The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) places a strong emphasis on the alignment of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs of study with state, regional and local economies. Specifically, the legislation requires Perkins-funded programs to prepare students for "high-skill, high-wage, or…

This report shows how state leaders are using technological advances to improve the use of data in five critical areas: (1) Helping economic and workforce developers, businesses, and colleges to reduce the high costs resulting from uninformed education and workforce decisions; (2) Assisting college leaders in making program-related decisions that…

Prior research has classified strategies to facilitate adult learners' transitions to postsecondary opportunities into five broad categories: advising, General Educational Development-plus (GED-plus), English as a second language, career pathways, and college preparatory (Zafft, Kallenbach, & Spohn, 2006). This two-part study relied on…

At a time of sustained unemployment and sluggish job growth, students and policymakers are increasingly asking tough questions about postsecondary education and training outcomes. Do graduates find jobs? What are they paid? What will they earn in the future? Despite growing national interest in this information, good answers are not widely…

Quality labor market data and analysis is critical to developing effective market-driven workforce and economic strategies in states, regions, and localities. Such information can be complex, intimidating, and overwhelming to many users, however. This issue brief offers a framework for understanding workforce information, including a summary of…

Recognizing that higher education, including community colleges, four-year colleges, and research universities, cannot help drive economic growth in their states unless students' academic success is linked to the needs of the marketplace, governors and state policymakers are beginning to move beyond their focus on getting more students to get…

This study compares the outcomes of two often used approaches for strategic HRD planning. Using methods framed within a strategic HRD planning framework the outcomes of a qualitative primary data approach are examined against quantitative labor market projections in a study of the future Minnesota tourism workforce. Results show each planning…

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…

In the face of the emergence of a global, technology-driven, skills-based economy and a continuing shortage of skilled labor in Minnesota, a study examined the development of a world-class training system for the state's workers and businesses. The study found the following: (1) there is an urgent need to address the high-skill needs of both…