Massachusetts is one of a handful of states that is often recognized as a leader in public education, and for good reason. The Commonwealth consistently outperforms most states on national reading and math tests and often leads the pack in education innovations. "Starting Young: Massachusetts Birth-3rd Grade Policies that Support Children's…

As policy makers have placed an increasing focus on training and preparing workers to obtain postsecondary credentials, questions remain about the value to various actors, especially for job seekers and workers who often invest time and money to obtain a credential with the hopes of improving their employment prospects and raising their earnings.…

In 2010 ACT sponsored a strategic workforce development summit with several prominent community college presidents from across the country. The presidents provided diverse perspectives about how to effectively prepare and validate a prepared workforce. This paper represents, in part, key elements of that discussion as well as what they think is a…

There are many benefits for emerging adults, both financial and personal, in obtaining a General Education Development (GED®) credential (Ou, 2008). However, little is known about the correlates of GED® credential attainment in "disconnected" emerging adults attending GED® programs. Our goal was to examine whether externalizing…

"coNCepts" is a state-specific policy primer of The Hunt Institute. Each issue focuses on a critical topic in education policy, highlights key research for North Carolina policymakers, and prompts discussion of solutions. This issue begins by describing North Carolina's economy as having experienced a remarkable transformation during the…

The authors' recent research has revealed that most afterschool programs in Milwaukee County have received relatively low ratings, and that their biggest hurdle to improving their scores often involved the educational qualifications of program staff. In light of the potential consequences of that finding--which include the possibility that the…

For leaders of schools in the 21st century, it seems there is a never-ending demand on what they need to be doing. Just when they thought they had a handle on traditional testing and ways to improve student achievement, along comes the Common Core Standards, which change the game in many ways. The Common Core will require students to have an…

Emerging alongside the open educational resources movement of the past decade, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been widely heralded as advancing cause of providing increased access to higher education. The article explores the implications of the recommendation by the American Council on Education (ACE) to offer college credit for a…

The pathways for academic career and employment program (PACE) is established to provide funding to community colleges for the development of projects that will lead to gainful, quality, in-state employment for members of target populations by providing them with both effective academic and employment training to ensure gain. This is the third…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

In the 2017 calendar year, 49 states and Washington, D.C., carried out a total of 241 policy actions related to CTE and career readiness, including legislation, executive orders, board of education actions and budget provisions. This is a marked increase from 2016, one that reflects the priorities of state leaders. According to the Education…

Postsecondary education and credentials are key to economic mobility for individuals and economic competitiveness for our nation. Although the economic return to credentials varies significantly by field of study, generally workers with higher levels of education have higher wages, work more hours, and suffer lower rates and shorter durations of…

The annual "Accountability Report" produced by the Council on Postsecondary Education highlights the system's performance on the state-level metrics included in "Stronger by Degrees: A Strategic Agenda for Kentucky Postsecondary and Adult Education." For each metric, we outline steps taken to improve performance, as well as…

Labor Market Survey (LMS) and labor market analysis knowledge and methodologies are minimum competencies expected of rehabilitation counselors through credentialing and accreditation boards. However, LMS knowledge and methodology is an example of a contemporary oral tradition that is universally recognized in rehabilitation and disability services…

Master's and doctoral degrees are required credentials for entry into the professional class. Although they do not guarantee the recipient an intrinsically rewarding career or a position of leadership, it is increasingly difficult to attain those positions without a graduate degree. The representation of persons of color among graduate degree…