Wraparound student supports: navigator, financial supports, and job placement assistance¶
Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited
Description¶
Beyond integrated instruction, I-BEST provides a bundle of non-instructional supports intended to keep students engaged. A career navigator provides, as the report lists, "intake, orientation, job readiness, mentoring, and job placement services." Students can receive Opportunity Grants covering up to 45 credits of tuition and up to $1,000 a year for books and supplies, plus tutoring, career advising, emergency child care, emergency transportation, and college success classes. ACE and Accelerating Opportunity implementations added partnerships with Workforce Investment Boards to connect students to employers.
Design Implications¶
Context¶
Requirements¶
- A dedicated I-BEST navigator (coach) available to students
- Funding for support services such as uniforms, transportation, licensure testing, clinical placements, and internships
Constraints¶
- I-BEST as studied in Glosser et al. (2018) did not include specific employment and job placement services
Target Learners¶
- Low-income adult community college students in occupational training programs
Target Learning Goals¶
- Persistence and engagement in training through program completion
Affordances¶
Related Strategies¶
- Ibest Program Element
- Mobilize community colleges to address low-income students' basic needs and financial stability to support completion
- Provide navigator support through enrollment and financial aid, plus continued support after enrollment
- Combine full-time occupational enrollment with intrusive advising, financial support, and basic skills instruction
- Colleges can adopt evidence-based support practices—wrap-around advising, proactive advising, non-tuition financial support, co-requisite courses, early alert systems, and disaggregated data—to improve completion
Examples¶
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Key Sources¶
- What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. (2020, September). Integrated Basic Education Skills and Training (I-BEST). https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/InterventionReport/706
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
strategy |
id |
ibest-navigator-and-support-services-strategy |
title |
Wraparound student supports: navigator, financial supports, and job placement assistance |
description |
Beyond integrated instruction, I-BEST provides a bundle of non-instructional supports intended to keep students engaged. |
status |
review |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-09 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — what-works-clearinghouse-institute-of |
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