Texas Association Of Workforce Boards

Education

Making the Connection: Aligning Advising to Improve Postsecondary Access and Success

Education Strategy Group recently released a new microsite – Making the Connection: Aligning Advising to Improve Postsecondary Access and Success – that makes the case for prioritizing alignment of advising across K-12 and postsecondary education. It shares action steps and resources for different stakeholders, including secondary education, postsecondary education, state government, federal government, nonprofits and college access organizations, and philanthropies.

Perceptions in a Pandemic: Texans’ Support for Public Schools Grows

The second annual Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation Poll of Texans’ perceptions on public education is now available.

Point of Order: Funding Texas schools during a pandemic

In the latest episode of our podcast about the Texas Legislature, Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith talks to state Sen. Larry Taylor, chair of the Senate Education Committee, about whether it’s possible to fully fund last session’s school finance bill, learning loss, broadband access, the STAAR test and more.

Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative Final Report 2020

Linking Education and Workforce: Spurring Economic Growth Across Texas.

Millions of young adults are out of school or work. We need an Education and Employment Promise

We propose an Education and Employment Promise for the 2020s, and offer the following components as a starting point.

Redesigning Training Programs for the COVID-19 Era and Beyond

In this brief, JFF explores what training providers can do to adapt their programming in ways that put the country on a path to an equitable economic recovery.

WHAT WE LEARNED: Adult Education’s Response to Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning

Recently, the EdTech Center @ World Education convened researchers leading eight studies on adult education’s response to COVID-19 in a Technical Working Group (TWG) where they analyzed their collective research efforts.

Amplifying Impact

National Skills Coalitions’s new report, Amplifying Impact, explores how combining investments in digital skills and English language learning can pay off for workers and businesses alike.

Tri-Agency 2020: Empowering all Texans to reach their full potential

Summary of new tri-agency charges.

Closing the Credit-Noncredit Divide

There is a wage and opportunity problem between students who take for-credit or noncredit postsecondary classes, finds Jobs for the Future (JFF) in their report “Closing the Credit-Noncredit Divide.” The researchers found six main differences in credit and noncredit programs: expected outcomes, financial aid, prerequisite courses, course selection, credit hours versus seat time and accreditation. They also described characteristics of quality noncredit programs, and showcased community colleges who were being innovative and working to overcome the divide to create an easier transition between noncredit and for-credit programs.

The Overlooked Value of Certificates and Associate’s Degrees: What Students Need to Know Before They Go to College

Future earnings for certificates and some associate degree programs are closely linked to the field of study, reports Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce researchers in their latest study.

Varying Degrees 2019: New America’s Third Annual Survey on Higher Education

Relevant to CTE, the report found that Americans value various postsecondary educational pathways. More than eight in ten respondents felt comfortable with their child choosing an apprenticeship, technical degree/certificate, associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree.

Understanding the Need for Adult Education in Texas

This report from the Texas Workforce Investment Council is an update to Identifying the Current and Future Population in Need of Adult Education published in March 2010. Between April 2018 and September 2018, the Council worked with the Office of the State Demographer to conduct analyses of the current population in need of adult education services, a detailed estimate of the future need for services based on growth projections for the Texas population, and the geographic dispersion of need in Texas by local workforce development areas.

Texas School Finance – Doing the Math on the State’s Biggest Expenditure

The Comptroller’s office examines the history and intricacies of the Texas school finance system in a special edition of Fiscal Notes.

The Workforce in Texas: Aligning Education to Meet the Needs of Texas Employers

2014 TAWB Education Paper.

Current Educational Outcomes in Texas and Their Impact on the Texas Economy

White Paper from Outcomes Working Group of the State Commission on Public School Finance.

Where Giving Empowers

The Educate Texas 2017 Annual Report.

A Decade of Neglect: Public Education Funding in the Aftermath of the Great Recession

Report by the American Federation of Teachers reviews the research outlining how investments matter for education and points out that the harm caused by spending cuts affects students. It also examines the impact of privatization on public education.

Overcoming The Odds: Opportunity in Brownsville ISD Empowers Students

How do the district and its students consistently outperform expectations? Zendejas attributes it to students seizing the wide-ranging opportunities offered by the district.

Measuring Non-Degree Credential Attainment

A new 50-state scan from the Workforce Data Quality Campaign, Measuring Non-Degree Credential Attainment, shows that states are making progress collecting data about credentials including certificates, industry certifications, and licenses.

Commissioner’s Update on State of Public Education

Report from Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath

Putting Pell Grants to work for working students: How modernizing our federal higher education policy can improve outcomes for students and employers in today’s economy

In this new publication, the National Skills Coalition urges lawmakers to end the bias against working students and modernize our federal financial aid system so that it meets the needs of today’s students and employers.

