The availability of affordable and high-quality child care has long been an issue for the workforce. The escalation of this challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic brought needed attention and federal funding to support the child care industry and working parents. While such financial support is critical, the early childhood education (ECE)…

Current approaches to secondary school are producing high numbers of dropouts and low numbers of students well prepared for college and careers. Given global demand for better education quality and relevance, a reform movement in the US that blends rigorous academic learning and applied technical study may be of interest to other countries. Yet…

University-agency partnerships funded by Title IV-E encourage students to enter the child welfare field by providing student stipends, thus supporting child welfare agency workforce development. This article examines the literature and historical roots of Title IV-E and other partnerships, identifies common structures and outcomes, and discusses…

Concerns over the United States' global standing have spurred a national focus on improving postsecondary attainment. At the same time, many sectors of the economy find they have difficulty recruiting highly trained individuals to fill the good jobs that exist; jobs like nursing, respiratory care, dental hygiene, and various mid-level management…

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) measures participant labor market outcomes to drive program performance. This article uses statistical analysis to examine the relationship between participant characteristics and key outcome measures in one large California local WIA program. This study also measures the impact of different training…

There is a highly compelling case for using technology on a large scale to increase access to and improve America's adult education and workforce skills enterprise. By the reckoning of the National Commission on Adult Literacy and others, the nation must reach many more millions of adults with effective college- and job-readiness skills programs…

State programs offer greatest promise for practical strategic actions to enhance the quality of the nation's adult work force. Three steps in the recursive process that create a model of state action are as follows: (1) documentation of the platform for action, which consists of current adult work force attributes and current institutional…