This qualitative case study examined the process Northcentral Technical College (NTC), a two-year institution, navigated to design and implement a standardized prior learning assessment (PLA) program. With the projected labor market shortage, PLA is one strategy colleges have been recommended to use to provide the opportunity for students to apply…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

Understanding how educational practitioners make sense of and subsequently implement policy has been an increasingly important objective of the K-12 research community. This study extends this research into higher education via an in-depth case study of an urban public 2-year technical college. Drawing on sensemaking theory and critical policy…