The Handbook of Career and Workforce Development


Book Description

The Handbook of Career and Workforce Development provides educators, researchers, and policy makers with information on evidence-based programs and activities. Chapters describe ways that current research can be used to promote the design of more effective career development programs and services at local, state, and national levels. Promising career development practices applicable to a range of settings and special populations are identified, as are strategies for communicating evidence in ways that influence career and workforce development public policy. The Handbook of Career and Workforce Development can be used by policy makers and grant program officers to identify key career development ingredients that should be considered in proposals; researchers seeking to make their career development research relevant and practical; and practitioners implementing or advocating for career development programs and services.




Workforce Development


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilizations as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible.




Workforce Development Centers


Book Description




Not Just Getting by


Book Description

Not Just Getting By chronicles groundbreaking thinking and research on new and innovative workforce development initiatives to create flexible and collaborative programs and policies. Author Mary Gatta builds on extensive interviews and focus groups with 128 women enrolled in a U.S. Department of Labor pilot program in New Jersey focusing on how they attain education through online courses while working, raising their children, and dealing with the many demands on their lives. The book addresses three main areas: It engages current policy debates demonstrating how online learning and other forms of flexible learning opportunities will reorganize the way federal and state governments deliver skills training, especially working poor single mothers, within the context of Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and other legislated workforce development programs in the 21st century. It explores the development of the program and qualitatively details the experiences of the women as they spend a year receiving online learning courses. It explores how to rethink workforce development so that online learning for low wage workers and other innovative programs can be successful. As both a piece of scholarship and a case study in successful policy development, this text will be a useful supplement for courses in the sociology of labor, women's studies, or adult education. It will also serve policymakers and others who are looking for a model of training and skills delivery that actually works.




A Database for a Changing Economy


Book Description

Information about the characteristics of jobs and the individuals who fill them is valuable for career guidance, reemployment counseling, workforce development, human resource management, and other purposes. To meet these needs, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in 1998 launched the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), which consists of a content model-a framework for organizing occupational data-and an electronic database. The O*NET content model includes hundreds of descriptors of work and workers organized into domains, such as skills, knowledge, and work activities. Data are collected using a classification system that organizes job titles into 1,102 occupations. The National Center for O*NET Development (the O*NET Center) continually collects data related to these occupations. In 2008, DOL requested the National Academies to review O*NET and consider its future directions. In response, the present volume inventories and evaluates the uses of O*NET; explores the linkage of O*NET with the Standard Occupational Classification System and other data sets; and identifies ways to improve O*NET, particularly in the areas of cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and currency.




Community Colleges and Workforce Preparation in the 21st Century


Book Description

"This book covers the essential role of community colleges in developing a skilled workforce via varying educational opportunities that include, degree completion, workforce development, and skill enhancement"--




Growing Fairly


Book Description

Tested, practical ideas to meet current and future skilling needs of both workers and employers The labor market in the United States faces seemingly contradictory challenges: Many employers have trouble finding qualified applicants for current and future jobs, while millions of Americans are out of work or are underemployed—their paths to living-wage jobs blocked by systemic barriers or lack of adequate skills. Growing Fairly offers workforce development reforms that meet the needs of both workers and employers. Based on the experiences of hundreds of leaders and workers, the authors set out ten principles for designing a more effective and equitable system that helps workers obtain the skills necessary for economic mobility. The principles outlined in the book argue for a more comprehensive view of the skilling needs of current and prospective workers. They spell out the attributes of effective programs and make the case for skill-based hiring, widely distributed performance data, and collaboration. The book emphasizes the importance of local action to overcome the structural barriers that challenge even the most determined would-be learners. Growing Fairly shows cross sector leaders how to work across organizational boundaries to change the trajectory of individuals struggling to make a living wage. This is not a book of untested theories. Instead, it is written by practitioners for practitioners. Much of it is told through the voices of those who run programs and people who have taken advantage of them. While the issues the book addresses are profound, its take on the subject is optimistic. Between them, the authors have spent decades searching out and supporting effective practices. Even more critically, they have learned how to knit competing agencies and organizations into cohesive systems with coordinated missions. Their practical ideas will benefit a wide range of readers, from practitioners in the field to students and scholars of the American labor system.




Linking Training to Performance


Book Description

This book is written for workforce developers in community colleges and branch campus settings. College administrators, public officials, and employers may also find it helpful because it will give them a frame of reference for directing--or judging the quality of--community college workforce developers, the functions they oversee, the results they obtain, and the services they offer. This book can also serve as a text for the many students who are preparing themselves for careers in the challenging world of workforce development in community colleges. The book is intended to cover key issues in workforce development. The fifteen chapters are: (1) "The Role of Workforce Development Organizations" (Laurance J. Warford); (2) "Strategic Business Planning for Workforce Development" (Frederick D. Loomis); (4) "Integrating Workforce Development and Institutional Requirements" (James Jacobs); (5) "Competencies for Workforce Developers" (William J. Rothwell and Patrick E. Gerity); (6) "Building Community Partnerships for Workforce Development" (Mary Gershwin); (7) "Marketing Workforce Development Organizations" (Paul Pierpoint); (8) "The 5-S Consultative Approach to Sales" (Wesley E. Donahue and John E. Park); (9) "Finance and Budgeting for Workforce Development Organizations" (Leslie Roe); (10) "Establishing and Maintaining Effective Relations with Workforce Development Faculty, Staff, and Administrators" (Dennis Bona); (11) "Assessing Needs for Training and Nontraining Projects" (Elaine A. Gaertner and Cheryl A. Marshall); (12) "Integrating Complex Training and Nontraining Projects" (Ethan S. Sanders); (13) Evaluating Workforce Development Efforts (William J. Rothwell); (14) "Outsourcing Training" (Karen A. Flannery); and (15) "Lessons Learned and Emerging Issues" (Patrick E. Gerity). Appended are: (1) Developing a High-Performing Organization: Self-Assessment Instrument for Workforce Development Professionals in Higher Education; (2) Competency Model for Community College Workforce Developers; (3) Competency Assessment Instrument for Community College Workforce Developers; (4) Templates for Conducting 5-S Consultative Sales; (5) Coaching Checksheet for Community College Workforce Developers; (6) Templates for Community College Workforce Developers; and (7) State-by-State Electronic Resources for Workforce Development Strategic Plans and Customized Job Training Grants. The book also contains a foreword by George R. Boggs and James McKenney; preface; information about the contributors, and an index.