Transforming Futures with Adult Education

David Owen: 00:00:00

ere in Cobb county, more than: 1600

Welcome back to the Inside Scoop where we share the people, programs and stories that make Cobb county school district shine. I'm your host, David Owen. Before we dive in, don't forget to like subscribe and share so you don't miss the next episode.

Today we're talking about an incredible program that's transforming lives, the Adult Education program.

It's an initiative helping adults eliminate barriers to earning a life sustaining wage through free classes, personalized instruction and career focused training. Joining me are two amazing leaders who make this work. Kim Kranzlein. Pardon me? Kranzline, Right. Proper pronunciation, that's correct.

You are the director of the adult education program?

Kim Kranzlein: 00:01:08

I am.

David Owen: 00:01:09

And then we are also joined by Kahliah Rachel, who is the principal of Austell Elementary. So welcome to you both.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:01:17

Thank you.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:01:17

Thank you.

David Owen: 00:01:18

So, Kim, let's start with the big picture of what is the adult education program and who comes to the adult education. Obviously it's adults. Right?

Kim Kranzlein: 00:01:30

Right.

David Owen: 00:01:31

So I'll just pitch it to you there. Take it from there and tell us a little more about it.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:01:35

So I'm going to spend time, focus on the what first. What we do is we try to eliminate those economic barriers for adults. We do that in two to three ways.

So the primary two ways are we help people either get their GED if they don't already have a high school diploma, which you may not know that that 44,000 Cobb county residents currently do not have a high School Equivalency Adults. Adults.

David Owen: 00:02:04

44,000 adults in Cobb county don't have.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:02:07

Yes. Based on.

David Owen: 00:02:08

Wow.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:02:08

Recent census data.

David Owen: 00:02:10

And that could be due to a number of things, I would think.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:02:13

Yes. The stories are endless. It could be I dropped out because I needed to help my family.

It could be I was in a situation where I was bouncing from house to house. It could be I just didn't do what I should do as a young stir and now I'm ready. It could be a whole lot.

But what I know is everyone who walks through our door has a story.

David Owen: 00:02:43

Yeah.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:02:45

Then there's that's one group. And very important in the work that we do. The second really big piece of what we do is we teach English as a second language to adults.

So people who either have recently come to our country or who have even lived here for quite a while that do not speak English, and that is keeping them from getting a job that pays a living wage. So what we're finding is this could be a whole range of people.

It could be people who are highly educated in their native language, or it could be people who are not. Because one of the blessings of living in the country that we live is that everyone is educated up through high school.

But that is not true of a lot of countries in this world.

David Owen: 00:03:36

That could be why people have come to this country.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:03:40

So they may not just be unable to speak, read, and write English. I mean, be illiterate in their own native language as well. So, vast array of needs, but those are the two big areas that we serve.

David Owen: 00:03:56

So one of the things I've heard that's one of the most powerful things about the adult ed program is how you shape it for the needs of the student, how it's personalized for their life. Can you expand a little bit on that?

Kim Kranzlein: 00:04:12

Yeah. So, as I described, our students come from such a broad range of backgrounds and stories.

So to try to create something that's just a curriculum, one size fits all isn't really what our students need. We already were for a long time. Have really tailored the hours that we offer classes to what our students need.

So we have morning classes from 9 to 12, and then we have evening classes from 6 to 9, because we're hoping that most of our students are working adults and so they can pick one of those two options. But then, like I said before, we may have really highly educated in their own native language. We may have.

We even have people walk in the door who could take their GED just like that. And then we have others who really never learned to read.

David Owen: 00:05:07

Wow.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:05:09

That are not. That are native English speakers that really need us to build up from. From the ground up.

So we look at each individual student and place them in a level and a program that works for them. I think another big piece of the personalization of our instruction has to do with rolling enrollment.

So instead of like, maybe at a community college where things start at the beginning of the semester and you go for a certain number of weeks, our students can enroll at any time.

David Owen: 00:05:47

Okay. So it can be made to fit their point in life according to what they need to learn as well as their life schedule.

