Youth service professionals in various settings across the United States are responsible for preparing youth and youth adults, ages 12 to 25, to be successful in employment, postsecondary education, and adult life. Whether they work in the public workforce development system or other public agencies (e.g., child welfare, juvenile justice, mental…

In recent years, two-year colleges have tried various strategies to improve student outcomes and remediate skill deficits in order to promote academic and employment success. Promising approaches include career pathways, dual-enrollment, competency-based credentialing, sectoral strategies, wrap-around services, and acceleration. Taken together,…

In an effort to provide additional insight on providing a secure teaching and learning environment within schools, this study sought to: (1) explore the safety and health practices within Career and Technical Education (CTE); and (2) identify the perceived obstacles which appear to hinder implementation of health and safety programs. While it…

The Skills for Jobs White Paper and funding and accountability consultation set out the Government's plans to introduce a greater focus on the outcomes of learning, including a new Skills Measure that looks at the employment and other outcomes that learners achieve. Will this give colleges and providers greater freedom to deliver for learners, or…

The Linking Learning to Careers (LLC) program offered high school students with disabilities an individualized and targeted approach to strategically plan for their futures. The Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) designed LLC to build on its usual services for high school students to emphasize unpaid and paid work-based learning…

Workforce development in the United States today is spread across higher education institutions (primarily public two-year and for-profit colleges), labor market institutions, and workplaces, with public funding from a range of sources. But outcomes for students and workers are weaker than they could be, especially among disadvantaged students and…

In the years immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers, researchers, and philanthropists recognized the pressing need to build and strengthen the early care and education (ECE) workforce. Evidence documenting the relationship between early childhood educator professional preparation and children's outcomes spurred a growing…

Responding to David Stoesz's invited article criticizing the Children's Bureau and the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI), the author's inaccurate assertions are challenged, and new information is provided about the significant work underway to support the child welfare workforce. The Children's Bureau has made historic investments…

Tennessee education leaders must improve their student retention strategies to increase financial stability and enhance the state's ability to support businesses and jobs through a well-educated workforce. The focus of this qualitative multiple case study was on 6 Tennessee community colleges where leaders had demonstrated successful strategies…

This report summarizes the two-year findings of a rigorous random assignment evaluation of the WorkAdvance model, a sectoral training and advancement initiative. Launched in 2011, WorkAdvance goes beyond the previous generation of employment programs by introducing demand-driven skills training and a focus on jobs that have career pathways. The…

States are introducing and enacting an increasing number of bills targeted toward workforce development and career and technical education. The increase in legislation illustrates a shift toward creating collaborations between higher education institutions and employers in the state as one strategy to enhance workforce development and…

This report identifies the most relevant considerations adults have when assessing options to pursue higher education. The report further details what factors institutions of higher education need to consider in order to successfully attract, enroll, retain and graduate adult student populations. The report also highlights why the increased…

In 2015 WakeEd Partnership and Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), North Carolina's largest school system, designed an engaging, results-oriented professional development opportunity for elementary and secondary educators -- SummerSTEM. SummerSTEM is a hands-on professional development experience that addresses the needs of educators --…

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…

Nationally, there is a great demand for systems that meet the needs of local employers as well as develop tools and training for their incumbent workers. Concurrently, demand for healthcare professionals is growing and projected to continue for the next decade. Worcester State University created the "Direct Care Workforce Development…