Across the country, as technology continues to advance rapidly, the labor market exhibits a growing need for workers who receive frequent and ongoing skill development. Employers in many fields struggle to find adequately trained workers to meet their needs. Community college noncredit career and technical education (CTE) programs are an important…

Community colleges are not immune to the challenges faced by the education sector as they try to continue providing quality learning experiences during the ongoing pandemic. Some might argue that COVID-19 exposed vulnerabilities that have long needed attention, such as the 16-week semester model, a heavy reliance on in-person learning, a lack of…

Grounded in the academic momentum framework, this study explores course-completion patterns across the first two semesters of college among 1668 first-time students beginning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs or courses at public 2-year colleges in a Midwestern state, as well as factors predicting the persistence…

The California Community Colleges, through the Economic and Workforce Development Program (EWD), is an incubator of educational and workforce development that collaborates with industry to develop and deliver cutting-edge career and technical education (CTE) skills training. Guiding the work taking place at the regional and state levels is the…

The federal government pays for a wide range of goods and services that are expected to contribute to the economy for some years in the future. Those purchases, called investment, fall into three categories: physical capital, research and development (R&D), and education and training. There are several economic rationales for federal…

Over the past four years, New America has been researching Grow Your Own (GYO) programs as a strategy for growing and diversifying the teacher workforce. GYO programs--partnerships between school districts, institutions of higher education, and community-based organizations to recruit and prepare community members to become teachers in local…

The California Community Colleges, through the Economic and Workforce Development Program (EWD), is an incubator of educational and workforce innovation that results in a growing economy for California. The system collaborates with industry to develop and deliver cutting-edge career and technical education (CTE) skills training so Californians can…

Texas recently adopted a new performance-based funding (PBF) model for community colleges. Using institutional student unit record data, this study applied the metrics from this PBF model to examine enrollment outcomes among 5,900 students attending a large, racially/ethnically diverse community college system in the state. Our findings revealed…

Work-based learning (WBL) has long been used in career and technical education (CTE) to allow students to practice the knowledge and skills they acquire in the classroom within a "real-world" business or industry setting. High-quality work placements reinforce schoolbased instruction by providing students with a context for applying…

This virtual conference was the eleventh in a series of moderator-driven discussions introduced by UNESCO-UNEVOC in 2011. Conducted on the UNEVOC e-Forum--a global online community of over 4,000 members--and guided by an expert, these discussions provide a platform for sharing of experiences, expertise and feedback and wish to inspire people to…

Employers currently struggle to find workers who possess the necessary skills to fill job openings, and this skills gap is projected to grow. By 2025, 30 percent of all job openings in California--or a total of 1.9 million jobs--will require some form of postsecondary education short of a four-year degree. California's education pipeline is not…

The California Community Colleges serve more than 2.1 million students and is the largest system of higher education in the nation. The state's 112 colleges provide workforce training, teach basic math and English, and prepare students for transfer to four-year universities and colleges. Senate Bill 852 established the Career Technical Education…

These are the technical appendices for the report, "Supporting Student Parents in Community College CalWORKs Programs." The appendices include: (1) CalWORKs and EOPS Programs at California Community Colleges; (2) Survey of Program Directors; (3) Survey Instrument; (4) Survey Summary Statistics; and (5) Analysis of CalWORKs Students.…

Many Californians face difficulties connecting to good jobs because of limited education. This is especially true for poor families who receive cash assistance from the state's CalWORKs (California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids) program. Few CalWORKs parents have more than a high school degree, and many struggle to balance family and…

The Maine Community College System (MCCS or "System") is comprised of seven colleges, nine campuses, and six off-campus centers that are located within 25 miles of over 90% of Maine's population. The colleges offer one-year certificate and two-year associate degree programs that are designed to lead to direct employment or transfer to a…