I mean, we all have some form of a rhythm to life. Right.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:06:03

And we actually say that a lot to our students, that we're here to help you based on what you need and how Available you are.

David Owen: 00:06:11

So you mentioned earlier about barriers to the learning and I can't imagine when you've got, just think about an elementary school class, you've got maybe 20, 25 kids. When I was in school that was 30, but anyway, we were better behaved. That's why they could do. I'm kidding.

So when a teacher is having to teach to an array of students, that teacher knows what those kids likely learned in the grades prior. Right. But here you're getting the vast unknown.

Like you said, you've got people who could walk in, pass the test on day one versus people who can't even read in their own native language. And it's not just people learning English and so forth, there's other people as well.

So you've got such a vast array that have to have their curriculum tailored, I guess differentiated for them.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:07:12

Yes. And we do have standards. We are standard based instruction, but we use data.

So we're assessing students when they walk in the door to tell us where their functioning level is, where they're starting from. And the data also tells us what they still need to learn.

A really great example of that is we are doing for the first time a GD and three day atatomy this weekend.

This is a new thing that we've tried where we've pulled in students and they have to score a certain level on that assessment to qualify for the academy. But they'll come on a Thursday, a Friday and, and a Saturday. And by the time they're done with that weekend, they will walk out with their ged.

They will already taken all four tests and pass them.

David Owen: 00:08:00

Wow.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:08:02

Not for every student though.

David Owen: 00:08:04

Sure.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:08:04

You know that's not gonna work for every student we've had. Even within that applicant pool of academy, very few people actually make the cut score that says I'm gonna walk out in three days with my ged.

You have to come with a lot of background knowledge already, but you can.

David Owen: 00:08:18

Close that gap for them. Is that.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:08:20

Yes.

And I think we have a lot of adult had bumps in the road early on, but through their own children, through their work experience, they've gained a lot of knowledge that they don't even realize they have. Sometimes the people who come in are actually really surprised at their stores.

Sometimes they're surprised at how low they are, but sometimes they're really surprised at how high they are. And the really cool thing about that is if they score high enough on the ged that can count for college credit.

That can begin even to take them past a high school equivalency.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:08:59

And into.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:09:02

An associate's degree, a credential or something like that.

David Owen: 00:09:06

So Kalia has been standing here wonderfully politely, just listening. But I hate leaving you out because.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:09:14

No, it's okay.

I think that one of the things that I have been very excited about is the three day academy, because for highly motivated adults who are looking to increase where they are at their work or, you know, moving on with something different, this is not holding them back. And it's also giving them that excitement that it's not going to take forever.

So it's something that we were very excited to announce to our community.

David Owen: 00:09:37

Yeah. Okay. So now we've kind of opened the question of why is she here as principal of Austell Elementary?

So, Kim, earlier you mentioned that you had the one location in Smyrna, but that is more than that. Now you are rolling out other locations, right?

Kim Kranzlein: 00:09:58

Yeah. So adult education, for the most part in Cobb county has been just something that chugs along kind of unnoticed.

And we want to kind of come out of the shadows and say we're here and we're a vital and important part of what the school district offers and in how the school district collaborates. You know, we're one team. And so when I first got involved with the adult education program, we had two big locations in two different counties.

Now we're just focused on Cobb, but we are trying to make sure that our offerings can be accessed by people who can't drive the distance to come to Smyrna or don't have transportation or have childcare or whatever. So we're trying to push out. We've opened over five, maybe we're up to six or seven now, satellite locations.

But the one that I am most excited about is we have opened classes at Austell Elementary.

David Owen: 00:11:01

Yeah. So just meeting you for the first time this morning, I could see exactly why you're so excited.

Kalia, tell us a little bit about how they have been able to used the program in your building, I presume. Tell us a little bit about how you have related to the adult ed program.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:11:22

So one of the things that was really exciting for me, so I've only been a principal for three years. This is my third year at Austell. And one of the things going in is just kind of you want to get the groove. What's going on with your community?

