Skills2Compete-Massachusetts

Best Practices and Innovative Models

• Children’s Hospital Boston (Boston, MA): Tuition Advancement Policy (National Fund for Workforce Solutions, August 2011)
• Closing the Financial Gap for Low-income Student Parents (CLASP Webinar, July 2011)
• Farther, Faster: Six Promising Programs Show How Career Pathway Bridges Help Basic Skills Students Earn Credentials that Matter (CLASP, August 2011)
• Middlesex Community College (Lowell, MA): Academy of Health Professions
• Chicago, IL: Community College and Nonprofit Partnership between Wilbur Wright College and Instituto del Progreso Latino–Initial Education and Employment Outcomes (Aspen Institute Report, February 2011)
• Kentucky Community & Technical College System: Career Pathways Initiative
• Kentucky Community & Technical College System: Developmental Education Pilots
• Measuring Business Impact: A Workforce Development Practitioner’s Guide (Commonewalth Corporation, Nov. 2011)
• Oregon Career Pathways Initiative : Higher Learning, Higher Earning
• Community College of Rhode Island: Career Pathways System
• Seattle: College for Working Adult Pilot Projects (hybrid, compressed, modular certificates and degrees)
• Virginia Community College System: Regional Career Pathways Systems Grants RFP
• Workforce Partnership Guidance Tool (National Fund for Workforce Solutions, a tool kit for starting an industry sector partnership)

Relevant Research/Reports

• Across the Great Divide: National Survey Reveals Great Divide Between Skills Workers Have and Skills Employers Require (Corporate Voices for Working Families, March 2011)
• An economy that works: Job creation and America’s future (McKinsey Global Institute, June 2011)
• Beyond Basic Skills: State Strategies to Connect Low-Skilled Students to an Employer-Valued Post-Secondary Education (Center for Law and Social Policy, March 2011)
• Giving Credit where Credit is Due: Creating a Competency-based Qualifications Framework for Post-Secondary Education and Training (Center for Law and Social Policy, April 2011)
• Driving Innovation from the Middle: Middle-Skill Jobs in the American South’s Economy (National Skills Coalition, August 2011)
• Improving Postsecondary Attainment Among Adults (National Governor’s Association, February 2011)
• New Path to Federal Student Aid for Those with No High School Diploma or GED (Center for Law and Social Policy, March 2011)
• Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College (Center for Law and Social Policy, June 2011)
• Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore: The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete College-MA fact sheet (Center for Law and Social Policy, June 2011)
• Pathways out of Poverty for Vulnerable Californians: Policies that Prepare the Workforce for Middle-Skill Infrastructure Jobs (PolicyLink, October 2010)
• Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century (Harvard Graduate School of Education, February 2011)
• Accountability & Continuous Improvement in Remedial Education (Education Commission of the States, January 2011)
• Mismatch in the Labor Market: Measuring the Supply of and Demand for Skilled Labor in New England (New England Public Policy Center, added December 2010)
• Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges (Center for Law and Social Policy, October 2010)
• Is the Middle of the U.S. Job Market Really Disappearing? (Center for American Progress, May 2010)
• Hot Jobs 2010 (Crittenton Women’s Union, added March 2010)

Resources for Students/Training Participants

• AARP Women’s Scholarship Opportunity for low-income women ages 40+ seeking new job skills, training and educational opportunities (AARP, added October 2011)
• Beyond Financial Aid: 2010 Guide to extra help for low-income adult students (Crittenton Women’s Union,  added September 2010)
• Boston’s 2011 Opportunities Guide (City of Boston Jobs and Community Services, added July 2011)
• Career Coach: A free online career development and counseling tool (Women Employed, added October 2010)
• Massachusetts Clean Energy Careers Training & Education Directory (Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, January 2011)
• My Skills My Future online career exploration tool (U.S. Department of Labor, added August 2011)