Provide flexible, supportive program structures — free tuition, Flex Lessons, personalized mentorship, and remote coursework — to enable working adult learners to persist¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article's findings point to program features that helped working ECE providers persist: 'TECTA offers free education paid for by the program, allowing ECE providers to access training and coursework without financial barriers.' Flexibility in learning, with 'Flex Lessons and the ability to complete courses from home', accommodated busy schedules, and staff worked around participants' schedules, provided textbooks, and offered mentorship. Employers reinforced these features by tying orientation completion to raises. The strategy addresses the travel, timing, and cost barriers rural participants reported.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Staff capacity to provide individualized guidance and flexible scheduling, as participants described orientation teachers working 'around your schedule' and visiting workplaces.

Constraints¶

• The article notes stipend funds are limited and first-come, first-served, and that some in-person classes remain scheduled during work hours, which the strategy alone does not resolve.

Target Learners¶

• working adult ECE providers, especially rural learners, parents, and low-wage workers

Target Learning Goals¶

• persistence through orientation and degree programs; credential attainment; professional confidence and upskilling

Affordances¶

• Boeren Lifelong Learning Participation Model

Related Strategies¶

• Provide mentorship and outreach support after program entry to sustain persistence in alternative STEM programs

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Jacobs, B., Babineau, K., Parker, D. (2024). From Childcare to Educare: Inspiring Change in Early Childhood Education for Rural Tennessee. Digital Promise. https://doi.org/10.51388/20.500.12265/222