What do they need? And one of the things was supporting students with homework. So I had to figure out what was the thing that was needed. And it was literacy support.

And a lot of the families Reached out about having the need or the desire to finish their schooling, either high school, college, getting English language learning in. And so I was like, okay, this is perfect. A dream of mine was to have a GED program.

Reached out to adult Ann and got this wonderful connection with Dr. Kranzlein. And we got it started.

It took a little bit to get it off the road, but we were able to get plenty of community interest and then started in May of last year. And it has been wonderful since.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:12:15

, she's really meaning May of: 2025

David Owen: 00:12:20

Oh, okay.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:12:20

So the end of school year last spring.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:12:23

So just a few months ago.

David Owen: 00:12:24

Yeah, just a few months ago. In case you're watching this later. So do you have any stories about how your school culture has been impacted by all of this?

Kahliah Rachel: 00:12:35

Absolutely.

So one of the things, when we first started announcing that this was going to happen, we had families not just from our community, but also in the south end of the county. So families who Sanders, Clarkdale, LaBelle were interested in joining the cohort.

And so we have, we opened it up and our parent facilitators have been talking, our school social workers have been talking. So that's getting the name out there about the program, which is extremely exciting.

As far as our students, they like seeing that their parents are attending school as well. And the families are just overwhelmingly supportive in keeping the program going.

So we just recently had a graduate, our first GED graduate, and that excitement in the community had him have three, four individuals reach out to him about how they could be a part of the program as well. And so I think that that is going to be the sustaining part for the program itself.

David Owen: 00:13:37

So you kind of got a built in ambassador.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:13:40

Absolutely.

David Owen: 00:13:40

You get a graduate out there and he's like, yes, I did it. Other people go, well, if he can do it, maybe I can.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:13:46

Absolutely. Because his accomplishment led to a job promotion.

David Owen: 00:13:50

So I'm just imagining, and this is the weird way my brain works, so bear with me. But I'm just imagining a parent who is in the program or working through it turns to their student and says, have you done your homework?

And the student says, have you done yours?

Kim Kranzlein: 00:14:06

Have you done yours?

David Owen: 00:14:07

Yeah. So I'm very curious. I don't know if you are able to hear any of that kind of story as well.

Kahliah Rachel: 00:14:15

I am. So the accountability piece for the student and the parent student is just what you described. They're excited to support one another.

And that is what that was the dream, that was the vision for it how can we sustain something that shows a student that their parent is working to do something that they're also working to do and make it sound as though or the reality that education is the next step that keeps you going? And so with that goal in mind and with that excitement and drive, it has really dug deep into the culture of the community for Austin.

David Owen: 00:14:51

Okay, well, Kim, earlier you mentioned the. I think you said 44,000 adults needing a GED or to better their learning in general.

Obviously, these locations being in Smyrna area and south of there, are there other locations throughout the county that can help meet the needs of those other 44,000 adults?

Kim Kranzlein: 00:15:16

Yes. So we have classes at Schweitzer Library, at Sibley Library, and at Powder Springs.

And in the next few weeks, we'll actually be offering GED classes at North Cobb Library.

David Owen: 00:15:30

Oh, wow. Okay.

Kim Kranzlein: 00:15:31

So we're slowly but surely trying to expand out and make it where anybody in Cobb can get the support they need.

David Owen: 00:15:41

Okay, well, fantastic. This is some encouraging news to hear. Expansion, reaching out to meet the needs of all of these adults.

Thank you so much for sharing these insights and for all that you're doing. I know it's not an easy lift. People have so many different things in their lives and you're trying to meet all those needs.

That's not just a quick and easy solution. So thank you for going the extra mile, both of you, because I think your communities are very grateful for this.

So for anyone listening who wants to earn their GED and improve their English or gain job ready credentials, classes are free and enrollment is ongoing.

You can find more information@cobk12.org adulted and don't forget, like subscribe and share this episode so more people can hear about the life changing opportunities right here in Cobb County. Thank you for listening to the Inside Scoop, a podcast produced by the Cobb County.