This chapter examines institutionally funded free community college programs that address specific community workforce needs. Within the article, the authors showcase "Rediscover LCCC," a foundation-funded scholarship program at Laramie County Community College in Wyoming that pays students' tuition and fees for up to three years in…

Over the past 35 years, a range of 'new' policy actors and networks has emerged from the private sector under the rationale of efficient, free-market alternatives to traditional public policymakers. Under a critical policy studies framework, this paper uses discourse analysis and interviews with key stakeholders to examine how one regional…

Ongoing research and evaluation that produce actionable, widely disseminated evidence are central to the continuous improvement of U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) programs. In addition, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 (WIOA) requires DOL to conduct periodic, independent evaluations to inform the effective operation of WIOA…

Interdisciplinary programmes have proliferated across post-secondary education in recent decades. Despite this, little attention has been paid to the manner in which interdisciplinary programmes promote themselves to external constituents. To study this process, we conduct a content analysis of the online self-descriptions of 203…

The career landscape has changed dramatically over the past two decades with the adoption of technology and an increasingly global and virtual workforce. As a result, schools and academic institutions must go beyond current curriculum to teach and develop the new skills and competencies that are required to keep pace with the demands of careers in…

"Changing the Course of Family Literacy" re-examines the importance and value of family literacy programming and offers several policy recommendations to focus attention on the four-component model used in Even Start. This paper explores the current status of Family literacy and, after gathering information from 47 states, found that 11…

The 'learning city' contains a range of non-formal learning economies. In recent years researchers have focused on, what has been termed, the non-formal arts learning sector, to document best practices, the emergence of new literacies and/or cultural practices, and to highlight interventions that support otherwise marginalised and underserved…

This paper explores the concept of mutual (reciprocal) learning as an enabler of the emergence of a collective human-machine intelligence across a smart factory. The interlinking of digital profiles of humans and machines permits the identification and measurement of learning outcomes through participating in and performing of (shared) tasks. To…

This paper explores the implications for learning design in HRM education in the 21st century. An open systems perspective is used to argue the importance of establishing productive relationships between academia, professional associations, regulators and industry (resource inputs) to support the creation of optimal learning environments (the…

The world of work is changing profoundly, at a time when the global economy is not creating a sufficient number of jobs. Many documents issued by the EU and various researches, carried out by companies and human resources experts, point out that the so-called "soft" skills are closely connected with employability, particularly for young…

Despite impressive progress in education enrollments in recent decades, Brazil continues to face important obstacles to overall quality and secondary school completion rates that restrict the nation's ability to produce a skilled workforce. Vocational and Technical Education and Training (VET) is a key element in the strategy to more quickly…

This paper reports a problem-based learning model for the training of university students in the area of industrial energy efficiency, and discusses its context, contents, and the results from its implementation. The impact has been significant, with hundreds of university graduates trained and many of them now working in industry, leading their…

Most of the authors in this issue of "Future of Children" focus on a single strategy for helping both adults and children that could become a component of two-generation programs. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, on the other hand, look at actual programs with an explicit two-generation focus that have been tried in the…

People aged 55 and older are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in much of the developed world. While they have seen tremendous changes in technology and everyday living over their lifetime, some of the biggest societal changes are those that they themselves are helping to make. In the U.S., these mature individuals can expect to live…

This paper examines the origins of developmental education and explores the way developmental education is administered at selected colleges in Arkansas. Finally, the paper focuses on a model Career Pathways Initiative program at University of Arkansas Community College-Morrilton. Career Pathways invigorates partnerships between colleges and…