In 2015, I was contacted by a federally recognized tribe in Alaska (referred to by the pseudonym Springfield Corporation, abbreviated as SC) regarding conducting a needs assessment for the tribe. The study was approved and its scope expanded to encompass the general community. Principal stakeholders approved the research questions listed below: 1. What is the Springfield Corporation's definition of "need?"; 2. What would the Springfield Corporation wish for the education and employment of its members?; 3. What is an overall picture of the educational and training programs of the Springfield Corporation?; 4. What is the status of higher education among Springfield Corporation members?; 5. What is an overall picture of the Springfield Corporation's cultural education and language programs?; 6. What is the overall picture of employment and employment opportunities for Springfield Community members?; 7. How are educational and cultural programs preparing people for further education and for employment?; and 8. What gaps between education and employment are evident? I constructed a complex needs assessment (Sleezer, Russ-Eft, & Gupta, 2014) using mixed methods according to Creswell and Plano Clark's (2011) convergent parallel design. Four subject groups were surveyed and interviewed. I analyzed the quantitative data and transcribed, coded and analyzed the qualitative data. I compared and compiled the sets of quantitative and qualitative data, along with research and background information collected on the local economy and schooling. In recent decades, the school reform movement resulted in a strong push for students to pursue higher education and in the enactment of standards and accountability legislation for schools and career and technical education, abbreviated as CTE (Ravage, 2016; Gordon, 2014; Newman & Winston, 2016). As priority was increasingly given to academic subjects, CTE programs were eclipsed and steadily lost funding and enrollment (Jacob, 2017). In contrast, this study found that while many students desire a higher education, many others wish to pursue skilled trades. Participants stated that CTE programs should be restored, extended and improved. Responding to calls for community-based education and for rebalancing funding for CTE may benefit K-12 students and adults and may strengthen and diversify the local economy. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]