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Globalisation and technological advances in the latter part of the 20th century have changed the US economy and affected the structure of jobs and the way people work, fuelling increases in educational attainment and the demand for skill. Two main challenges are created for education reformers: to meet the need for a greater quantity and quality of human capital needed to foster overall growth in the knowledge-based economy; and to reduce the growing differences in family incomes by bridging the gap between the country's 'education-haves and education-have-nots'. A stronger focus on the 'missing middle' in education policy is needed to strengthen the relationship between education and work requirements. This 'missing middle' refers to the years when academic and applied learning overlap between the completion of basic academic preparation and the completion of occupational or professional learning. The focus of this paper is on educational reform for the 'missing middle'.