Full report. - Social Research and Demonstration Corp

learn$ave Project: Final Reportthat generally only adults who had already decided toreturn to formal education opened accounts, a conclusionbacked up by the finding that the 37 per cent ofaccountholders had learned about the program throughan education or training provider. The same ILA programencountered two significant challenges: First, while therate with which accounts were opened was impressive,accountholders appeared very reluctant to make use ofthe benefits to which they were entitled. In fact Gray etal. (2002) reported that some 60 per cent of accountsopened remained unused but it is not clear why this wasthe case. The second and even more serious concern,which eventually led to the suspension of the program,was that large numbers of accounts were being misusedto defraud the government. Some training providers werefound to have offered questionable training and someaccountholders were found to have claimed funds forquestionable purposes, perhaps sharing in some portionof the refund offered to the training provider (Schuetze,2005). The parallel programs in other regions of the UKwere suspended at roughly the same time.More recently, and on the heels of a major nationalreview of skills and learning policy, ILAs are again beingintroduced in the UK. Scotland’s education authority firstre-introduced a learning account scheme in late 2004(Scottish Government, 2008). Like the original ILA, thegoal was to broaden participation in adult learning, touse demand to improve the supply of adult learning, andto promote individual ownership and investment in theirown learning and skills development. The program, calledILA Scotland, offers eligible learners with low incomes avoucher-like account, similar to the original British ILA,worth between £200 and £500 per year, depending on thenature of the course. Since it was launched, some changeshave been made such as cancelling the £10 personalcontribution, lowering the age limit from 18 years to 16years of age, and cancelling a universal £100 per yearaccount previously available to all adults regardless ofincome.The evaluation of the program included a longitudinalsurvey of ILA accountholders as well as analysis ofadministrative data. It found that between 2005 and2007, a total of 91,000 learning accounts were opened inScotland and a total of 56,500 courses were taken usingthe accounts, with the pace of both account openings andcourses taken growing over time (Scottish Government,2008). This undoubtedly reflects spreading familiarizationwith the program through word of mouth, which wasthe experience of learn$ave and new programs generally.Again, most accountholders are women (72 per cent),adults in their 30s or 40s, and are working full-time(41–81 per cent depending on the type of account).Finally, as with the original program, most participantsin ILA Scotland cannot be characterized as “new” orreluctant learners: only 14–16 per cent of accountholdershad engaged in no formal learning since leaving schoolprior to entering the program.In England, an Adult Learner Accounts program waspiloted in 2007 and eventually transitioned into the newSkills Accounts program which is being phased in untilit is available to all adults aged 19 or over in Englandby 2010 (United Kingdom, 2009). The accounts areadministered by local skills councils and are targetedprimarily at unemployed or underemployed adults. Theaccounts do not actually confer any new financial benefitson participants but instead are a way of simplifying andcoordinating various other funding sources for whichthey might qualify. Participants who open an accountwork with a counsellor to develop a personalized learningplan as well as a voucher pre-approving them for fundingto take certain courses. The account is also expected toserve as a way for participants to keep track of their ownlearning with a strong emphasis on certification of certainskills or credentials.In large measure, the Skills Accounts program isessentially an exercise in sign-posting: offering informationand referrals tailored to the needs of the individualclient. It does not leverage any individual investment likea matched savings account, nor does it offer new moneylike a traditional voucher. But the idea of a seamless wayto organize personalized information about learningopportunities, funding and certification is intriguing. Itremains to be seen whether this way of constructing anddelivering an account-based program can have a realimpact on participants. The concerns regarding abusein the original ILA scheme notwithstanding, the UKexperience with ILAs suggests that adults will use newincentives for adult learning when they are offered. Itis not clear, however, whether or not the incentives aremeeting the policy objectives of broadening demand foror improving the supply of adult education in the UK.Furthermore, because individual contributions have beenso small or even eliminated, the UK experience with ILAscannot inform policy-makers interested in savings-basedapproaches.Italy, Sweden, and NetherlandsIn Italy, learning accounts have been piloted in Tuscanythrough local training authorities (Cattini, 2007). Thepilot was originally launched in 2006 and planned as aone year project but was eventually extended. In total2,800 accounts were made available across four participatingprovinces. The project aimed to ensure at least 10per cent of accountholders were non-standard workersSocial Research and Demonstration Corporation Appendix A | 115