CTE Sector Sheets

Sector Sheets describe CTE’s role in growing the qualified workforce for vital industry sectors. Share these advocacy tools with industry, education leaders, policymakers and the public to illustrate how CTE supports specific industries and prepares students for career success.

High School Students’ Views on Who Influences Their Thinking about Education and Careers

Data analysis from the National Center on Education Statistics confirms prior research demonstrating that students are primarily influenced in making postsecondary and career decision by family members and by themselves, far more than by teachers, counselors, friends, employers or recruiters.

Saving the Associate of Arts Degree: How an A.A. Degree Can Become a Better Path to Labor Market Success

The American Enterprise Institute has published research and recommendations on how community colleges can make associate of arts (AA) degrees more marketable. The report describes how the AA as a terminal degree typically has less labor market value than career and technical associate degrees.

State Policies Impacting CTE: 2017 Year in Review from ACTE and Advance CTE

Last year saw a significant expansion of state CTE policy, with 49 states and DC enacting 241 CTE-related laws, executive orders, boards of education actions and budget provisions. This publication summarizes each state’s CTE policy activity and describes major themes and intersections with federal policy.

Making College Affordable: Providing Low-Income Students with the Knowledge and Resources Needed to Pay for College

The report examines the numerous barriers preventing low-income students from enrolling and persisting in college, including concerns over high tuition and fees, lack of clarity on award amounts and duration, and a limited understanding of how financial aid works. “Making College Affordable” offers 11 best practices to institutions to help students pay for college and stay in school.

What Happens to Students Who Take Community College “Dual Enrollment” Courses in High School?

Dual-enrollment Differences: A longitudinal study has found that dually enrolled students are more likely to earn a postsecondary certificate or degree than those who did not pursue dual enrollment. However, there are significant variations across states and between higher and lower income students.

CTE Creates the Agriculture Workforce

ACTE has updated its Sector Sheet on CTE’s role in developing the workforce in the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Career Cluster® with the latest on occupational demand, talent shortages and exemplary programs.

Degrees of Opportunity: Lessons Learned from State-Level Data on Postsecondary Earnings Outcomes

The American Enterprise Institute recently published an analysis of the return on investment five years and 20 years later for students completing bachelor’s, associate, certificate and apprenticeship programs in specific fields of study in Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

Center for School, College, and Career Resources

The Texas College and Career Readiness Support Center is a collection of resources and tools available to all stakeholders committed to building a strong college and career readiness culture in Texas schools. Housed at Education Service Center Region 13, the center’s two main projects, the Texas College and Career Readiness Profile Planning Guide and the Texas Online College and Career Readiness Resource Center, were created to support all educators as they continue to assist students for successful post-secondary options.

Business Leader’s Guide to Congressional CTE Advocacy Infographic

ACTE has published a new resource you can use to help your local business partners engage in advocacy efforts in support of CTE. The guide provides a three-step process that will help business leaders establish and grow their relationships with policymakers. While the guide is geared toward congressional advocacy, it can similarly be applied to state and local advocacy efforts.

Educate & Elevate

With budget cuts in workforce and education looming, the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) and the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education (NCSDAE) have launched a national campaign called Educate & Elevate to help America understand the importance of adult education and its impact on the lives of adult learners and the economy.

Texas CTE Resource Center

The CTE resource center is a one-stop shop for CTE professional development, instructional materials, and program information. Many new CTE teachers come from business and industry, and need additional support and resources to be successful in the classroom.

HIGHER ED OUTCOMES – Tracking 8th Graders’ Post-Secondary Success

With support from Houston Endowment, a private philanthropic foundation, The Texas Tribune has used data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency to document the education outcomes of every student who started 8th grade in a Texas public school during eight academic years (1996 through 2004).

The State of Career Technical Education: Increasing Access to Industry Experts in High Schools

Developed in partnership with the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders at American Institutes for Research, this report features results from two surveys, one of 47 State CTE Directors and one of 260 local CTE teachers and administrators from 26 states.

Prosperity Requires Being Bold: Integrating Education and the Workforce for a Bright Texas Future

The Tri-Agency Report to the Office of the Governor from the Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Texas Workforce Commission.

60×30 Tx Higher Education Plan

Texas Higher Education Strategic Plan: 2015–2030.

TAWB Education Recommendations

Recommendations extracted from TAWB 2014 Education Paper for alignment of education and
workforce development.

PowerPoint Presentation: TAWB Education Paper

Presentation by Tyane Dietz, Deep East Texas Workforce Development Board.

PowerPoint Presentation: TAWB Education Paper

Presentation by Mark Guthrie, Gulf Coast Workforce Development Board.

Reframing Child Poverty

This TEDx talk given by Dr. Bob Sanborn of Children At Risk- Statewide Research and Advocacy is POWERFUL! He speaks to what he believes are the 4 key solutions to reframing child poverty issues.

