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This dissertation investigates the application of deliberate practice principles in improving pass rates for professional real estate licensing exams. The study explores the efficacy of structured, targeted practice sessions, including expert feedback, as compared to traditional study methods. Using a quasi-experimental design, the research involved two groups of real estate students: one following a conventional curriculum and the other subjected to deliberate practice interventions. Results revealed that the students in the deliberate practice group exhibited higher exam pass rates and reported increased satisfaction with the learning process. This study contributes to educational theory by extending the deliberate practice framework to vocational education, offering new insights into professional training methodologies. The findings highlight the importance of deliberate, structured learning activities in complex skill acquisition and suggest further research into optimizing these strategies across various professional domains.

The detailed guide's purpose is to assist educators and community leaders in designing and implementing educational programs to serve student and community needs, and to identify the goals and elements of cooperative vocational education. One chapter describes the necessary characteristics of the teacher-coordinator in such programs, and the advantages of cooperative vocational education to the community and to the students. Two other chapters suggest methods for determining employers' and students' needs for cooperative vocational education and suggest plans for meeting these needs. Three chapters deal with implementing plans for: public relations (including a suggested eight point plan and the use of media); instruction in the school (including five teaching methods and the use of youth organizations); and community laboratories (including criteria for selecting, establishing, and evaluating training stations, and guidelines for complying with appropriate laws). Another chapter analyzes essential elements of the cooperative program including staffing; facilities, equipment, and materials; and program development. A final chapter suggests ways of improving cooperative vocational education in its administrative structure, professional development of teacher-coordinators, instructional materials, and program evaluation. A 70-page appendix displays forms appropriate to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs. (JR)

The transition from high school into postsecondary education and a career has become particularly challenging given today's complex, fast-moving, and highly technological economy. To combat this problem, one approach widely adopted in the United States is the career academy model, which combines a college-preparatory and career and technical curriculum with a career theme and is often structured as a small learning community within a larger high school. Shifts in the labor market, reforms to secondary education, and a growth in both high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment rates across the United States prompt new questions about how participating in career academies may affect current students' academic and labor outcomes. MDRC is currently conducting another long-term randomized controlled trial of career academies to help answer these questions. This study explores California Partnership Academies (CPAs), which are partially state-funded career academies within high schools across California. The study will follow participants for the eight years after expected high school graduation and look at the impacts on students' high school, postsecondary education, and employment and earnings outcomes. This report explores the impacts of CPAs on students' high school graduation and college readiness at the end of high school as well as their college enrollment during the first year after graduation. It also examines the differences between the school experiences of the students who were offered a spot in a CPA (CPA group) and of those who were not offered a spot (non-CPA group), as well as some of the early effects of the program on teachers' attention to and expectations of students and on students' collaboration with each other, their perceived relevance of schoolwork, and their plans after high school.

Job Corps is the largest and most comprehensive education and job training program in the United States for young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or working. Most students live at and take classes at its approximately 120 residential centers. To explore ways to improve student outcomes and reduce per-student costs, Job Corps pilot tested two nonresidential models where students received education and training at colleges, supported by intensive personal and career counseling, instead of at a center. The two pilot programs were: (1) The Job Corps Scholars (JCS) pilot program consisted of 26 colleges each delivering its own version of the Job Corps program to eligible young people; and (2) In the Idaho Job Corps (IJC) pilot program, Idaho paired its Boise Job Corps center with a nearby community college and opened three addition fully nonresidential programs at other colleges. The two pilot programs together offered 30 diverse examples of college-partnered Job Corps programs to study. The implementation and outcomes study focused on: (1) The types of students who enrolled in these programs; (2) The ability of colleges to serve young people eligible for Job Corps, who typically face more barriers than other students; and (3) The outcomes achieved by students in the pilot programs.

Jobs for the Future (JFF) is developing this state policy framework to outline the steps states can take toward fully adopting each of the Big Blur's four key components and creating a more effective system for grades 11-14. The Big Blur argues for the need to erase the arbitrary boundaries between high school, college, and careers and create one new system for grades 11-14. The model opens the opportunity for all students to start earning a postsecondary credential and preparing for career success in 11th grade. The framework describes a continuum of four types of state policy environments that states currently have or will experience on the road toward a fully reimagined system of education-to-career pathways that work for all students. The four policy environments are: (1) fragmented; (2) coordinated; (3) integrated; and (4) transformed. In the framework, JFF provides examples of how each of the key components of the Big Blur (incentives, alignment, governance, and staffing) evolves from a fragmented to a fully transformed state policy environment.

