Revving the Education Engine - This new ECS paper engages education, policy and workforce leaders to explore how to effectively align education, workforce and economic development policy to meet state and regional workforce needs. It provides a comprehensive view of alignment that addresses the various pathways students pursue through the education system and into the workforce. The paper provides examples of promising policies and programs states are employing to create greater alignment, as well as practical steps that state leaders can take in their states to fully leverage their education assets to meet state workforce and economic development goals. (Bruce Vandal, Education Commission of the States, 2009)...

An American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding Opportunity: Redesigning Remedial and Developmental Education MS Word PDF - This ECS Alert describes the various sources of ARRA funds and offers suggestions for how states and postsecondary institutions might use this funding for one-time investments in education technology and curriculum development. Such investments would help meet the education and training needs of the growing dislocated worker population while also increasing the long-term level of institutional productivity. (Bruce Vandal, Education Commission of the States, June 2009) ...

The Progress of Education Reform: Economic and Workforce Development PDF - One strategy for addressing the misalignment among postsecondary education, state workforce development programs and state economic development strategies is to create career pathways programs at community colleges where students are able to enroll in a defined track of coursework that leads to jobs in high-demand fields within a state or region. This issue of The Progress of Education Reform reviews four reports developed by the Workforce Strategy Center that make the case for states to implement policies that support the use of career pathways to increase college completion, and contribute to state and regional workforce demand. (Chris Spence, Education Commission of the States, August 2007)...

Progress of Education Reform 2003: Educational Attainment PDF - This issue of The Progress of Education Reform offers a brief review of recent research findings on the correlation between educational attainment and economic and social well-being. It also provides links to Web sites that feature state rankings on health, crime rates, voting participation, workforce preparation, per-capita income and tax revenues, and other key indicators. (Suzanne, Weiss, The Progress of Education Reform, vol. 4, no. 2, Education Commission of the States, September 2003)...

Education at a Glance 2012: Highlights - The 2012 edition of Education at a Glance: Highlights summarizes the OECD’s flagship compendium of education statistics. It provides easily accessible data on key topics in education today, including: education levels and student numbers; economic and social benefits of education; education spending; the school environment; and equity. (OECD, 2012)...

The College Advantage: Weathering the Economic Storm - This report explores how college degrees have served as protection for Americans seeking shelter during a tough economic storm. The authors found that workers with a high school diploma or less bore the brunt of recession job losses and that job gains in the recovery are confined to those with education beyond high school. (Georgetown Public Policy Institute, August 2012) ...

A Decade Behind: Breaking Out of the Low-Skill Trap in the Southern Economy - This report projects job growth and education requirements in the southern United States over the coming decade. The authors find that 57% of all jobs in the South will require some form of postsecondary education or training, compared to 65% for the nation. (Georgetown Public Policy Institute, July 2012)...

U.S. Education Reform and National Security - A new Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)–sponsored Independent Task Force report on U.S. Education Reform and National Security finds that the United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. The Task Force proposes three overarching policy recommendations: Implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness. (Council on Foreign Relations, March 2012)...

Employer Perceptions of Associate Degrees in Local Labor Markets: A Case Study of the Employment of Information Technology Technicians in Detroit and Seattle - While promoting postsecondary credential completion is a national priority intended to help graduates secure good jobs, the value of credentials in the labor market from the perspective of employers is not well understood. This study provides suggestions on how an understanding of the specific qualities employers expect in credential holders and of the role of the local labor market can help colleges better engage with employers and fine-tune their programs to more effectively meet students' and employer's needs. (CCRC, Feb 2012)...

A Better Measure of Skills Gaps: Utilizing ACT Skill Profile and Assessment Data for Strategic Skill Research - This research report was designed to assist economic and workforce developers as they contend with the increasing mismatch, or skills gaps, between labor market supply and demand in America. As the nation grapples with the effects of the recession, policymakers struggle to find ways to integrate the millions of unemployed workers whose current skills may not be adequate. The new reality is that a significant segment of today’s labor force does not have the requisite skills that employers demand. (ACT, August 2011)...

Driving Innovation from the Middle: Middle-Skill Jobs in the American South's Economy - Fifty-one percent of jobs in the American South require “middle-skills” – such as medical technicians or computers support workers. The region has a shortage of people able to fill the positions. Highly skilled jobs make up 29 percent of the market and low-skill jobs make up 20 percent. The South is finding it difficult to fill these positions even when four-year graduates face difficulty finding a job and paying off their student loans. (Rachel Unruh, National Skills Coalition, August 2011)...

Integrating Intake Among Workforce Programs: Key Strategies - This issue brief provides examples of key strategies for creating a common intake process for customers throughout the workforce system. Examples of state and local tools, processes, and policies designed to create or improve integrated intake are included. An annotated list of additional resources is also provided. (Mathematica Policy Research, June 2011)...

