The skilled building trades offer true vocations that are well paid, challenging, and usually require extensive training and continuing education. The National Center for Construction Education and Research is meeting the challenge of creating a skilled work force. (JOW)

In many areas of the country, career and technical education programs are connecting learning with the resources, culture, history and people of the places where they are based. They are also forging a special connection between education and the needs of the community. Two such programs are discussed in this article. In the first example,…

America is facing a skilled labor shortage in the construction industry. Predictions, like those from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, are that things may get worse. Retiring construction workers must be replaced if this industry is to grow. The estimate is around a quarter of a million replacements are needed each year.…