The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the way Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs operate in unprecedented ways. This brief has two purposes: (1) To capture some of the adaptations and innovations that programs designed to meet the rapidly evolving circumstances of the pandemic; and (2) To highlight promising practices and pose…

Purpose/Objectives: Farm to school (FTS) programs have many benefits, including potential for increased consumption of fruits and vegetables by students. However, there are challenges with hourly school nutrition employees' abilities to successfully process local produce and promote it to students. The purpose of this study was to identify…

This document is divided into three volumes. Volume I describes what exemplary Private Industry Councils (PICS) do, Volume II explains why they are effective, and Volume III tells how to implement exemplary practice. Volume I contains case studies of 10 exemplary PICs organized by 7 topics areas (history and structure, policies and program…

Describes a study of the direct services to business provided by Colorado's community colleges, including all customized, contracted instructional and noninstructional activities. Compares Colorado with national trends with respect to diversity, concentration, expansion, and tension between academic and business-service roles. (MAB)

The Colorado Workplace Learning Initiative was organized for the following purposes: (1) to design and implement a process for public/private partnerships to address workplace literacy; (2) to establish an effective method for curriculum adaptation and development based on specific workplace needs; (3) to provide accessible, relevant, and…

The Colorado workplace program completed an open-ended program evaluation that examined the following: how people involved in workplace learning change, what the shape of that change is, and what impact that change may have. It explored the perspectives of two groups closely involved in the workplace learning process: participants and their…

This project sought to develop a model that could be used to gather information on employer and student needs in Mesa County and Western Colorado in order to enhance and validate vocational education offerings. To meet the objectives of the study, a comprehensive review of literature regarding existing models and/or programs, along with numerous…

A study determined labor market needs of high technology firms in Colorado. It assessed such needs in relation to present and projected output of vocational education and training programs and developed recommendations for policies and programs to meet industry training needs at the vocational training level. Data were collected through on-site…

This paper is one in a series of research papers related to the state role in youth employment and training. It describes seven state-sponsored youth employment and training programs, representing a varied range of approaches that states have undertaken to address their youth employment problems. The first section of this paper provides capsule…

A study examined the ways in which practitioners in four states were defining the terms coordination/cooperation/collaboration when directing the monies set aside in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) funding for use in coordination among educators and job training providers. Case studies of the use of 8 percent set-aside monies were conducted in…

A descriptive study concerning adult cooperative education was conducted to identify types of cooperative agreements, some of the most common elements found on written agreement forms and whether these elements can be considered essential to any agreement, discrepancy between what is advocated in the literature concerning cooperative agreements…

A study was done to (1) identify the practices and attitudes of major Colorado public and private employers toward career development of sub-professional employees, and (2) prepare a self-assessment questionnaire by which employers can compare their practices to those employers of comparable size and type of business. A Likert-style questionnaire…