The current U.S. secondary education, postsecondary education, and workforce training systems are failing to serve the needs of many of today's students. Securing a good job with a family-sustaining wage increasingly requires workers to possess industry certifications, degrees, and credentials, but U.S. education systems are not set up to help enough students secure them. In addition, there are significant economic disruptions on the horizon that are going to have big implications for the future of education and work. Jobs for the Future's Big Blur vision calls for entirely new educational institutions and systems to better prepare 16-to-20-year-olds for college and careers. This paper examines new structures for teaching and learning to help states create more effective grade 11-14 schools and systems, with examples of promising state-level instructor models. This paper outlines new types of instructor preparation, accountability systems, and learning management structures that are needed to effectively serve the developmental needs of young people in grades 11-14 and the unified system envisioned in the Big Blur.

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is seeking a $4.4 billion bond aimed at addressing critical infrastructure and educational needs. Branded as "Renew HISD," the package would rebuild and modernize over 40 campuses, upgrade HVAC systems, improve campus security, and expand early childhood and career and technical education programs. As the district was preparing the proposal, the Kinder Institute for Urban Research fielded survey questions in January 2024 to the Greater Houston Community Panel to understand public support for a bond. Results of that survey were shared with district officials, and a follow-up survey was conducted in August 2024 to determine whether public support had changed. This brief summarizes the main findings of the January survey with additional discussion of what was learned in the August follow-up survey.

America's labor market presents a paradox. Although the unemployment rate is just 3.9%, there are more jobs open than people who can fill them. Nationwide, there are roughly 68 workers for every 100 open jobs. Many factors contribute to this workforce shortage, but one of the most significant is a growing skills gap -- millions of workers across the economy are unprepared for in-demand employment opportunities. In construction and other industries, employers are hurting, desperate for talent, and looking for innovative ways to attract people to open positions. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that the construction industry currently has 407,000 job openings. This shortage is expected to grow, with a projected need for 723,000 workers annually due to economic expansion, worker retirements, and the changing skill needs driven by energy transitions and technological advancements. Some 88% of construction firms report having a hard time finding workers to hire. To address this challenge, employers in construction and other industries are investing in workforce development -- working to ensure current and future workers have the skills needed to succeed in high-demand careers. But employers can't do it alone. And although federal funding is available to support skill development, it is not nearly enough. Just $28.2 billion out of a total $139.5 billion allocated annually for postsecondary education and training is spent on workforce development. This policy brief estimates current federal spending on postsecondary workforce education and training and compares these funding levels to funding for traditional academic programs. This brief explores how investment in workforce education today compares to in investment in recent decades. Finally, it offers examples of how four states are investing in workforce education and offers policy recommendations for stakeholders and policymakers to consider for the future. [This report was co-produced by Procore with support from the Construction Advocacy Fund.]

Despite substantial interest in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses in U.S. high schools--and associated scholarship on this topic--very little is known about characteristics of CTE teachers who are a critical resource for program implementation and expansion. Using eight years of statewide data from Maryland, we document key facts about the CTE teacher workforce and pathways into the profession. First, a sizable share (17%) of CTE teachers enter the profession with a high school diploma or associate's degree, aligned to state policy that allows Professional and Technical Education-certified teachers to substitute years of professional experience for higher degrees. Relatedly, CTE teachers are substantially more likely than non-CTE teachers to enter the profession through an "alternative" path that bypasses traditional undergraduate teacher education (54% versus 30%). Finally, there is a larger share of Black teachers in CTE versus out of CTE (25% versus 16%), leading to greater opportunities for teacher-student race matching. We hypothesize that these patterns are related: decreased barriers to entry into the CTE teaching profession may support more Black individuals to become CTE teachers.

Across the country, as technology continues to advance rapidly, the labor market exhibits a growing need for workers who receive frequent and ongoing skill development. Employers in many fields struggle to find adequately trained workers to meet their needs. Community college noncredit career and technical education (CTE) programs are an important contributor to skill and workforce development and help to close this "skills gap." This brief summarizes early findings from a study of FastForward, which uses a pay-for-performance model to fund noncredit CTE programs at the 23 colleges in the Virginia Community College System. FastForward aims to increase the supply of workers who receive credentials for high-demand occupations in Virginia. The FastForward study is focused on identifying institutional and programmatic factors that may influence learners' academic and labor market outcomes. This brief presents findings on the different approaches used by colleges and programs to deliver training, student and staff experiences in these CTE programs, and students' academic and labor market outcomes.

