As America's key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary abilities and credentials to fill their vacancies, the knowledge, skills, and third-party industry credentials earned in secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs seem a close match. Using a non-experimental, quantitative study, this research…

Nationally, the labor market is calling out for workers to fill the increasing number of job vacancies, but those qualified, skilled, and able to fill them are limited in supply or retiring in large numbers. As America's key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary skills and credentials to fill their vacancies,…

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, state education leaders have been developing numerous innovative approaches to supporting high school students who are pursuing career pathways and preparing them for successful outcomes beyond secondary education. This topical brief summarizes state needs and strategies related to supporting…

In Virginia, all high school students can earn either a Standard diploma or an Advanced Studies diploma, the latter being a college preparatory diploma. Starting in 2017, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) began requiring students graduating with the Standard diploma to earn a career and technical education (CTE) credential to encourage…

The National Fund's Young Adult Initiatives aim to test and implement new strategies for targeting America's young adults and share this information so that employers and workforce development can join forces in investing in the millions of young adults across the nation. This case study focuses on promising findings from automotive and…

Recent studies reported by the U.S. Department of Education reveal that over one million American students drop out of high school annually. While students have different reasons for dropping out of school, two leading factors include lack of interest and lack of educational support. When teachers are prepared to teach and do it using an engaging,…

The ACE Mentor Program provides early career exposure, mentoring, and scholarships to high school students in an attempt to encourage them to enter one of the three fields that make up the ACE acronym: (1) architecture; (2) construction; and (3) engineering. Founded in 1993 by longtime engineering consultant Charles Thornton, the program is…