Evaluation Report: Impact of Northstar Assessment and Related Computer Skills Programming on Employment in CTEP Programs

The Community Technology Empowerment Project (CTEP) did a study on the effect of its program and the use of Northstar Digital Literacy Assessments and related computer skills instruction had on the employability of adult learners. The study was designed to evaluate whether participation in the CTEP program improved job placement rates for adult learners compared to adult learners in other similar programs in Minnesota. The study also looked at participant motivations for taking part in CTEP.

The study found that:

• CTEP participants had a post-program employment rate nine points greater (50 to 41 percent) than other intensive training program participants, and 20 points higher (50 to 30 percent) than Minnesota adult learners in general;
• CTEP program participants showed a 14.9% increase in employment before and after the program; and
• CTEP participants identified personal improvement, help with job search, and improvement in Microsoft Word as the top three reasons for joining the program.