Our nation's economy and global competitiveness depend on an educated, skilled workforce that can quickly adapt to changes in technology and business processes. Adult educators understand that adult learners need opportunities to obtain workplace and career management skills through work-based learning experiences that prepare them for the complex…

In today's volatile economy, we can no longer afford to underinvest in America's opportunity youth. The costs of ignoring these young people, who are disconnected from education and out of work, are too high and growing. Building skills and gaining work experience are key to young people's upward mobility, but the pandemic has all but shut off…

Many adult education providers are developing career pathways (CP) programs, which are viewed as an important workforce development and poverty alleviation strategy in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, by state and local governments, and by private funders. Based on a three-year researcher-practitioner partnership, this paper uses…

Given that work-based learning (WBL) can -- and should be -- a key driver of student career readiness in these efforts, it is essential that all states have a robust work-based learning continuum of experiences and exposure that spans K-16. WBL is an essential element of career and technical education (CTE), and ExcelinEd's CTE Playbook series…

The guided pathways approach to community and technical college redesign has significant impacts for adult basic education (ABE). The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Ability to Benefit provide federal support that complements the work being done in Guided Pathways. Washington state's approach to implementing guided pathways…

Despite legal mandates and evidence of predictors of success in transition, there continue to be poor outcomes for students with disabilities as compared to students without disabilities. This article describes the first steps of a quality improvement project, including a needs assessment and description of the current constraints of transition…

The paid annual vacation is now the rule rather than the exception in conditions of employment in the United States. Collective bargaining and unilateral decisions by employers have increased the length of paid annual vacations and reduced qualifying periods of employment for millions of workers. In recent years the 4-week annual vacation has…

A resource tool for the manpower planning practitioner, the book provides significant background information on the growth of manpower programs and reasons for placing heavy emphasis on local labor markets. The background material includes a discussion of the role and functioning of labor markets. The major portion of the book is devoted to…

The guide, developed by the Secondary Transition and Employment Project (STEP) in Idaho, is intended for agency or school staff developing a community-based vocational training program for persons with mild, moderate, or severe disabilities. The guide is intended to be used with three available video tapes. The first module's goal is the…

Based on the model used in developing the Wagner College Affirmative Action Plan (Wagner College, Staten Island, New York), the book provides conceptual guidelines and methods for implementing the job analysis approach to Affirmative Action plans. It should be useful to personnel directors, employment counselors, and manpower planners. The book…

This document contains testimony from two Senate hearings on the Reemployment and Training Act of 1994 by U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and other witnesses concerning the Act and the need for changes in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to notify employees of impending layoffs.…

This manual presents six papers on the design of community-based employment programs for students with severe disabilities. The first paper is "Community-Based Vocational Preparation for Students with Severe Disabilities: Designing the Process" by Katherine J. Inge et al. This paper details a five-step process for designing such a…

This handbook was developed to assist local education agency personnel in establishing and administering high school apprenticeship programs, especially in North Carolina. The guide is organized in seven chapters that cover the following topics: (1) what apprenticeship is; (2) how a registered apprenticeship program works; (3) why employers choose…

The report of first-year problems and potential solutions, based on a study of legal issues which arose in the development of employer based career education (EBCE) programs, is presented as a working draft from which certain policy questions and priority issues may be delineated. Federal statutes and the statutes of Pennsylvania, West Virginia,…

The formation of local workforce investment boards (WIBs) was examined through case studies of two sites in Indiana and two in Kentucky. The four sites had very different labor market conditions, contexts, and One Stop histories that affected their formation of local WIBs and selection of One Stop operators. The boards surveyed ranged in size from…