NACEP Standards

The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) works to ensure that college courses offered by high school teachers are as rigorous as courses offered on the sponsoring college campus. As the sole accrediting body for concurrent enrollment partnerships, NACEP helps these programs adhere to the highest standards so students experience a seamless transition to college and teachers benefit from meaningful, ongoing professional development.
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Bridging the Gap: Examining Child Care’s Intersection with Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development

With the support of the Ford Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Urban Institute is undertaking a phased set of studies examining how child care intersects with postsecondary education and workforce development for low-income parents.

Understanding ESSA

Understanding ESSA, a new website from the Collaborative for Student Success, aggregates state-by-state information on implementation, including announcements for upcoming state outreach events, news updates and links to state resources, including the Texas Accountability System Fact Sheet.

Leveraging the Every Student Succeeds Act to Support State Visions for College and Career Readiness

The College and Career Readiness and Success Center at the American Institutes for Research recently released some new resources to support states’ efforts to promote college and career readiness as part of the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Let’s Get This Conversation Started: Strategies, Tools, Examples and Resources to Help States Engage with Stakeholders to Develop and Implement their ESSA Plans

The Council of Chief State School Officers has a guide for stakeholder outreach that includes practical tips for states to engage ESSA stakeholders as well as examples of best practices that states are already using.

Questions and Answers Regarding the Implementation of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act

Earlier this month, the federal Department of Education (ED) released a new set of responses to frequently asked questions regarding the implementation of the Perkins Act.

America’s Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots 2016

Over 95 percent of jobs created during the recovery have gone to workers with at least some college education, while those with a high school diploma or less are being left behind. America’s Divided Recovery: College Haves and Have-Nots reveals that those with at least some college education have captured 11.5 million of the 11.6 million jobs created during the recovery.

Gallup-USA Funds Associate Degree Graduates Report

New research on associate degree holders shows that they have positive employment outcomes and are more interested in their work than individuals with a bachelor’s degree.

Best Practices in Dropout Prevention

Report Prepared for the Texas Education Agency by ICF International and the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network.

Skills of U.S. Unemployed, Young, and Older Adults in Sharper Focus: Results From the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012/2014

A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics will raise concerns about U.S. workers’ global competitiveness. As reported in Education Week here, supplementary data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) collected in 2013-2014 indicate that U.S. adults “scored about average in literacy, near the bottom in numeracy and dead last in digital problem solving, or as the OECD calls it, problem solving in technology rich environments.”

The College and Career Readiness of U.S. High School Graduates-Texas

For more than a decade, Achieve has issued an annual 50-state report on each state’s adoption of college- and career-ready (CCR) policies as reflected in state standards, graduation requirements, assessments, and accountability systems.

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TRADE & VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS: Exploring the Advantages and Opportunities in Career-focused Education

Inside the guide you will find vocational program options and the skills required, an easy-to-use search tool to find the best school and projected job openings and information on the best career paths.

Middle School Matters

The Middle School Matters (MSM) initiative at the George W. Bush Institute seeks to increase the number of middle grade students who are prepared for high school and postsecondary success. Middle School Matters’ mission is to transform the middle grades by promoting high quality research-based strategies and practices to drive the development of policies that lead to better student outcomes.

Getting Developmental Education Up to Speed

Forty percent of all entering college students and over half of entering community college students must take at least one remedial course. Fewer than half make it through developmental education. This two-page Focus provides an overview of how this growing evidence base informs four areas of reform.

Preparing a Globally Competent Workforce Through High Quality Career and Technical Education

The Asia Society and Longview Foundation, in partnership with the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium and ACTE, have released a white paper on the role of CTE instruction in preparing students for the 21st century workforce, and the importance of integrating curriculum to develop global competencies in CTE.

Solving the Education Equation: A new model for improving STEM workforce outcomes through academic equity

The underrepresentation of women and people of color in STEM jobs is the focus of a new report from the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity. The publication addresses academic achievement gaps in STEM fields of study among students of different races/ethnicities, as well as the lack of interest in STEM courses shown by certain sub-populations.

Aligning K-12 and postsecondary career pathways with workforce needs

This report provides a first look at state policymaking activity in 13 states related to secondary and post-secondary level career/technical education (CTE).

The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2015 – Texas

The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2015 is the ACT annual report on the progress of US high school graduates relative to college readiness.

National Student Clearinghouse Reverse Transfer Project

Reverse Transfer is a landmark project to award up to two million students the degrees they earned, but don’t have.

Snapshot 2014: School District Profiles

Texas Education Agency’s annual Snapshot report is of a giant system of enormous and microscopic school districts with a huge variety of geographic, ethnic, racial, economic and educational diversity.

