Across the country, career pathways programs are a popular bipartisan tool for addressing state workforce shortages and ensuring students graduate high school with workforce-ready skills. Delaware Pathways is one such example, formally established by executive order in 2016 by then-Delaware Gov. Jack Markell. The program consists of state-approved…

It has become increasingly difficult to succeed in the U.S. workforce with only a high school diploma. While 75% of the middle-class workforce had only a high school education in the 1970s, that percentage dropped to below 40% by 2007. An estimated two-thirds of all jobs in 2020 will require some postsecondary training, up from just a quarter of…

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…

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…

This paper provides information about noncredit instruction in the California Community Colleges and updates the 2009 paper "Noncredit Instruction: Opportunity and Challenge" to incorporate subsequent changes from the last decade. Since the passage of SB 361 (Scott, 2006), noncredit instruction has seen significant changes, including the…

This resource was prepared in response to a request for information about the innovations and lessons learned as the result of the investments States have made in transforming their workforce using their Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grants. These strategies and accomplishments will be helpful to other States as they…

This study was conducted to determine the feasibility of investigating State legislation pertaining to vocational, technical, adult, manpower, and career education and its impact on curriculums and programs. Computer search methodology was utilized to identify relevant laws in five states: Maryland, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Analysis of…

Emphasizing the central role of community colleges in workforce development, this two-part monograph reviews the status of workforce development initiatives at the national, state, and local levels and provides descriptions of 10 exemplary programs at community colleges across North America. The first part focuses on the status of and operating…

Although several fundamental forces are changing the American economy and the American work force, three conditions are pivotal--demographic change, technological change coupled with shifting conditions of competition, and the continuing inadequacies of both public- and private-sector employment and training policies. The employment and training…

In North Carolina, work force development education (WDE) begins in grade 6 with exploratory courses and leads to specialized classroom instruction in grades 11 and 12. Since 1992-1993, North Carolina's WDE programs have been evaluated with respect to eight long-range performance standards. Only in the case of standard 1 (all students will have…

The report provides an account of how the U.S. Office of Education's discretionary vocational education research program for fiscal year 1974 was planned and implemented under the administration of the new Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education and its component new Division of Research and Demonstration. The report contains basic information…

These guidelines, drawn from a number of sources, are designed to present in summary and outline form the multiple aspects of establishing and operating educational programs for health occupations which require less than a baccalaureate degree. To assure usefulness to lay persons, educators, practitioners, and others concerned with health…

Danish adult vocational training activities take the form of specifically targeted initial and continued training for employed and unemployed adults. Planning, development, and adaptation of vocational training programs (AMU programs) are characterized by tripartite cooperation among public authorities and organizations of employers and employees.…

This proceedings contains reports from nine states on welfare reform efforts and their effects on community colleges. Reports are presented from the following states: (1) South Carolina, reviewing the state's efforts to create an alliance with local businesses to train a self-sufficient work force; (2) Wyoming, revealing that a skills training…

Under the provisions of the Vocational Education Act of 1963, the Advisory Council on Vocational Education was directed to review the administration and status of vocational education programs. Highlights, recommendations, issues, and problems of vocational education within the national context of changing social, educational, and economic…