Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Adult Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Evanston BOOST program reports high completion and job-placement follow-ups
Summary
An Evanston adult‑education BOOST cohort program reported high completion rates for a 12‑week high‑school‑equivalency course; staff emphasized wraparound services and small cohorts and reported follow‑up employment rates based on post‑exit surveys.
A presenter for the BOOST adult‑education program in Evanston described a cohort model aimed at young people and others who left high school without a diploma. The program runs 12 weeks at 20 hours per week, grounds instruction in employability and life skills and pairs participants with work‑readiness experiences. "We went from 6% overall success rate to 91% overall success rate," the presenter said, citing long‑running results since 2009.
Program staff said they have enrolled more than 209,000 students since the program’s inception figure given in the presentation; they reported 19 participants in the most recent cohort all completed their high‑school‑equivalency certificate and, by a follow‑up survey, 80% had employment at second quarter after exit (67% at fourth quarter), noting survey response limits. The presenter emphasized small class sizes, wraparound supports (food, hygiene items, gas cards) and industry partnerships (Western Wyoming Community College, CNC/diesel/CNA training) as drivers of success.
Council members praised the program’s outcomes and recommended examining how the BOOST cohort model could be expanded or adapted in other communities.
