The Evolution and Potential of Career Pathways

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The Evolution and Potential of Career Pathways

This report was produced under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. ED-VAE-12-C0068 with Jobs for the Future. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned in this publication is intended or should be inferred. For the reader's convenience, this publication contains information about and from outside organizations, including hyperlinks and URLs. Inclusion of such information does not constitute the Department's endorsement. This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. (2015, April). The Evolution and Potential of Career Pathways. Washington, D.C.: Author. This report is available at:

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Acknowledgements

The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) acknowledges the important contributions to this report made by the following people: Mary Gardner Clagett, Director for Workforce Policy, Van Nguyen and Dimitri Linde, Program Managers, Jobs for the Future, as well as Rebecca Arnold, Consultant, for their analysis and writing.

The Purpose of this Paper

Career Pathways systems provide a framework for organizing and formally aligning the education, workforce, and supportive services needed by a wide range of individuals to attain the credentials required for family-suppoting careers. This paper provides a context for the increased attention that Career Pathways approaches have received in recent years--by examining the evolution and efficacy of pathways strategies for building a skilled workforce. The paper looks back nearly 30 years to examine prior initiatives that over time have contributed to the development of today's Career Pathways framework and initiatives.

Who Should Read the Paper?

The strategies highlighted in this paper, and the knowledge about how Career Pathways approaches have evolved, will be useful to state and local stakeholders (state and local officials, education and training providers, workforce and economic development leaders, employers, community-based organizations (CBOs), and others) who are interested in the establishment of comprehensive education and workforce development systems that help students, jobseekers and workers attain the competencies and credentials that are needed for high demand careers; and that provide employers with the skilled workers needed in high demand industries and occupations.

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Table of Contents

The Evolution and Potential of Career Pathways...................................................................... ii

Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................v

Executive Summary............................................................................................................................. 1

I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3

II. Joint Framework for Career Pathways Systems Development........................................ 6

III. The Urgent Need for a Skilled Workforce ............................................................................. 8

IV. The Evolution of Career Pathways Systems........................................................................10

V. Lessons Learned ............................................................................................................................14

Holistic Approaches Cross--System Partnerships.........................................................................

14

Employer Engagement and Responsiveness to Labor Market Needs/Sector Strategies ..... 15

Program Design Redesign.................................................................................................................... 16

Pursuit of Needed Funding, Sustainability, and Scale...................................................................... 17

Policy Change and Alignment...................................................................................................................

18

Identifying and Implementing Cross--System Data and Accountability Systems .................... 18

VI. Going Forward ..............................................................................................................................20

Appendix A: Snapshots of Career--Related Education & Training Programs .................23

Career Academies.........................................................................................................................................

23

Southern Regional Education Board, High Schools That Work .................................................... 25

Tech--Prep........................................................................................................................................................

27

School--To--Work ............................................................................................................................................ 29

Building Linkages......................................................................................................................................... 31

Career Clusters Initiative...........................................................................................................................

32

Pathways to Advancement Project......................................................................................................... 33

The Community College Bridges to Opportunity Initiative............................................................

35

Career Pathways Efforts in Oregon ........................................................................................................ 37

Career Pathways Efforts in Washington (I--BEST) ............................................................................. 39

College and Career Transitions Initiative ............................................................................................ 41

Adult Education Coordination and Planning Project ....................................................................... 43

Department of Labor Sector--Based Initiatives................................................................................... 45

The Community--Based Job Training Grants........................................................................................

47

The Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative ........... 49

Breaking Through Initiative..................................................................................................................... 51

Programs of Study........................................................................................................................................ 53

Rigorous Programs of Study Through Statewide Articulation Agreements.............................

54

Promoting Rigorous Programs of Study............................................................................................... 56

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Shifting Gears.................................................................................................................................................

58

Policy to Performance ................................................................................................................................ 60

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT)... 62

Career Pathways Technical Assistance Initiative..............................................................................

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The Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) ................................................................................................ 65

Pathways to Prosperity Network ............................................................................................................ 66

Accelerating Opportunity .......................................................................................................................... 68

The Alliance for Quality Career Pathways ........................................................................................... 70

Appendix B: Federal Career Pathways TA/Grants..................................................................72

Advancing Career and Technical Education (CTE) in State and Local Career Pathways

Systems ............................................................................................................................................................ 73

Moving Pathways Forward: Supporting Career Pathways Integration .................................... 75

Career Pathways Policy Academies ....................................................................................................... 76

Credentials and Career Pathways Technical Assistance Project ................................................. 77

Youth Career Connect ................................................................................................................................. 78

Endnotes ...............................................................................................................................................79

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Executive Summary

For years, U.S. policymakers and practitioners have expressed the need to equip America's current and future workforce with the education, skills, and credentials required by high-demand businesses and industries--so workers can achieve and maintain economic prosperity, employers can remain competitive, and the U.S. economy can continue to grow. One has only to look at the 8.6 million workers who remain unemployed in March 2015, even as the U.S. economy continues to rebound and employers actively seek skilled workers, to understand the urgency for these efforts.1 Of equal concern are the 3.4 million young people, aged 16 to 24, who are looking for but cannot find work.2

On July 22, 2014, the United States took two game-changing actions that will move the nation toward addressing these concerns and achieving the above-described goals. Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the bipartisan Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which calls for cross-system alignment; education and training that is focused on the needs of high-demand industry sectors and occupations; regional collaboration focused on the skill needs of regional economies; and the establishment of Career Pathways systems that make it easier for all Americans to attain the skills and credentials needed for family-supporting jobs and careers.

On the same day, Vice President Biden issued the Ready to Work: Job-Driven Training and American Opportunity report, thereby laying out a vision for measuring the effectiveness of jobtraining programs and announcing an array of actions that can be taken, in combination with the new workforce law, to achieve the skilling of America's workforce.

To help states and local communities organize and carry out this challenging but necessary work, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED), Labor (DOL), and Health and Human Services (HHS) began to collaborate, even before the passage of WIOA and the issuance of the Vice President's report, on ways to align the resources and programs under their jurisdictions that support skills development in the U.S. Examining prior initiatives as well as current innovative practices, the three Departments identified a groundbreaking framework for developing and implementing Career Pathways systems in support of a skilled American workforce.

In April 2012, these same Departments issued a "joint commitment to promote the use of Career Pathways approaches as a promising strategy to help adults acquire marketable skills and industry-recognized credentials through better alignment of education, training and employment, and human and social services among public agencies and with employers."3 At that time, the three Departments agreed upon a definition and a framework for the development of Career

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Pathways, including the identification of Six Key Elements or actions that states and local communities can take to build Career Pathways systems.4 This framework and much of the work that is already underway in states and local communities has been built upon lessons learned in carrying out workforce education and training programs over the past 30 years. When looking at what has worked in career-related education and training programs historically, it becomes clear that a comprehensive Career Pathways systems approach holds significant promise for providing Americans with the skills and credentials needed for high-demand jobs and careers. This paper provides context for the increasing emphasis on Career Pathways in recent legislation and in response to America's continuing need for a skilled workforce. It examines the evolution of Career Pathways approaches through a chronology of federal, state, and local workforce education and training efforts upon which today's Career Pathways efforts have been built. Most importantly, this paper identifies strategies and program components that have proven effective in helping individuals to persist in education and training and to attain credentials necessary for obtaining in-demand jobs. The strategies highlighted in this paper, and the knowledge about how Career Pathways approaches have evolved, will be particularly useful to state and local stakeholders as they work to develop and implement Career Pathways systems that move students, jobseekers, and workers most effectively and efficiently to valued credentials and careers.

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