
The project includes qualitative and quantitative studies.
[The bridge program] has really been an eyeopener…with all the help…in just getting our foot in the door in healthcare because a lot of us didn't think we would be sitting here right now.
- Adult learner in bridge program
Qualitative Study: Focuses on bridge program implementation and highlights promising practices and challenges reported by bridge program providers. Using multiple perspectives on individuals’ experiences in bridge programs in the state, the qualitative study shares insights from focus groups conducted with participating adult learners as well as interviews with adult education instructors and administrators.
Quantitative Study: Leverages anonymized administrative data on adult learners and bridge programs provided by the ICCB.
This study assesses key outcomes for adult learners in bridge programs, including their:
- Persistence;
- Assessment performance;
- High school equivalency attainment;
- Enrollment in IET, and
- Enrollment in postsecondary programs.
