The Covid-19 pandemic has vividly illustrated the centrality of frontline workers to the everyday functioning of the American economy and daily life. But while some articles have mentioned the high proportion of immigrant workers in these roles, there has been much less attention paid to the high number of English learners in particular. The…

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the current status of workforce preparation in Washington; identify high employer demand occupations, as well as fields in which academic degree production is failing to keep pace with demand; and highlight occupation fields in which students may find expanding employment opportunities. This…

High-quality data governance, a body or process designed to make decisions about how state education data is linked, used, accessed, and protected, is key to establishing a culture of effective data use in states. The three data governance bodies featured in this paper--the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics (KCEWS), the…

A growing number of states allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees as one strategy to meet workforce demands, address affordability, and increase access to educational opportunities. Offering bachelor's degrees traditionally has been the domain of four-year institutions, while community colleges have been established to award…

As many as one in three businesses in the United States struggled to fill needed jobs in 2015. Millions of Americans, including at least 5.5 million youth, are disconnected from employment. Governors have a tremendous opportunity through the implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to reset their state…

The guided pathways approach to community and technical college redesign has significant impacts for adult basic education (ABE). The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Ability to Benefit provide federal support that complements the work being done in Guided Pathways. Washington state's approach to implementing guided pathways…

Alignment between K-12 education and the workforce is critical because jobs are changing. Students must be prepared not only for the jobs of today but also for the jobs of the future. Securely linking data between state K-12 and workforce data systems can create a bridge between these agencies as they develop shared career readiness goals for…

Data governance provides state agencies a structure in which to define the roles and responsibilities needed to ensure clear processes for collecting and reporting education data and to ensure accountability for data quality and security. To make informed policy decisions across agencies, such as the state education agency and early childhood,…

Aerospace is an economic powerhouse that generates jobs and fuels our economy. Washington's community and technical colleges produce the world-class employees needed to keep it that way. With about 1,250 aerospace-related firms employing more than 94,000 workers, Washington has the largest concentration of aerospace expertise in the nation. To…

Industries in every state are struggling to find qualified applicants for jobs, while job seekers too often find they lack the skills needed to enter or move along a career pathway to a good job. Preparing a workforce that is poised to meet the needs of businesses and ultimately to make the state more economically competitive is a top priority for…

This multiple case study explored Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that were identified as having a focus on sustainability. Using the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (AASHE STARS) as a conceptual framework, the researchers interpreted…

Improving the quality of the teacher workforce is high on the nation's education policy agenda, but school systems continue to face difficulties in staffing STEM and special education classrooms with qualified teachers. This article documents the mismatch between the supply and demand of STEM and special education teachers in Washington State,…

Several federal grants prioritized the role of community colleges in education and training in recent years, and one of the most substantial investments was the Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program of the United States Department of Labor (DOL). Beginning October 2011, these $2 billion capacity-building…

What would it take for all students completing high school in Washington to be ready for their next step? What common knowledge and skills should students have to be successful in an array of pathways leading to countless careers? For the past two years, the State Board of Education (SBE), with the support of a National Association of State Boards…

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions and Jobs for the Future, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation, launched the Youth/Industry Partnership Initiative (YIPI), to learn how employer-led industry partnerships could addressing the crisis of youth unemployment--7 percent of American youth (age 16-24) are neither in school or…