This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

Today, young people need both cross-cutting skills and specialized knowledge to thrive in the nation's rapidly changing economy. Business leaders require skilled talent to innovate and grow. And state and local communities need a workforce ready to lead new economies and industries. These shifts are achievable when states and regions embrace a…

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.…

This brief begins with a discussion of the composition of state leadership teams and organizing structures for supporting a Pathways to Prosperity Network initiative, and then describes effective strategies currently at play in the network states for jumpstarting work in the regions. It goes on to review state policies that support 9-14…

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…

This is the first in a series of Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) playbooks intended to assist companies, higher education institutions, private philanthropies, membership associations, professional societies, government agencies, and other stakeholders seeking to understand the potential value of investing in coordinated strategic,…

After careful review Workforce Strategy Center has articulated a policy assessment of President George W. Bush's Community-Based Job Training Grants initiative. WSC called the $250 million Community-Based Job Training Grants plan right on track by emphasizing: A Strong Role of Community Colleges in Workforce Development: All available research…

Surveys of rural and urban businesses and households in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin found that: only 25 percent of firms had trouble hiring skilled workers; required skills were not particularly high-tech; few firms used public or private education providers in their skill training activities; and the labor force was overtrained…

This publication includes 13 articles: (1) ATE [Advanced Technological Education] Attuned to Global Competition; (2) Materials Science Center Supplies Information on Often-Overlooked Field; (3) CSEC [Cyber Security Education Consortium] Builds Corps of Cyber Technicians; (4) KCTCS [Kentucky Community and Technical College System] Is U.S. Partner…

The skill needs of 3,500 Wisconsin employers were surveyed by mail (1,850 usable returns) and by telephone those of 102 of these employers (93 percent response). Findings included the following: (1) most employers face an increasing shortage of skilled workers; (2) employees tend to be deficient in basic skills; (3) employers are striving for…

This newsletter updates the reader on the latest Wisconsin initiatives to build tomorrow's work force through education, training, and cooperative ventures with business and industry. "Executive Cabinet for a Quality Workforce Defines Pathways to the Future" (Dwight York) discusses major reports related to the work of the executive…

This document describes a project that developed this K-12 generic Work Experience Handbook to help Wisconsin high schools implement work experience programs. The first 13 pages describe the purpose and objectives of the project and the need for the handbook; the methods used to develop it, including the use of steering and work committees and…

The organizational and working relationships between postsecondary education and economic development in selected states were investigated, with emphasis on identifying state-level coordinated programs in 12 geographically diverse states known to be active in linking education to economic development (Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana,…

The Southeastern Wisconsin Workplace Communication Project is a workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) resource and outreach program involving a partnership of businesses and adult educators in a rural area that has experienced an increase in new speakers of English in the manufacturing workforce. The guide provides workplace educators and…

Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) 8 Percent Education and Coordination Grant Funds were intended by Congress to bring education as a full partner into the employment and training system. In Wisconsin, these funds were split equally between the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education (WBVTAE) and the Department of Public…