Current News

July 2010

Shifting Gears partners, Davis Jenkins and Tim Harmon, have developed a primer for states submitting applications to the Department of Labor Workforce Data Quality Initiative (WDQI) grant program. This brief guide describes how states can use the opportunity of this new federal funding to ensure their usage of data promotes continuous improvement of workforce education and employment programs.  The paper includes specific recommendations on what type of information states should include in their WDQI technical proposals.

Learn more about the policies that the Shifting Gears states are pursuing to achieve the goal of increasing the number of low-skilled adults with a postsecondary credential. A new CLASP report, Shifting Gears: State Innovations to Advance Workers and the Economy in the Midwest, provides an overview of the policy goals of Shifting Gears and highlights promising pilot programs sponsored by the initiative.

June 2010

Developed with support from Shifting Gears, Instituto del Progreso Latino recently released How to Build Bridge Programs that Fit Into a Career Pathway, a step-by-step guide that provides information on how to develop successful bridge programs to tap the talents of low-skilled adults. The guide is based on the achievements of Carreras en Salud, a health care bridge program created by Chicago’s Instituto del Progreso Latino and other partners.  

May 2010

Shifting Gears state teams and technical assistance providers held their bi-annual convening in May 2010 in Detroit, MI to share best practices and develop strategies around engaging various stakeholder groups to support their Shifting Gears policy agenda. View the meeting materials and presentations. 

CLASP's forthcoming Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success has released Funding Career Pathways and Career Pathway Bridges: A Federal Policy Toolkit for States to help interagency state teams identify and use federal resources to support career pathway models. Using the Funding Options Worksheet and the ten Federal Program Summaries, state teams can identify and facilitate "braiding" of federal resources to design and develop career pathways and bridges into them for adults and out-of-school youth. The toolkit also will help state teams identify state policy barriers to using federal resources for career pathways and bridges and, ideally, address them.

April 2010

A unique program in Kentucky that supports dual enrollment in basic skills education and community college coursework for adult learners is featured in the Washington Post. This innovative program accelerates the pace at which students can move towards a credential, saving them time and tuition expenses. 

Wisconsin's Shifting Gears-sponsored programs are receiving praise for innovative approaches and successful outcomes. Read more about local Wisconsin RISE projects at Northcentral Technical College and Moraine Park Technical College. 

January 2010

Shifting Gears partners, Brandon Roberts and Derek Price, have recently published Educating Adult Workers: The Shifting Gears Approach to Systems Change.  This initiative-sponsored report describes how Shifting Gears is supporting and guiding state policy systems change through the use of proactive coaching, evaluative feedback, and tools such as a structured policy agenda and action plan and logic model.

December 2009

Shifting Gears State teams conducted a cross-site meeting on December 15-16 to discuss their plans to improve their state data alignment across system. View the presentations and meeting materials for all sessions. 

The Shifting Gears initiative is featured in a new report from the Center for American Progress, Strong Students, Strong Workers: Models for Student Success through Workforce Development and Community College Partnerships. 

November 2009

The National College Transition Network recently hosted a webinar on Shifting Gears. A recorded version of the webinar, Shifting State Adult Education Policies to Support Postsecondary Success, is available on the NCTN web site. 

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