Author: Peace BransbergerPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 10
Book Description
In July 2014, President Obama signed into law the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), a major restructuring and modernization of U.S. workforce development programs originally created through the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which had been awaiting reauthorization for more than a decade. This brief provides an overview of key components of WIOA that are most relevant for state postsecondary education planners and leaders as they address issues of educational attainment and workforce skill needs, particularly among lower-income or less-skilled segments of their state. Among the legislation's most notable features are the facets that pave the way for states to make greater use of cross-system partnerships, career pathway models, performance measurement and data-driven improvement, and other mechanisms for bringing their workforce training and higher education agendas into better alignment. Much of this activity will play out at the local level, but state higher education leaders can be instrumental in facilitating the engagement of their institutions with these partnerships at both the state and local levels. Additionally, community colleges in particular will want to pursue a broader dialogue with public workforce agencies because changes in WIOA make postsecondary training a more immediate possibility for workforce customers than was previously the case. This brief presents specific opportunities for forging stronger links between the public workforce and postsecondary education systems and examples of states that are making progress on that front.