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Ohio has been a leader in scaling stackable credential programs. The state passed initial legislation on stackable credentials nearly 15 years ago, and it has since rolled out a series of initiatives that expand opportunities for individuals to stack credentials. All of Ohio's public education and training programs are involved in its efforts. These include Ohio Technical Centers (OTCs), which award 'clock-hour' certificates that do not award immediate college credit (i.e., noncredit certificates) but can potentially be transferred into credit-bearing programs, and the certificate and degree programs at the state's community colleges and universities.

Have institutions changed the programs that they offer? Are students stacking credentials, and, when they do, are they seeing an increase in earnings? Researchers at the RAND Corporation and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) established a multiyear partnership to answer these questions and others. To find the answers, the team examined the state's stackable credential offerings and student outcomes in three fields: health care, manufacturing and engineering technology (MET), and information technology (IT). These three fields account for more than half of all certificates awarded in the state and have been a primary focus of its stackable credential efforts. This research brief summarizes key findings and implications of the project. These findings can inform Ohio's efforts to scale effective education and training pathways and might offer useful evidence to states pursuing similar initiatives.

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This project researched automotive educational institutions and manufacturing industries that conduct current and future high technology training in four overseas countries: USA, Germany, England and Japan. In particular, the study addressed: current and future, automotive high technology trends; affects on the automotive repair industry; future impact on automotive vocational training courses; provision of high technology micro-courses; and changes to traditional training systems required to cope with rapidly changing technology. The findings demonstrate that these countries have faced the same challenges as Australia in 'keeping training relevant to current and future technology'. The project focused on how Australia could use overseas experience to develop a model that will address automotive high technology training concerns. The author recommends a review of the Australian automotive apprentice training system in light of the overseas findings. Show less

Personal reemployment accounts (PRAs) are a new strategy intended to help specific recipients of Unemployment Insurance (UI) build job skills and find work. PRAs are lump sum accounts of up to $3,000 that are fully managed by the unemployed worker and valid for one year. They are targeted to UI recipients who are likely to exhaust their benefits, and recipients can choose how and when to spend funds from their account to purchase reemployment services. PRA recipients may also elect to receive the funds as a bonus for reentering the workforce and keeping a job. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) launched the PRA demonstration project as the first step in examining this new strategy. ETA selected seven states - Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Texas, and West Virginia - to serve as PRA demonstration states. These states received a combined total of nearly $8 million to offer PRAs to a minimum of 2,270 unemployed workers. The evaluation of this project will cover the first two years of implementation and will involve both a qualitative and a quantitative study. This interim report presents information about the first year of PRA implementation, based on telephone interviews and site visits to each state and an analysis of state quarterly data reports. Early findings include: PRAs have not significantly altered staffing or service delivery structures within the participating One-Stop Centers, and most sites do not have a staff position dedicated solely to PRAs. Overall, the states have maintained a high degree of flexibility and customer choice in the use of PRAs by placing limited, if any, restrictions on PRA recipients’ selection of training providers. States have also allowed PRA recipients to purchase a broad range of supportive services that help sustain a job search; contact between One-Stop staff and PRA recipients is limited to the purpose of withdrawing account funds and occurs predominantly via telephone, email, or mail. There is no free access to career counseling and limited face-to-face contact overall. The early analysis suggests that PRA recipients will restrict spending on services in order to maximize the amount of a reemployment bonus. But, when funds are used to purchase services, the majority of spending is directed to supportive services in five of the seven states.

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The US labor market is going through a rapid evolution in the way people work and the work people do. The nature of work has changed as many workers have stuck with remote or hybrid models and employers have sped up their adoption of automation technologies. More recently, the accelerated development of generative artificial intelligence (AI), with its advanced natural language capabilities, has extended the possibilities for automation to a much wider set of occupations. Multiple forces are set to fuel growth in certain occupations and erode jobs in others. They generally fall into three categories: automation, including generative AI; an injection of federal investment into infrastructure and the net-zero transition; and long-term structural trends such as aging, continuing investment in technology, and the growth of e-commerce and remote work. This report explores: Which jobs will be in demand? Which ones are shrinking? And which ones could be hardest to fill?

Key findings include: (1) By 2030, activities that account for up to 30 per cent of hours currently worked across the US economy could be automated - a trend accelerated by generative AI. However, we see generative AI enhancing the way [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] STEM, creative, and business and legal professionals work rather than eliminating a significant number of jobs outright. Automation's biggest effects are likely to hit other job categories. Office support, customer service, and food service employment could continue to decline; (2) An additional 12 million occupational transitions may be needed by 2030. As people leave shrinking occupations, the economy could reweight toward higher-wage jobs. Workers in lower-wage jobs are up to 14 times more likely to need to change occupations than those in highest-wage positions, and most will need additional skills to do so successfully. Women are 1.5 times more likely to need to move into new occupations than men; and (3) The US will need workforce development on a far larger scale as well as more expansive hiring approaches from employers. Employers will need to hire for skills and competencies rather than credentials, recruit from overlooked populations (such as rural workers and people with disabilities), and deliver training that keeps pace with their evolving needs.

