Focusing on Adult Basic Education – Bridges to Career Pathways in Southeastern Wisconsin

Education and skills will be the cornerstone of competitiveness for Wisconsin.  Leaders throughout the state and its southeastern region, known as the Milwaukee 7 (M7),  are working in new ways to build the skills of the workforce and to ensure that regional employers have the employee and skill base they need.  Research laid out in this report, conducted over the summer of 2008, is intended to help strengthen these efforts by providing more information on a key population in need of skills—adult basic education (ABE) students—and offering some insights on student perceptions of their own skills, the labor market, and the training they need to move ahead.  Further, the report provides more detailed information on the broader population of low-wage working adults in the M7 region. The conclusion offers some policy suggestions that would help enhance the advancement prospects of regional ABE students.