While the majority of U.S students are children of color, only 20% of teachers are people of color. What's more, 40% of the nation's public schools do not have a single teacher of color on record. Research shows that all students, regardless of race or ethnicity, benefit socially, emotionally, and academically from a diverse teacher workforce.…

Adults who are out of work typically have low levels of education and limited work experience. In response, there has been an increased interest among leaders from the higher education and business communities to expand "earn and learn" opportunities that connect people to both postsecondary education and a career. Apprenticeships are a…

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,…

This report documents the efforts underway in 12 states and localities to tackle the enduring problem of African American, Native American, and Latino families faring worse than others being served by the child welfare systems. The publication, produced by Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) as part of the work of the Alliance for Racial…

It is a truism of American social policy that our nation has great success generating innovative programs that improve outcomes for participants--but that we are far less effective at moving from small, "boutique" programs into broadly applied solutions that improve the prospects of large numbers of individuals. This is certainly true in…

A growing number of community colleges are investing in new facilities and programs to train health care workers in a variety of professions, including nursing, radiology, health information technology, physical therapy, dentistry, and surgical technology. Community colleges have historically offered job training programs in health care, but with…

With support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and Jobs for the Future (JFF) formed the Greenforce Initiative--a two-year venture that will work with community colleges across the nation to strengthen their capacity to implement or refine quality pathways…

Students forced to complete a long sequence of remedial or English language classes before they can begin their postsecondary program rarely earn college certificates or degrees. This brief highlights six promising programs that show how career pathway bridges help lower-skilled students move farther and faster along college and career paths…

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…

The nation's 1,200 community colleges are well positioned to strengthen the workforce of one of America's most critical sectors--health care. They can provide training and credentialing for incumbent workers in health care and to prepare new workers to succeed in and meet the workforce demands for this sector--expanding individual opportunity and…

The emerging green economy will create not just jobs, but--if done right--career opportunities across the United States as green manufacturing, green products, and green services fuel demand for workers at all skill levels. Sixty-one percent of the members of the Association of Energy Engineers report a growing shortage of qualified professionals…

Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011:…

HRD university curricula from seven online Master's degree programs are compared with their on-campus counterparts. With the exception of one university that does not provide a similar Master's degree program on-campus, curricula are identical in three universities, while curricula in three other universities differ in only one or two courses. A…

The nation's changing economy requires workers to attain increasingly higher job skills. Leaders in education, workforce development, and economic development recognize the need to help workers meet this challenge and to help employers find qualified employees. Barriers to educational and career opportunities will need to be removed so that…

The Plus 50 Initiative is a three-year initiative of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), launched in June 2008 and funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies. It was created to support a pilot group of two-year institutions to develop or expand campus programs that engage plus 50 learners. The overarching goal of the Plus 50…