Shifting realities across the world have emphasized the need to change early childhood systems thinking. Specifically, a quality early childhood workforce was in high demand before the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be in demand until sustainable recruitment and retention efforts are achieved. Encouraging more professionals to enter and…

Many community colleges consider non-academic supports as a way to improve student retention and achievement. Past studies on the effects of coaching, mentoring, advising, and other non-academic supports yielded evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions to promote student outcomes. In addition, some suggested that the effects were…

In the fall of 2016, through research funding from the Northwest Area Foundation, the College Fund began exploring the landscape of workforce education with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Washington. Key stakeholders were identified who have knowledge and experience with workforce…

In late 2020, Montana two-year campuses participated in a national study of community college workforce education. Montana was one of 14 states where education authorities volunteered to encourage colleges to respond early enough in 2020 to receive preliminary statewide results in January 2021. This brief compares Montana to the 14 states in this…

This article examines the current literature and state legislation of statewide "free tuition" promise programs. The purpose of this paper was to analyze state free community college programs, legislation, scholarly literature, and state websites to understand program structures, funding sources, and student-eligibility requirements. The…

This study investigated a federal comprehensive community initiative, the Promise Neighborhood initiative, in order to understand higher education community engagement in an embedded context. Promise Neighborhood programs aim to create a place-based system of family and education services that can support youth from early childhood through college…

Beginning with a glance at Montana's past, this publication looks to the state's future in terms of demographic patterns, employment growth, technological changes, educational needs, and workplace changes. Population, work force, and employment projections are compared with national trends. Productivity and job changing are considered, and…

To determine the nature and extent of rural youth and adult educational and employment opportunities, this study assessed existing and projected job titles in agricultural production and the agribusiness sector of Montana's economy. Using job position taxonomies identified by the United States Office of Education, two survey instruments were…

This labor market report contains data on the status of working women in Montana. It has eight sections with numerous graphs and statistical tables, most of which give state and national figures. Section 1 presents female labor force characteristics and compares the status of working women with that of men. Section 2 gives an overview of female…