Apprenticeship is engrained in America's history -- three of the Founding Fathers started their careers as apprentices. Apprenticeship is a model employers can trust, helping to ensure talent is prepared for in-demand opportunities while also providing a quality postsecondary path for young Americans who are questioning the traditional four-year…

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) approved the first nationally registered K-12 teacher apprenticeship program in Tennessee in January 2022, opening the door to a rapidly growing pathway for prospective teachers. Since then, DOL has approved registered teacher apprenticeships in more than 30 states. The Tennessee Grow Your Own (GYO) model became…

Educator preparation programs (EPPs) have an opportunity to leverage and strengthen existing district partnerships to lead the way in co-designing teacher Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs), including the launch, operation, and continuous improvement of programs. At the very minimum, EPPs should be at the table as states, districts, and…

Ascend Indiana is a nonprofit intermediary organization that connects Hoosiers to in-demand careers and regional employers to skilled talent, fostering cross-sector partnerships, building capacity, and developing insights that enable system-level change to transform the career trajectory of youth and adults in the community. As part of their…

Teachers contribute more to reading and math outcomes than any other factor of schooling. However, teacher shortages are pervasive. How can schools and districts recruit high-quality educators, hold onto to the ones they already have, and reflect the diversity of their students? This infographic highlights innovative models beyond the traditional…

The nation's workforce demands look vastly different today than they did just a few years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic, economic challenges, and complex technological developments across all industries continue to change the way America works. Unfortunately, labor market demand has not coincided with similar shifts in America's education systems,…

In the 21st century, education has become America's most significant marker of class privilege. People with bachelor's and advanced degrees have mostly prospered, while wages for those with less education have fallen. This divergence in economic fortunes lies at the heart of our country's present economic and political discontents. Federal and…

To know which skills are required at which levels, in which areas, for whom, and how, is crucial. For this purpose, Cedefop has been stepping up its skills intelligence work. A high-level virtual conference in 2021, followed by a series of thematic workshops, kick-started Cedefop's next generation skills intelligence activities. It provided new…

Youth apprenticeship is a strategy for building a more inclusive economy by creating affordable, reliable, and equitable pathways from high school to good jobs and college degrees. As youth apprenticeship programs develop and expand across the U.S., it is critical that practitioners develop plans for capturing, analyzing, and leveraging data at…

The nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area enjoy the greatest advantages of the innovation economy. The Bay Area accounted for nearly $1 trillion in economic productivity in 2018; the only metropolitan area with a higher per-capita gross domestic product was oil-rich and comparatively tiny Midland, Texas. Unemployment in most Bay Area…

Comprehensive, high-quality career development includes work-based learning (WBL) experiences such as workplace tours, job shadowing, school-based enterprises, internships, and apprenticeships. In addition to the activities themselves, WBL is often best defined by a strong partnership between an education program, an employer, and a motivated…

In 2018, BHEF and the Business Roundtable joined forces to create the Workforce Partnership Initiative (WPI). The initiative invited Business Roundtable CEOs to form multi-company partnerships and connect with leaders of postsecondary institutions to meet regional workforce needs. Dozens of CEOs responded, and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation awarded…

Next Steps at Vanderbilt, an inclusive postsecondary education program at Vanderbilt University, aims to equip students with skills and experiences to gain competitive employment. Next Steps has two primary goals: (1) Increase opportunities for students to gain targeted skills in career fields of interest; and (2) Create new career development…

As the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) expands its Registered Apprenticeship College Consortium (RACC) among community colleges and employer partners, those involved are looking to countries like Germany and Switzerland for inspiration. In some cases, that has meant partnering with companies from those countries, which have had more comprehensive…

According to data, there are few Southern communities where a child born in poverty has more than a 6 percent chance of moving to the upper income quintile as an adult. In Network communities, 31 to 39 percent are expected to remain in the lowest bracket. Improvements to the talent development system and its surrounding ecosystem are crucial to…