Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an essential strategy for transforming the country's education system. Unfortunately, most learners lack sufficient access to knowledgeable industry experts who can link what is taught in the classroom to what is applied in the real world. To support states in addressing this lack of access, the Center on…

Locally or individually, STEM programs provide additional opportunities to engage K-12 students, including those from marginalized groups, with the support of STEM outreach organizations through the co-construction and implementation of STEM activities during school, out of school, at home, and in the community. Research suggests that…

The skills gap--the disparity between job openings and job seekers in an employment category--is wider in some sectors and parts of the country than others. The disconnect between community colleges and employers perpetuates the skills gap. Despite the current push among educators, politicians, and employers to increase completion rates, that…

The nation has made an unprecedented investment in community colleges to simultaneously increase college completion and stimulate economic recovery. One of the most substantial investments was the Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program of the United States Department of Labor (U.S.DOL). Beginning October 2011,…

The apprenticeship movement is reshaping skills, policies, and programs in the United States at a critical moment in our country's history. This reader offers a chorus of voices emanating from different countries and populations, echoing commitment to bright, sustainable workforce futures through a well-crafted approach to this talent development…

When Tim Clevenger became executive director of the University of Oregon Alumni Association in 2011, he was dismayed to learn that revenue, including paid memberships, was steadily declining. The association staff and board of directors considered multiple strategies to boost earnings, with stabilizing and growing dues revenue high on the list.…

Governors are increasingly aware that the emerging economy will provide few well-paying jobs for workers who have not earned a postsecondary degree or a relevant workforce certificate. Fifty years ago, nearly 80 percent of all jobs required only a high school diploma or less and most paid a good wage. Fast-forward to data from 2013 and that number…

This year, across the nation, state legislators and powerful corporate interests with financial ties to universities and influence over them have launched an unprecedented number of attacks on law school clinics. As universities increasingly seek to educate students through service-learning courses, law school clinics may be the bellwether for…

The national goal of increasing postsecondary credentials, to improve both equity and economic competitiveness, requires a fresh look at how to recognize learning in noncredit workforce education and training. The credit hour has long been the standard academic currency in postsecondary education. Despite its weakness as a measure of learning, in…

Oregon's Business Education Compact is a clearinghouse for businesses and schools seeking to develop partnerships. Both groups pay membership fees and receive services that nurture mutually beneficial relationships. (SK)

Interviews with representatives of three Oregon state universities and three businesses identified important indicators of effective collaborative relationships: continuation and expansion of the relationship, positive course evaluations, referrals of other companies, employee productivity, employee course enrollments, and university income from…

Bowing to student demands to "stop supporting genocide," the University of California regents voted earlier this year to divest millions of dollars from companies working in the war-torn African nation of Sudan, the first major public university in the nation to take such action. Since student protests on the subject began at Harvard…

Financed by a loan from a local businessman, staff at an Oregon high school established Outlawnet, a student-operated Internet service company. Students take courses each trimester to learn computer design and operation. They also update local businesses' Web pages, market computers, and learn cooperative job skills. (MLH)

This document records the oral and written testimony given by witnesses at a Congressional hearing conducted to look at Oregon's efforts in school-business partnerships and school-to-work transition programs. Witnesses included representatives of federal and state agencies, private industries participating in the programs, and schools…

This handbook provides a practical guide for local communities to use to establish work education councils. It deals both with the role which such a council can play in a community and with the process for setting up a work education council. Following an introduction that discusses the work education council concept and demonstration project, the…