General description of the project:
The Center for Immigrant Education and Training (CIET) in the Division of Adult and Continuing Education at LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) in Queens, New York City serves a predominantly Spanish-speaking population of low-income English language learner adults in a variety of no-cost ESOL programs contextualized to civic and parent engagement or workforce development courses. A core mission of the center is to provide access for its students and their families to integrated career-track training, college and career pathways advisement, and parent engagement tools. This presentation will explore three (3) current initiatives aimed at building access pathways for non-credit ESOL students and their families at a community college.
Integrated Education and Training (IET) : When CIET began to see a significant number of its ESOL students arriving with professional experience from their home countries, it launched the NYC Welcome Back Center for immigrant nurses, an affiliate of the national Welcome Back Initiative. Because English proficiency remained a barrier to re-credentialing in the US for this population, team-taught courses such as the Integrated Education and Training (IET) NCLEX-RN hybrid training program for English language learner immigrant nurses were designed and implemented. Participants were able to access ESOL lessons, RN board exam review sessions, and US workplace readiness skills building via hybrid modalities, resulting in pass rates much higher than the national average for the foreign-trained and job entry to in-demand positions.
College and Career Pathways Transitions Online Data Collection and Advisement: In order to provide enhanced college and career pathways advisement to its diverse, non-credit adult ESOL student populations LaGuardia’s continuing education division piloted a series of online surveys to determine the home country educational and professional backgrounds of its students and to design effective student support services according to participants’ stated interests.
Online Learning Hub for ESOL parents and their school-age children: As part of CIET’s ESOL courses contextualized around parent engagement and navigating the K-12 school system, a online tutoring program was launched for the children of participants. Tutors meet with participants via Zoom on a weekly basis, providing opportunities to bridge any educational gap and achieve academic success. Through this project, CIET provides academic support for K-12 kids and parents.