This compendium presents comprehensive information from the surveys for the full report "Linking Adult Education to Workforce Development in 2018-19: Early Implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act at the Local Level. Evaluation Report. NCEE 2023-001r" (ED626771), and serves as a supplement, which provides in-depth…

In this essay, I argue that our recent pivot toward digital learning, in addition to the social discontent and economic turbulence exacerbated by the pandemic, requires a re-imagining of how we "do" adult and workforce education (AWE) policy. First, I briefly describe the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) policy.…

While the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) plays a role in workforce development, state policymakers actively seek ways beyond WIOA requirements to connect education with workforce development. In compliance with WIOA, all states have a statewide workforce development board or council. However, some states have gone beyond…

Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) is a form of adult language education that teaches communicative skills in the context of preparing learners for a particular vocation. Despite their pedagogical and logistical benefits for adult language learners, such programs are uncommon today. This literature review traces the emergence and…

Organizations advocating for federal, state, and local level support for adult education have long relied on the power of individual story to influence both public perception and public policy. They have developed training programs, provided advocacy toolkits, and organized visits with policy makers in order to promote and sustain awareness of the…

When the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the economy back into recession in early 2020, it laid bare a fragile and profoundly inequitable labor market. The economic expansion that reigned from 2009 through 2019 brought historically low unemployment and inflation but failed to reduce income inequality or arrest the decline in the number of high-quality,…

As the largest funder of adult basic education (ABE) in the nation, providing over $600 million through its Basic Grants to States (U.S. Department of Education, 2019), the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) drives ABE policies and practices. In a review of the announcement on Title II, the phrase "transition to" is repeated…

This supplementary document supports the Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC) Secondary Transition Position Statement by providing definitions of terms for students and youth with disabilities, as well as definitions related to: (1) Career Development; (2) Employment; (3) Collaborative Systems; (4) Student Skills; and (5) Policy. [For…

High-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs represent an effective way to provide young adults with an educational experience that prepares them for both college and career success. But not all CTE programs provide accessible pathways to a bounty of educational options without dead ends. To address the false dichotomy--college…

Policymakers at the state and federal levels have expressed concern over the emerging "skills gap"--the mismatch between the job skills employers are looking for and the skills that applicants in the labor market possess. The skills gap is most acute for middle-skilled jobs; that is, jobs that require training beyond high school but less…

An important aspect of the community college mission is to educate working adults including those without a high school diploma or its equivalent. Three important changes are forcing community colleges to reevaluate how these services and activities are delivered as well as policies that govern this critical work. These shifts provide a new…

This chapter reviews how the impact of WIOA on adult education provision in the United States may be limited because of persistent structural problems within adult education policy and practice.

This ethnography examines how teachers interpret and enact language-in-education policies in an adult ESL classroom in the United States, where students simultaneously received job training as Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). We draw on postmodern and interpretive lenses from the ethnography of communication, considering how workforce-oriented…

Many adult education providers are developing career pathways (CP) programs, which are viewed as an important workforce development and poverty alleviation strategy in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, by state and local governments, and by private funders. Based on a three-year researcher-practitioner partnership, this paper uses…

In the years immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers, researchers, and philanthropists recognized the pressing need to build and strengthen the early care and education (ECE) workforce. Evidence documenting the relationship between early childhood educator professional preparation and children's outcomes spurred a growing…