This policy brief describes how State VR agencies are using and can use benefits planning services, as a VR agency-funded service, to help SSDI and SSI beneficiaries address concerns and fears about the potential loss of cash benefits and healthcare benefits (i.e., Medicaid and/or Medicare) as they move into jobs paying substantial wages. The…

The Forum Guide to Early Warning Systems provides information and best practices to help education agencies plan, develop, implement, and use an early warning system in their agency to inform interventions that improve student outcomes. The document includes a review of early warning systems and their use in education agencies and explains the…

The U.S. Department of Education's Policy to Performance project was funded in 2009 to build the capacity of state adult basic education (ABE) staff to develop and implement policies and practices that would support an ABE transition system. Policy to Performance states were selected though a competitive process. State adult education directors…

The "Policy to Performance Toolkit" is designed to provide state adult education staff and key stakeholders with guidance and tools to use in developing, implementing, and monitoring state policies and their associated practices that support an effective state adult basic education (ABE) to postsecondary education and training transition…

Working from the premise that innovation and entrepreneurship will thrive if cultivated in a supportive environment, the Juneau County Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) introduced a "club concept" as a key component of its strategic plan. The Wisconsin-based development corporation created the Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club…

Designed to improve PK-12 professional learning and increase student achievement, Wisconsin's policymakers developed and implemented new educator licensing guidelines (PI 34) and a Professional Development Plan (PDP) system based on empirical research and national policy trends in 2004. As PI 34 and the PDP system are relatively new, the…

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a "College Completion Tool Kit" intended to support the higher education attainment goals set by the Obama administration. These goals are consistent with the state's Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education. The tool kit lays out strategies for achieving higher levels of attainment…

Advanced Placement (AP), which enables high school students to take introductory college-level courses, is the nation's oldest example of a rigorous, common curriculum. Students who score well on AP exams are more likely to persist in college and earn a degree. The Advanced Placement Expansion project of the National Governors Association Center…

Embedding community engagement into the fabric of the university requires a well articulated strategic vision. This article shares lessons learned by the president of a comprehensive research university, focusing primarily on two case studies, both urban institutions. The article discusses two strategic planning processes-one at the University of…

From 1989 until 1998 the U.S. Department of Education administered the National Workplace Literacy Demonstration Program. During that period, over $130 million supported some 300 projects where adult education programs partnered with thousands of businesses, agencies, and organizations to provide work-based skills to employees. While only seven…

For over thirty years, portfolios have been used to help adult learners gain recognition for their prior learning and take greater control of their educational experiences. The portfolio has become a distinctive means of assessing such learning, serving as a meaningful alternative to conventional papers and standardized testing. This book provides…