Making Pell Work – How America’s $30 billion investment in need-based college aid can be more job-driven

Examines the growth of short-term and noncredit career-oriented programs and the role they play in both postsecondary education and in the U.S. economy, and offers recommendations to policymakers on how to make these programs more accessible to working learners and to employers seeking to sustain or grow their businesses.

Keeping College Within Reach: How Texas Can Move More Low-Income and Adult Students through College

This policy brief from the Center for Public Policy Priorities analyzes where Texas stands on college completion across our public community colleges and universities for low-income and adult Texans, and makes the following recommendations to promote access and increase completion in Texas.

Texas’ Workforce Diploma Program

Presentation at TAWB meeting May 4, 2015 by Chase Winder, Graduation Alliance.

NSC State Workforce and Education Alignment Project (SWEAP)

A set of SWEAP papers issued by National Skills Coalition (NSC) discuss the steps states can take to create data tools and provide real-world examples of states that have used these tools to inform workforce policy decisions.

Preparing To Launch – Early Childhood’s Academic Countdown

The 19th annual edition of Education Week’s Quality Counts focuses on early-childhood education as its
special theme.

Career Awareness Model

This guide produced by the Texas Workforce Investment Council details a sequential model of information and activities to support student and parent understanding of educational and career options.

Career Technical Education and Outcomes in Texas High Schools – A Monograph

The monograph was developed to support the Texas Workforce Council’s work on career technical education (CTE) in Texas. It provides basic information about CTE, including relevant legislation and funding, a brief history of CTE, and the impact of CTE programs.

Texas Reality Check

Website is a great tool for helping students make wise career decisions.

Creating Vertical Alignment between Education and the Economy

Presentation at TAWB November 19, 2014 meeting by Dr. Jose Parra, Superintendent of Irving ISD, and Nathan Green, Vice President of SureScore.
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Texas Crews

Texas CREWS Web application compares wage, employment and student loan data across Texas colleges.

Beyond the Skills Gap: Making Education Work for Students, Employers, and Communities

Recently released paper by Mary Alice McCarthy, Senior Policy Analyst in the Education Policy Program at New America, that explores the skills gap from a different perspective – as a gap between the policies governing higher education and the skill development needs of students, employers, and communities.

TEA House Bill 5 Resources

Texas Educaton Agency site provides information and resources regarding House Bill 5, passed by the 83rd Texas Legislature.

HB 5 Resources from Institute for Public School Initiatives at the University of Texas at Austin

This site contains numerous resources to help school districts comply with the requirements of the Texas House Bill 5 (HB5).

Missing Makers: How to Rebuild America’s Manufacturing Workforce

Report from the Hope Street Group shares important insights on the best methods for strengthening workforce development initiatives geared at equipping working learners with the tools, resources, and information they need to make informed career decisions.

Leander ISD Superintendent Explains HB 5 Endorsements

In this webcast Leander ISD Superintendent Dr. Bret A. Champion addresses parents and community regarding House Bill 5 and the resulting changes to public education. Dr. Champion focuses on the endorsements, or programs of study.

Alamo Academies Presentation

Model of industry driven STEM-based instructional programs in San Antonio area focusing on dual credit program of study and compliance with HB 5 standards.

America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow’s Jobs

America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow’s Jobs raises awareness about the significant benefits for individuals, businesses, and state economies when governors act to raise their population’s educational attainment and better align their educatio… more

Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in science and Mathematics Teaching

The Texas Regional Collaboratives for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching (TRC) is an award-winning statewide network of 58 P-16 partnerships that provide sustained and high intensity professional development to P-12 teachers of science and math… more

Life After HB 5

Libraries & Workforce Development

Examples of initiatives around the state invloving collaboration of workforce and libraries to meet the ever-increasing demands for training and education programs.

UNT Sustainable Communiites Initiative EXCEL Program(Excellence in Curricula and Experiential Learning)

The objectives of the University of North Texas’ EXCEL program include establishing partnerships among businesses, community organizations, and schools to build collective support base for Texas students.

Outreach Strategies – TAWB 2014 Education Paper

Outreach strategies for TAWB Education Paper

Talking Points – TAWB 2014 Education Paper

Talking points for TAWB 2014 Education Paper

News Release Template-TAWB Education Paper

Sample news release for TAWB 2014 Education Paper

Success In The New Economy

Video produced by Citrus College in Glendora, California to help a broader audience begin to understand preparation today for tomorrow’s labor market realities.

Aligning Higher Education with Future Workforce

Presentation by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Commissioner Raymund Paredes.

Achieve Texas Presentation

The TAWB meetings in Grapevine in November featured a presentation on Achieve Texas from Dan Belcher, a 22 year veteran of the education system both in North Carolina and Texas. He is currently the Career and Technical Education Specialist for Educatio… more