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As we progress into the 21st century, we find ourselves at a transition point in the field of education. Preparing students for future careers and economic prosperity requires a dramatic change in the traditional American high school education system. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to identify if the participants' high school experiences provided the skills necessary for college and career preparation after graduation, ensuring their economic prosperity as adults. Three research questions were addressed in this study: (1) If students graduate from high school unprepared for college and career after graduation, what is the economic impact on the community? (2) Does the completion of career-related programs such as career pathways, career technical education (CTE), or science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) prepare students for college and career? (3) Does A-G course completion, participation in honors programs, early college, or dual credit courses completed in high school prepare students for college and career? This population was identified because they would have time after graduation from high school to provide answers if their high school education program affected their college and career success or lack thereof.

The findings demonstrated that the participants' high school college and career preparation could influence students' future economic success as adults. Also, the findings suggest that the specific types of experiences the participants had while in high school that led to their economic success varied and depended on the type of educational programs, opportunities, experiences, support, and motivation they had in high school.

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This report explains some of the ways the payoff of postsecondary education can be measured and provides insights into why there is confusion about that payoff, despite strong evidence. Focusing on the variation in outcomes across individuals helps to clarify that the existence of the high average payoff, and the reality of significant benefits for most students, is not inconsistent with disappointing outcomes for some. The authors attempt to put the stories of this relatively small segment of students into context and to direct attention to improving opportunities for all students. This report explains some of the concepts and complexities that underlie analyses of the benefits of postsecondary education and clarifies the different assumptions and definitions that affect measured outcomes. The aim of the report is to provide background and context for readers to help them become more active and constructive participants in discussions of the role of higher education in the United States.

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This study explores the perspectives of business college graduates, how technology has shaped the structures of their jobs, and the role of non-technical skills as they navigate the changing career path. Three overlapping themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) influence of increased technology capabilities on job structures and careers; (2) participation in job-related training and formal education as means of adapting to the new work environment; and (3) the role of non-technical skills in the workplace amidst the intensification of technology change. This research provides higher education practitioners and labor market researchers qualitative perspectives on work structure changes.

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Using a descriptive survey design, a nationally representative sample of community college career and technical deans were asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed awareness and implementation of industry-based skill standards. For those institutions implementing industry-based skill standards, the questionnaire sought additional information on assessment and credentialing practices. Data were collected across 10 CTE program areas including agriculture; construction/trade; automotive, commercial mechanic, and commercial driver's license; family and consumer sciences; graphic arts; health occupations; hospitality and hotel management; manufacturing; industrial; and business, administrative, and information technology.

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While Latinos are running faster in the education race, this report finds that they are falling farther behind Whites and Blacks in many crucial college outcomes. The good news though, is that with the right support, Latinos are poised for a surge in educational and economic success. Key findings include: Latina women have higher completion rates compared to Latino men at every level of postsecondary education; while Latinos with high SAT/ACT test scores have similar rates of college enrollment as Whites, 63 per cent of these Latinos complete a degree or other credential compared to 78 per cent of Whites with similar test scores; only 34 per cent of foreign-born Latinos have some form of postsecondary education compared to 61 per cent of native-born Latinos; Latinos who speak only English earn $41,000 annually on average, which is lower than Whites' earnings ($50,000) but higher than Blacks' earnings ($38,000).

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Despite good career prospects in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, persistence of students in STEM fields of study at the community college and transfer to universities to pursue STEM majors is often quite low. Theories of persistence emphasize the importance of engagement, integration, validation, and financial assistance. The DCCCD STEM Institute is a comprehensive cocurricular program for community college STEM students. It illustrates the application of persistence theories in a multicollege urban district with a diverse student body. The STEM Institute uses a student/faculty cohort model with mentoring, professional skills programming, and scholarship support to transform student perceptions of themselves, integrate them into a STEM educational community, and validate their membership within that community. Institute membership also reduces isolation and financial concerns as potential barriers to persistence. STEM faculty also participate in professional skill development through a cross-college and cross-disciplinary cohort. Data on students who participated in the DCCCD STEM Institute from 2010 through 2014 show that 92 per cent remain in a STEM educational or career pathway. Important practice implications for community college professionals include (1) forming student and faculty cohorts, (2) facilitating the development of mentoring relationships, (3) providing adequate centralized staffing, and (4) integrating resources and opportunities into a unified cocurricular program.

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