In the United States, adult and workforce education (AE) seems to be located, simultaneously, both everywhere and nowhere in particular. Ongoing shifts in national economic demands and changes in requirements for training and education have brought learning in the adult years into the federal public policy arena. Sometimes referred to as lifelong…

WVAdultEd programs provide adults with the opportunity to acquire and improve functional skills necessary to enhance the quality of their lives as workers, family members, and citizens. Educational services are available at no cost to the learners and are designed to meet the educational needs of the individual. Certified adult education…

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 training to ensure gainful employment and customized support…

As states grapple with competing priorities and constrained resources, there is an increasing focus on efficiency and alignment of programs and resources across state agencies. The College and Career Readiness and Success (CCRS) Center recently analyzed and compared four federal laws that govern the education-to-workforce pipeline. They are: (1)…

The Adult Education--Basic Grants to States program authorized under the "Adult Education and Family Literacy Act of 1998" (AEFLA), enacted as "Title II" of the "Workforce Investment Act of 1998" (WIA) (P.L. 105-220), was the major source of federal support for adult basic education (ABE) and literacy education…

Federal legislation has driven and been receptive to the vision of a rigorous, relevant career and technical education (CTE) system integrated with academics and aligned across middle school, secondary school, and postsecondary education. This article uses a social policy analysis approach to trace the history of federal CTE policy throughout the…

Enacted in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was designed to increase collaboration among workforce systems at the federal, state, and local levels to integrate the array of programs and services available to job seekers and businesses through American Job Centers (AJCs). WIOA requires the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to…

Given that work-based learning (WBL) can -- and should be -- a key driver of student career readiness in these efforts, it is essential that all states have a robust work-based learning continuum of experiences and exposure that spans K-16. WBL is an essential element of career and technical education (CTE), and ExcelinEd's CTE Playbook series…

Efforts to unionize students at private universities are gaining momentum. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to reconsider whether graduate students at private nonprofit colleges and universities should be treated as employees under the National Labor Relations Act. The case, "New School", Case No. 02- RC-143009,…

In its stunning and far-reaching decision in the "Pacific Lutheran University" case (12/16/14), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) opened the door to union organizing among faculty at thousands of private-sector institutions, both secular and religious. The question before the NLRB was whether a local of the Service Employees…

Purpose: This exploratory study advances personnel preparation research through the investigation of the transition content found on the institutional websites of U.S. universities with Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Master's Level Personnel Preparation grants for transition planning and services (OSEP, 2015) or master's-level Council…

The context of this study was to examine factors contributing to significant workforce shortages in building trades in the United States. As it is, recruitment of qualified skilled trades workers is becoming increasingly difficult due to lack of a pipeline of prospective workers, and training programs. The study assumed a theoretical inquiry…

Gov. Wolf has indicated his willingness to modify pensions for future Pennsylvania public sector workers by using a variant of the "stacked hybrid" design proposed in 2013 by Pottsville Republican Rep. Mike Tobash. Negotiations of a compromise pension deal, however, remain stalled because Senate leaders remain committed to their own…

The guided pathways approach to community and technical college redesign has significant impacts for adult basic education (ABE). The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and Ability to Benefit provide federal support that complements the work being done in Guided Pathways. Washington state's approach to implementing guided pathways…

As many as one in three businesses in the United States struggled to fill needed jobs in 2015. Millions of Americans, including at least 5.5 million youth, are disconnected from employment. Governors have a tremendous opportunity through the implementation of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to reset their state…