In today's labor market, students increasingly need greater levels of postsecondary education and training to enter or advance in many industries. Meanwhile, employers are calling for the education system to better align with industry needs, as their demands for a skilled workforce continue to rise. In response to the increasing emphasis for…

Adult education programs play a critical role in preparing immigrants and New Americans (multilingual learners) for employment by building English language skills and supporting workforce preparation and training. Addressing multilingual learners' economic integration needs, one of the three pillars of immigrant integration, along with civic and…

Historical and legislative evolutions of education policy have repurposed federally funded adult education programs in the United States. The 2014 passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has considerable repercussions for everyone involved in the field because it controls the funding, assessment, and structure of these…

Since the introduction of workplace computers in the 1970s, policymakers have been racing to outpace the workforce demands of the information age. To address concerns, policymakers have promoted an expansion of skills training to help workers keep up in the changing economy. Because the way people learn, work, and live is transforming, so should…

Since it was signed into law, the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has been the subject of continuing scrutiny. One commonly shared concern is that the evaluation metrics of the Act (e.g., employment, salary, etc.) may incentivize programs to work with learners who will more readily meet expected outcomes (Pickard, 2016). Others…

High-quality workforce training can help workers get good jobs, improve the efficiency of businesses, and boost productivity in the economy. Unfortunately, the United States supports too little workforce training, and the training it does support too often fails to lead to good jobs or boost productivity. To improve job quality, a range of reforms…

A career pathway system is made up of multiple programs that span educational institutions, workforce entities and support service partners. These systems are oriented around a shared understanding of the needs of industries. Career pathway systems are one of many policy models states use to help connect education and workforce in the K-12,…

In today's globally competitive economy, low-income students, students of color, opportunity youth, and adult learners need a postsecondary education and work-based learning opportunities to secure family-sustaining jobs and careers. Since the Great Recession, the economy has added 11.6 million jobs. Ninety-nine percent of them have gone to…

High-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs represent an effective way to provide young adults with an educational experience that prepares them for both college and career success. But not all CTE programs provide accessible pathways to a bounty of educational options without dead ends. To address the false dichotomy--college…

Many have called for greater alignment between education systems and the workforce, more equitable access to career-oriented experiences, and new policy approaches that will enable all individuals to successfully enter and thrive in the evolving labor market. Overall, education leaders at all levels must commit to new policy solutions that offer…

This paper presents a review of legislation and court cases that have resulted in the present guidelines and criteria for transition services for students with special education needs. These include effective transition to post-secondary learning, career, and/or independent living. Transition planning is viewed from the lens of the Shapiro and…

This article presents the dossier, "Work in higher education", composed of 10 articles and discusses the changes that have taken place in the Brazilian labor world since the parliamentary, media and judicial coup that took place in 2016. It considers the hypothesis that one of the central goals of the coup was precisely the attack on…

Ensuring that all students achieve successful post-school outcomes has been a goal of U.S. education policy for many years. Clear statements and policy priorities emerged in the late 2000s about a goal for all students to leave high school ready for success in postsecondary education or employment (often referred to as college and career…

The Pathways for Academic Career and Employment (PACE) program is established to provide funding to community colleges for the development of programs that will lead to gainful, quality, in-state employment for members of target populations by providing them with both effective academic and employment training to ensure gainful employment and…

An estimated 339,000 workers were employed in foodservice operations in the nation's elementary and secondary schools. While news stories often focus on so-called "lunch ladies," the school foodservice workforce encompasses employees ranging from front-line cafeteria workers to chefs and food preparation staff to administrators and…