The 70 participants were nominated for their Success Stories award by 40 ABLE-funded agencies representing the following administrative entities:

Nine public school districts
Eight intermediate units (regional public school administrative entities)
Two vocational-technical schools
Two colleges
Eight literacy councils
Three community action agencies
Four private-sector training agencies (including a union and a rehabilitation facility)
Two community-based organizations (one of which is funded by a religious organization).

Participant location was well distributed throughout the Commonwealth: Philadelphia and surrounding counties accounted for 17 participants; Pittsburgh and the southwestern counties, 16 participants; Central Pennsylvania, 16 participants; Erie and the northwestern counties, 11 participants; and the northeastern tier, the remaining ten partic ipants.

Participant Demographics

Of the 70 participants, there were more than twice as many female participants as male. The average age of participants at the time of their interview was 49.5 years with little difference between average participant age for both males and females. Participants ranged in age from 24 to 80 with the majority falling into the middle years (40 –59). That fact should be considered in interpreting the results of the study. In terms of racial distribution the majority of participants were White (58.5 percent), followed by Black (27.1 percent), and Asian and Hispanic (7.1 percent).

TABLE 1

Age of Participants by Gender and Ethnicity