Executive Summary

Retention of adult learners remains a complex and puzzling problem for LBS college programs. In spite of increased efforts on goal-setting, and a stronger focus on helping learners review their goals, less than half of the LBS learners in the college setting in 2000/2001 were reported to have achieved their goals. The year-end provincial exit statistics indicated that 35% of them initiated their own withdrawal while another 22% were withdrawn by the college. The statistics also show considerable inconsistency from college to college regarding the numbers of college-initiated withdrawals. Many colleges have a significant withdrawal rate while others withdraw relatively few learners.

The Retention through Redirection project extends the retention focus of the What Works project, completed in January of 2001. What Works identified existing retention strategies and provided new strategies for Ontario Works learners who were at risk of dropping out early in the program. Learners sponsored by Ontario Works made up a significant percentage (38%) of the LBS college enrollment across the province in 2000/2001. While the Retention through Redirection project is intended to further support colleges’ retention efforts by building on the What Works project, the focus is on all LBS learners who remain in the program but continue to be at risk of failing or dropping out.

The main goal of the project was to develop a protocol for redirecting learners. Redirection is defined as a significant change in a learner’s goals or route to the goal that leads the learner in a different career, educational, employment or personal direction. Redirection is needed for several reasons and may involve referral to other programs, services, educational institutions or employment agencies. See Appendix A for a full definition.

The project gathered information by several means. A number of retention studies and approaches to retention were reviewed. Provincial LBS college year-end statistics and LBS college program policies were examined. Questionnaires, focus groups and individual interviews were used to gather information from a variety of sources within the LBS college system. More than 40 individuals from 14 colleges participated by completing questionnaires, sharing materials or taking part in interviews. Seventy-five LBS college learners completed questionnaires. Formal consultations were held with three colleges to elicit feedback on the draft protocol.