Community colleges are attempting to bridge America's widening blue-collar skills gap through workforce development programs promising living-wage jobs that don't require four years of college. While trade, construction and manufacturing companies are starving for talented workers, these fields also suffer from an image problem, one fueled by…

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) begins with well-prepared, highly qualified educators. This brief offers practitioners and policymakers an opportunity to learn from promising programs that recruit and prepare racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth…

Hiring people who have served prison sentences has never been a priority in the United States. For men and women who were once incarcerated, finding any job is difficult; finding a sustainable, family-supporting job is nearly impossible. Today the country is at a critical crossroads on this issue, and it's time for change. As the nation works in…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

In 2011, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released "Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century." The report argued that the current education system was too narrowly focused on the goal of preparing all young people to pursue a four-year college or university degree immediately…

California's community colleges are key to resolving the shortage of educated workers that is threatening the competitive position of the state's economy. Tremendous potential for addressing this challenge resides in the system's career technical education (CTE) mission which, with appropriate structures and support, could help many more students…

The California Community Colleges are vital to closing the projected shortfall of Californians with a postsecondary credential and sustaining the state's economic competitiveness. Increasing the number of students who pursue and earn certificates and associate degrees in career technical education (CTE) fields is an important component of the…