As America's key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary abilities and credentials to fill their vacancies, the knowledge, skills, and third-party industry credentials earned in secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs seem a close match. Using a non-experimental, quantitative study, this research…

Nationally, the labor market is calling out for workers to fill the increasing number of job vacancies, but those qualified, skilled, and able to fill them are limited in supply or retiring in large numbers. As America's key industries offer high salaries in return for candidates with the necessary skills and credentials to fill their vacancies,…

Nationally, the labor market is seeking workers to fill the increasing number of high salary job vacancies, but those qualified to fill them are in limited supply. The skills and third-party industry credentials earned in secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs seem a perfect fit for the student, employer, and economy. However,…

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, state education leaders have been developing numerous innovative approaches to supporting high school students who are pursuing career pathways and preparing them for successful outcomes beyond secondary education. This topical brief summarizes state needs and strategies related to supporting…

In Virginia, all high school students can earn either a Standard diploma or an Advanced Studies diploma, the latter being a college preparatory diploma. Starting in 2017, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) began requiring students graduating with the Standard diploma to earn a career and technical education (CTE) credential to encourage…

In late 2020, Virginia community colleges participated in a national study of community college workforce education. Virginia 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 Virginia to the 14 states in…

The 1954 rulings in the United States Supreme Court cases of "Brown v Board of Education" was a landmark event in civil rights history. As momentous as the rulings were, they were not embraced by many Southern politicians. This was especially true in Virginia where Harry F. Byrd, Sr., U. S. Senator from Virginia, embarked on a campaign…

The National Fund's Young Adult Initiatives aim to test and implement new strategies for targeting America's young adults and share this information so that employers and workforce development can join forces in investing in the millions of young adults across the nation. This case study focuses on promising findings from automotive and…

Three years of instruction in natural resources management (NRM) are offered at Louisa County High School, Mineral, Virginia, with 30 acres of land for use as outdoor classrooms. Instructional areas are grouped under forestry; crops and soils; and surveying, air, water, recreation, and general. Two years of basic agriculture science and mechanics…

This instructional task/competency package is designed to be used in combination with the "Industrial Arts Guide to CBE Implementation" in order to implement competency-based education in the Modern Industry course in Virginia. This task/competency package contains a suggested task sequence list, content outline, and task/competency…