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 Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development
Institute Director:
Bruce Vandal, Ph.D.
The Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development Institute works closely with policymakers, institution leaders, business and community leaders to drive innovation and change within higher education to meet the challenges of preparing the workforce of the 21st century.
The institute works closely with state leaders to:
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Identify, describe and analyze state policies
and institutional strategies that leverage state postsecondary investments
in state workforce and economic development.
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Convene policymakers, institution and
business leaders to understand the current strategies employed at
postsecondary institutions that meet state workforce needs.
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Provide technical assistance to states as
they develop state policies for postsecondary institutions that meet state
workforce development needs.
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Showcase effective projects focused on
postsecondary education and workforce development.
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Partner with other agencies and programs to
pilot promising postsecondary education strategies for meeting state
workforce development needs.
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Utilize technology to showcase the work of
the institute and to facilitate communication to ECS constituents.
Current projects
Boosting College Completion for a New Economy
www.boostingcollegecompletion.org
ECS will work with legislative and higher education leaders to improve their state economies by increasing the number of residents with a postsecondary credential. With over 60% of jobs requiring some postsecondary education, it is critical for legislators to invest in strategies to ensure that their residents have the skills they need to access these jobs and earn a livable wage.
The initiative will engage state legislators who have responsibility for postsecondary education by:
- Engaging higher education leaders in their state to explore how the legislature can support strategies to increase postsecondary completion
- Analyzing current state policies to determine their impact on college completion and workforce development goals
- Convening legislative chairs to develop model legislation that they can introduce in their state.
ECS will work closely with states to identify the key strategies associated with postsecondary attainment, higher employment in livable-wage jobs and economic growth.
How To Get Involved:
- Schedule a Boosting College Completion for a New Economy state visit with ECS
- Watch the boostingcollegecompletion.org Web site for resources to support your state’s college completion agenda (launched in April 2011)
- Register legislative committee chairs responsible for postsecondary education for the Boosting College Completion workshops.
Project Contacts:
Bruce Vandal, Director, Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development Institute
Mary Fulton, Policy Analyst
Matt Smith, Associate Policy Analyst
"Getting Past Go": Using Policy to Improve Developmental Education and Increase College Success
www.gettingpastgo.org
Project Overview
The Education Commission of the States (ECS), in collaboration with the Project on Education Policy, Access and Remedial Education (PREPARE), seeks to leverage developmental education at postsecondary institutions as a critical component of state efforts to increase college attainment rates through Getting Past Go. The national initiative will help education policy leaders align state and system policy to increase the college success of the large percentage of students enrolled in postsecondary education who require remedial and developmental education.
To be recognized as a viable component of state strategies to increase college attainment, developmental studies programs must be able to address a variety of challenges:
- An increasingly diverse population of students to include adults, low-skilled workers and low-income students
- The overrepresentation of students of color, particularly African American and Latino students
- An increasing the number of students who complete their developmental studies courses, immediately enroll in college-level coursework and persist to a degree or credential
- State P-20 efforts that often view developmental studies programs as a symptom of system failure and not an integral strategy for increasing college attainment
- Completing all of the above in a more cost-effective manner.
To meet these challenges, postsecondary institutions need to examine institutional practice and its relationship to state policy to determine the most viable approaches states can take to ensure all of their residents receive the support they need to access and succeed in higher education.
Project Objectives
Getting Past Go will have a significant impact on the formation of state and system policy related to developmental studies through the following set of objectives, outcomes, activities and products:
- Create a network of state, postsecondary system and institutional leaders committed to improving developmental studies policy and practice to increase college attainment rates in their states.
- Develop model policies and practices that states can consider and adopt that are consistent with their goals and philosophy for increasing college attainment rates for developmental studies students.
- Collect and analyze state and system policies and data on developmental studies to provide a clearer picture of state and system approaches to developmental studies.
- Integrate developmental studies policies and practices into state P-20 efforts to better align college preparation standards with high school reform efforts.
- Partner with state leaders to promote innovative policies and practices for developmental studies.
Project Contacts:
Bruce Vandal, Director, Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development Institute
Read a full summary of Getting Past Go (PDF, 54K).
Past ProjectsStaff ContactBruce Vandal
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Postsecondary
