This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment that was held to discuss reauthorizing the National Apprenticeship Act: Strengthening and Growing Apprenticeships for the 21st Century. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Susan A. Davis, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on…

This study presents a course model to demonstrate how students' current work experiences can be utilized as a viable alternative to internships. While internships have been shown to enhance a student's college experience, underserved and underrepresented students are often unable to pursue this high impact practice due to financial,…

GPS Education Partners (GPSEd) is a community-based nonprofit organization and work-based learning intermediary offering a statewide manufacturing youth apprenticeship in Wisconsin. During their one to two years in the program, students meet high school graduation requirements, receive industry-specific and job-specific training, technical…

The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in career and technical education (CTE) as a way to engage students, help people build the skills necessary to succeed in a technologically advanced economy, and meet employer demand for workers. MDRC--which has a three-decade history of developing and evaluating CTE programs, including a landmark…

We tested the efficacy of a comprehensive intervention program designed for high school students across the autism spectrum, the Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism (CSESA) model, in a cluster randomized control trial involving 60 high schools in three states (California, North Carolina, Wisconsin), with implementation occurring…

GPS Education Partners is a community-based nonprofit organization and the only manufacturing-specific, statewide Department of Workforce Development Youth Apprenticeship Program in Wisconsin. During 1-2 years of study at GPS, students meet high school graduation requirements, receive industry-specific and job-specific training and technical…

Roughly one in five American adults, or approximately 53 million people, live with some type of disability, and their unemployment and poverty rates are nearly double the rates of people without disabilities. Labor force participation for people with disabilities is just 20.2 percent--less than a third of the rate of participation among people…

The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in career and technical education (CTE) as a way to engage students, help people build the skills necessary to succeed in a technologically advanced economy, and meet employer demand for workers. MDRC--which has a two-decade history of developing and evaluating CTE programs, including their…

The Exploring Making Through Mobile Emergent Technologies (EMMET) program sought to disrupt the trajectory from rural high school to factory floor by introducing STEM and computational thinking (STEM+C) skills through mentorship training and hands-on activities involving creative production--often referred to as "making." The program…

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…

As policy makers have placed an increasing focus on training and preparing workers to obtain postsecondary credentials, questions remain about the value to various actors, especially for job seekers and workers who often invest time and money to obtain a credential with the hopes of improving their employment prospects and raising their earnings.…

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…

While public demand for education and job training--two consequences of a down economy--are at an all-time high, community colleges, many of which face record enrollments, are forced to do more with less. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 39 states report shortfalls for FY 2010; 36 reported cuts to higher education across…

Public funding for employment and training has dwindled over the past several decades. Yet in communities all over the United States, there has been considerable development of alternative approaches to help low-income people gain skills for particular industry sectors. In 2003, with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Public/Private…

Domestic violence survivors encounter numerous barriers and few supports in pursuit of their vocational goals. There is a dearth of research, however, on the vocational supports and barriers salient for survivors. This study aims (a) to assess the psychometric properties of vocational supports and barriers measures with a racially and…