Research has shown that access to technology industry pathways and support for recruitment, retention, and advancement through technology careers remain inequitable for Black talent due to various systemic barriers. To help address this issue, Digital Promise conducted research that centers the voices and lived experiences of Black workers and learners seeking to enter and advance in the technology industry with the purpose of building awareness to the: (1) challenges and barriers they face navigating the U.S. technology learning and working ecosystem; (2) factors such as supports and services that have facilitated their technology career pathway entry, retention, and advancement; and (3) collaboratively designed recommendations for needed supports that they have identified that can better promote successful navigation and persistence within technology career pathways. This report further highlights actionable steps that various technology industry contributors can take to dismantle systemic barriers within the technology learning and workforce ecosystem and increase access to non-four-year-degree pathways to tech careers. [Funding for this project is provided by Walmart through the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity.]

West central Georgia has become a burgeoning center for advanced manufacturing and logistics. With facilities for global brands across automotive, agriculture, tech, and biotech industries, the region (which includes Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, Heard, Meriwether, and Troup counties) has experienced a 100+ percent surge in job demand for manufacturing engineers, machine operators, and material assembly shift technicians alone. This case study explores a cross-sector response to upskilling and reskilling talent in the region through West Georgia Technical College's establishment of a Regional Workforce Training Center, which has fostered impactful employer partnerships to drive skill acquisition for entry-level talent and incumbent workforces, enhance workforce diversity, and meet the evolving needs of both businesses and the community at large.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), previously named the Veterans Administration, has been providing veterans educational assistance benefits, including GI Bill benefits, since 1944. The benefits have been intended, at various times, to compensate for compulsory service, encourage voluntary service, prevent unemployment, provide equitable benefits to all who served, and promote military retention. In general, the benefits provide grant aid to eligible individuals enrolled in approved educational and training programs. The newest GI Bill was enacted on June 30, 2008, as the Post-9/11 Veterans' Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post-9/11 GI Bill), Title V of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-252). This report provides a detailed description of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The first section introduces the concept of entitlement. The second section describes participant eligibility criteria. The third section discloses the period during which the benefits must be used. The subsequent section describes the eligible programs of education. This is succeeded by an explanation of the eligible benefit payments. The final section illustrates current data on obligations and participation.

High-quality work-based learning opportunities enable students to develop necessary skills and contribute to positive employment outcomes. State leaders are recognizing the value of work-based learning experiences -- not only for individuals but in service of state attainment and workforce development goals. As leaders recognize the value, financial incentives can help offset costs associated with offering, engaging in and supporting work-based learning and serve as one tool to address barriers to access and expansion of work-based learning. Informed by a 50-state policy scan, this Policy Brief highlights key elements of financial incentives in state policy for each group: students, employers, and education institutions and intermediaries. Each section is informed by a 50-state policy scan and state examples are included throughout.

Local teacher recruitment through "grow-your-own" programs is a prominent strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We exploit the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland career and technical education certificate program across public high schools, finding that exposed students were more likely to become teachers by 0.6 percentage points (pp), or 47%. Effects are concentrated among White girls (1.4pp/39%) and Black girls (0.7pp/80%). We also identify positive impacts on wages (5% on average/18% for Black girls), countering a prevailing narrative that teaching leaves one worse off financially relative to other labor market opportunities.

AB 471 requires that the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing report to the Governor and the Legislature each year on the number of teachers who received credentials, certificates, permits and waivers. This report provides data collected by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) and addresses several questions regarding the supply of teachers newly available to teach in California classrooms.

The majority of states with a weighted, student-based K-12 funding formula include weights that allocate additional funding based on the enrollment of students in poverty, students with special education needs, and English learners (ELs). Research shows that all three of these student groups need additional support and resources to succeed. Many states also include other weights that are not strictly student-based. These might reflect a policy priority or aim to account for different program costs and district context factors. Weights that go beyond a strict student-based definition are not necessarily a bad idea, but some weights can have unintended consequences for students and overall funding equity, and should be approached with care and caution by policymakers and advocates. This brief discusses the following weights that states should consider with caution: (1) gifted and talented; (2) grade level or grade band; (3) career and technical education; (4) class size reductions; and (5) cost of living adjustments.