Guided Pathways Adoption by Community Colleges: The Community College Research Center (CCRC) recently published a report on guided pathways implementation across community and technical colleges in Ohio, Tennessee and Washington. Researchers found that CTE pathways were the most likely to be mapped and scaled in all three states, regardless of the total level of guided pathways adoption in each state.
The following list details how community and technical colleges are implementing guided pathways:
- In Ohio, 89% of all colleges have mapped out requirements and course sequences for CTE program pathways.
- Colleges are increasingly organizing their programs by meta-majors to help students’ direct entry into the workforce or career advancement education.
- Advising and onboarding practices like students taking career-relevant courses early in their postsecondary education and mandatory education planning were usually adopted in tandem across each state.
Researchers recommend that any institutions interested in following the model discussed in this report design their practices, policies and systems parallel to the four pillars of the guided pathways system.
Reforming Government-supported Job Training: The American Enterprise Institute recently published a series of reports analyzing the effectiveness of federal programs funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and presenting options for experimentation at the local level. In the first of these reports, researchers share that job training programs are struggling to show positive outcomes for participants and that job training funding has been declining since the 1970s.
Researchers suggested the following changes to fix WIOA program operations for increased outcomes, success and efficiency:
- Reduce administrative red tape for participation in a WIOA program to improve opportunity for individuals who are in the reentry process following incarceration, are economically disadvantaged or have disabilities.
- Clarify which agencies must co-locate in a job center to share costs and provide local WIOA officials with the ability to enforce cost-sharing rules.
- Hold annual meetings at the start of each program year allowing local, state and federal workforce development administrators to provide input into setting goals and discuss systems improvements.
- Expand sector-based training programs, allowing workers without degrees to earn living wages and receive training for key sectors of the economy where labor demand is strong.
The report also suggests that increased WIOA funding would lay the groundwork for improving programs and lead to better outcomes.
Addressing Equity Blockers to Work-based Learning: A report recently published by the Education Strategy Group examined how leaders are identifying and effectively addressing equity blockers affecting students in work-based learning on the secondary and postsecondary levels. Researchers found that offering equitable work-based learning opportunities was a key focus area for each of the six communities within the New Skills Ready Network (NSRN) as leaders across the country increasingly look to erase barriers and improve meaningful experiences for all students.
The report highlights some of the following issues, barriers and circumstances limiting students’ participation in a work-based learning program:
- Geographic proximity and transportation challenges, with a lack of effective transit routes convenient enough for economically disadvantaged individuals.
- Scheduling constraints owing to existing part-time employment for students with financial needs as well as limited availability for students with caregiving responsibilities.
- Minimum requirements for participation that lead many types of students to self-select out of applying for a work-based learning experience.
- Lack of local staff capacity to identify, vet and engage industry partners; provide support; and collect data.
To combat these barriers and target increased access to students who need it most, researchers emphasize the importance of information sharing and recommend that districts ramp up their efforts to formalize and publish their policies, which may serve as examples to others.
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