Teachers must possess a deep understanding of subject matter to effectively teach content. Historically, Agricultural Education degrees were technical agriculture degrees with a specialization in education. Degrees consisted of one-third technical content, with an additional one-third of the coursework in integrative studies, where students…

Exploring Summer Youth Employment Programs: Increasing Access Through Career Pathways builds the case and provides actionable recommendations for state-led support in the intentional alignment of summer youth employment programs (SYEP) with career pathways and the work-based learning continuum, including through Career Technical Education (CTE).…

Multi-institutional educational partnerships are a promising approach to developing the skilled technical workforce. Inexorably, the ability to maintain such partnership networks that support skilled technical workforce education was disrupted by COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to explore Southwest Virginia's science, technology,…

Today's myriad local and global challenges highlight the need for STEM professionals who have discipline-specific competencies as well as an understanding of social issues and how to get things done in our democracy. In addition, there has never been a greater need for scientific, mathematical, and technological literacy for all citizens. This…

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) funded Manhattan Strategy Group and Abt Associates to conduct the Advancing Innovation in Adult Education project. The goal is to inspire and promote the development and use of innovate approaches in adult education that can result in high quality services…

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, state education leaders have been developing numerous innovative approaches to supporting high school students who are pursuing career pathways and preparing them for successful outcomes beyond secondary education. This topical brief summarizes state needs and strategies related to supporting…

Teacher education programs at small liberal arts colleges and universities are among the most vulnerable to decreased enrollment, yet they are uniquely positioned to provide well-rounded future teachers and educational leaders for a democratic society. To inform recruitment efforts, this study examined students' perceptions of teaching careers and…

Tremendous teacher shortages and shifts in the preparation of technology and engineering (T&E) teachers have been occurring for some time (Litowitz, 2014; Moye, 2009; Volk, 1997, 2019). The training and certification of these teachers is extremely varied since each state certifies T&E teachers independently and most states offer several…

Efforts to build the workforce in support of the second quantum revolution are growing, including the creation of education programs that will prepare students for jobs in this area. We surveyed 186 undergraduate students with majors across the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and followed up with group interviews to…

Increasingly, people are looking for education and training options that are more affordable, flexible, can quickly open doors to good jobs, and--ideally--pave the way for further educational attainment. Businesses also want to hire workers with the skills needed for jobs in growing industries. Non-degree credentials (NDCs) can often meet these…

This study synthesizes lessons learned about the promising role of "career navigators" at community colleges to aid students in the transitions through disjunctures in their careers. Career navigators are student support personnel who follow students from recruitment, through their studies or training programs, to job placement. Findings…

This article reports on four synthesis findings from the Credentials to Careers (C2C) initiative -- a consortium of seven community colleges working to create and implement innovative programs to train or retrain unemployed and displaced workers for STEM, advanced manufacturing and health-care-related careers. These are 1) collaborating with…

Objective: To understand student perceptions, interest and intentions of pursuing public health as a result of COVID-19 during educational experiences. Participants: Two hundred seventy-seven students completed the survey representing 38 states and two countries. Methods: An online survey was administered to current undergraduate and graduate…

Since its inception, agricultural education has been instrumental in equipping secondary graduates with the necessary skills to be successful in their future career endeavors. While this has remained a priority over time, many employers claim that secondary graduates do not possess the necessary skills to be successful in the workforce. This study…

This qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis study explored the lived experiences of seven peer recovery specialists as they described their experiences with the Virginia Peer Recovery Certification Process and/or obtaining leadership roles. This research was viewed through a disability lens, along with modified labeling theory,…