Select Findings From "What's It Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors" - This report analyzes the correlation between undergraduate major and earnings after graduation. Students graduating in the fields of engineering, computers, math and business were found to earn the highest salaries, with education, psychology and social work representing fields with the lowest earnings potential. Click here for the full report. (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, May 2011) ...

Leaving No Worker Behind: Community Colleges Retrain the Michigan Workforce – and Themselves - This report examines what five community colleges learned about catering to the needs of dislocated, jobless and otherwise low-skilled adults. These lessons can help institutions and states nationwide as they strive to serve this rapidly growing college population. (Jobs for the Future, May 2011)...

Is College Worth It? College Presidents, Public Assess Value, Quality and Mission of Higher Education - Findings indicate that the majority of Americans feel the higher education system fails to provide good value for the money students and their families spend. Additionally, about four-in-ten college presidents say the system is headed in the wrong direction. This report is largely based on findings from two Pew Research Center surveys conducted in the spring of 2011: The general public survey is based on telephone interviews of adults; the college president survey is based on a web survey conducted with college and university presidents.(Pew Research Center, May 2011)...

Building for Growth: Business Priorities for Education and Skills--Education and Skills Survey 2011 - Responses were received from 566 employers, collectively employing 2.2 million people. Over two thirds (70%) want to see the development of employability skills among young people at school and college made a top priority. What is required is simply embedding the skills in the curriculum, as the best schools and colleges already do. Employers also see a pressing need to raise standards of literacy and numeracy amongst teenagers and to want to see university students doing more to prepare themselves to be effective in the workplace. (Education Development International, May 2011)...

Research Shows the Effectiveness of Workforce Programs: A Fresh Look at the Evidence - A growing body of research suggests that workforce investments are likely to pay off for the next generation. (CLASP, May 2011)...

Breaking New Ground: Building a National Workforce Skills Credentialing System - This report introduces the need and associated benefits for establishing a national workforce credentialing system, as we know of no other set of activities more important than getting a critical mass of state, national and public and private workforce leaders to co-construct this foundational framework to address our national workforce challenges. (American College Testing, January 2011)...

Degrees of Separation: Education, Employment, and the Great Recession in Metropolitan America - Each of the economic downturns in the United States in the last two decades has been greeted with claims by some that it is affecting professional, "white-collar" workers more severely than other workers, or than in past recessions. However, when the full impact is measured, those with higher levels of education have consistently done better than those with lower levels of education. This report examines the relationship between educational attainment and employment status during the two years of the "Great Recession" from 2007 to 2009. Particular focus is placed on the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas. (Alan Berube, Brookings Institution Press, November 2010)...

The Economic Value of the U.S. Early Childhood Sector - This study concludes that the level of investment in early childhood education is not adequate to meet the needs of our nation’s youngest children, who comprise over 8 percent of the population and will grow to be our future workforce. (Elaine Weiss and Robert Brandon, Early Childhood Sector, July 2010)...

Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018 - The U.S. economy is in serious danger from a growing mismatch between the skills that will be needed for jobs being created and the educational backgrounds of would-be workers, according to this report. By 2018, there will be a shortage of 3 million workers who have some postsecondary degree and of 4.7 million workers who have a postsecondary certificate. The report urges colleges to be more career-oriented and overhaul the way they educate students, to much more closely align the curriculum with specific jobs. (Anthony Carnevale, Nicole Smith and Jeff Strohl, Center on Education and the Workforce, June 2010)...

The Breaking Through Practice Guide - The Practice Guide has four components, each devoted to a “high leverage strategy” that community colleges and other programs can adopt to increase their success with low-skilled younger and older adults. The components are: (1) Accelerated learning; (2) Comprehensive support services; (3) Labor market payoffs; and (4) Aligning programs for low-skilled adults. Breaking Through is a collaboration between Jobs for the Future and the National Council for Workforce Education, an organization of community-college-based workforce-development leaders. (Jobs for the Future, Spring 2010)...

New Paradigm for Economic Development: How Higher Education Institutions Are Working to Revitalize Their Regional and State Economies - In states across America, higher education institutions and systems are working to become key drivers of economic development and community revitalization. These trends suggest a new paradigm for economic development programs--one that puts higher education at the center of states' efforts to succeed in the knowledge economy. (David Shaffer and David Wright, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, March 2010)...

Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16- to 24-Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School - Primarily statistical, this report covers poverty status, living arrangements, educational attainment and employment status for at-risk young adults. (Congressional Research Service, April 2009)...

Emerging Policy Triangle: Economic Development, Workforce Development, and Education: Updated Profiles for All 50 States and Including International Comparative Data - The planning and policymaking associated with K-12, higher education, adult basic education and workforce/economic development are by and large activities running on separate tracks. In some states the state policymakers are beginning to realize progress within the P-16 framework requires the separate tracks to work together. (Dennis Jones and Patrick Kelly, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, May 2007) ...