National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes represent a unique subculture on college campuses, and the athlete must balance the rigors of coursework, athletics, and the non-traditional dynamics associated with being an athlete, which include "dumb jock" stereotypes, isolation, negative criticism, and the fear…

Many adults--particularly those with just a high school education--struggle to get and keep jobs that pay enough to support their families and permit upward mobility. At the same time, some employers report difficulty finding people with the right skills to meet their needs. Programs that target in-demand industries or sectors and heavily involve…

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…

"Middle-skills" jobs require more education and training than that provided by a high school diploma but less education and training than a four-year college degree. Employers struggle to find workers with the needed combination of knowledge and skills to fill middle-skills jobs; this search for workers is particularly pertinent to the…

Students need learning experiences connected with the world of work to equip them to enter the workforce and secure good jobs. This report provides an overview of funding for career and technical education and a detailed look at Career and Technical Education (CTE) funding models in Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West…

The authors of this report aim to understand the health of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and labor market in the Appalachia region -- defined as the intersection of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia -- with a focus on the mining and extraction industry. This report is the third in a three-part series.…

This second of five annual reports focuses on employment and wages in energy and advanced manufacturing-related industries and on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education indicators in the Appalachia Partnership Initiative (API) region, comprising twenty-seven counties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Together,…

This first of five annual reports focuses on employment and wages in energy and advanced manufacturing--related industries and on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education indicators in the Appalachia Partnership Initiative (API) region. Together, these reports will capture trends over the next four years to (1) inform the…

Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

Communities face powerful challenges--a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy--that require powerful solutions. In a climate of increasingly constrained resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant,…

The Ohio Skill Gap Initiative was conducted to determine the following: (1) what foundational skills--and skill levels--do entry-level employees need to succeed in today's workplace and (2) whether the students graduating from Ohio's public schools possess the foundational skills that will permit them to acquire the knowledge and…

A survey instrument containing 191 task statements was sent to Ohio's 49 joint vocational school superintendents in order to identify the competencies necessary in administering a joint vocational school. Forty-six superintendents responded, for a 93.88 percent response rate. Of the 191 tasks, 121 (63 percent) were deemed important to…

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO IDENTIFY THE NUMBER AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OFF-FARM AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS IN OHIO. A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS DEVELOPED, PRETESTED, AND MAILED TO 7,847 DIFFERENT FIRMS, AGENCIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SAMPLE. RESPONSES WERE KEYED TO THE STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CODE INDEX SO THAT CENSUS DATA COULD BE USED AS A PROJECTION…

Ohio vocational education teachers' awareness of, attitudes toward, and use of national skill standards were examined through a survey of a proportional (by vocational program area) stratified random sample of 346 of Ohio's 3,499 secondary vocational teachers. Of the teachers surveyed, 205 (59%) returned usable responses. The teachers were…

This document, which is intended to assist individuals responsible for developing tech prep programs, lists the occupational, academic, and employability competencies that representatives from education, business/industry, and labor throughout Ohio have identified as being necessary for employment in technician-level positions involving the…