A new landscape is emerging at community colleges across the country -- a new approach that puts preparing students for the workforce at the center of the college's mission and culture. Occupational education has always been part of the mission at community colleges. What's changing today: New technology is putting a new premium on occupational…

In today's evolving economy, state policymakers, education leaders, workforce system leaders and employers are all looking for opportunities to meet rapidly changing workforce needs. Economists project that shortages of workers with postsecondary education -- some college, an associate degree, bachelor's degree or higher -- could lead to nearly…

Texas has long been an innovator in policies, systems, and practices to ensure that young adults from low-income backgrounds are prepared for postsecondary education and careers. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis have cast a harsh light on the importance of reengaging young adults who are disconnected from school and work…

High school students' prevalence as food-service industry employees and their lack of food safety knowledge make them prime candidates for food safety education. The researchers developed a food-safety-focused curriculum for high school students aligned with Indiana Academic Standards for Agriculture, Advanced Life Science: Food. The curriculum…

COVID-19 caused students across the country to postpone or change their plans for college while simultaneously dampening job prospects. Hardest hit are families in poverty and students of color, both educationally and economically. Career pathways that include college and career preparation in high school can benefit students, but for that to…

America faces the most devastating economic crisis since the Great Depression, and National Skills Coalition (NSC) stands with the working people and local businesses who have been most impacted by the pandemic's economic fallout. Equitable opportunities for working people and local businesses to participate in and benefit from a rebound and…

This paper highlights troubling patterns within the Australian School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (SBATs) by analysing statistical data of 21,000 of 15-19 year old apprenticeship/traineeship learners engaged in Vocational Education and Training in School (VETiS). It confirms the alignment of social groups to certain qualification fields…

Career and technical education was once essential in an attempt to educate people for their respective careers. While the premises for a career and technical education remains career oriented, these programs have come under attack in the past several years, especially, the career and technical degree programs offered at community colleges. The…

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance on the ACT WorkKeys assessment of young adults who participated in a career tech educational pathway and young adults who did not participate in a career tech educational pathway. In this study, there were two groups: Career Tech completers and Non-Career Tech pathway completers. Gender,…

This article describes a model for developing culturally sensitive career education programs, framed from an ecological contextual understanding. This framework allows career practitioners to build on cultural strengths and values to meet the career education needs of diverse communities. To illustrate the application of this model, we describe…

Background: Despite increased awareness of concussions, epidemiologic surveillance efforts have been scarce, especially among adolescents. This project, which was developed with school stakeholders (certified athletic trainers [ATCs], nurses, athletic directors), piloted a public secondary school-based online surveillance tool for interscholastic…

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,…

As many as 4.4 million U.S. jobs are going unfilled due to shortages of workers with the right skills. Many of these opportunities are in so-called "middle-skill" occupations, such as IT or advanced manufacturing, where workers need some sort of post-secondary credential but not a four-year degree. Expanding access to high-quality career…

There is a long history of teachers and schools being involved in the delivery of career education and guidance. As the breadth of career education and guidance activity in English schools grew throughout the twentieth century it became increasingly necessary to have an individual within the school responsible for leading and managing this…

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…