The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration recently published a significant guidance letter, Maximizing Innovation in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Programs. The letter invites state waiver requests under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and highlights numerous existing flexibilities as a means “to maximize innovation in the public workforce system and better serve job seekers and
More
Posts By: Daniel López
Workforce Innovation in Action: Three Key Lessons Policymakers Can Learn from Employment Social Enterprises
Across the United States, more than 1,000 organizations are implementing a groundbreaking workforce development model: the employment social enterprise (ESE). ESEs are businesses built to do good: they offer jobs, training, and support to people who are getting back on their feet after experiences like incarceration or homelessness. A growing, rigorous evidence base demonstrates that ESEs can make an impressive
More
Supporting Effective Postsecondary Navigation: America Forward Recommendations
Students need accurate, responsive, and timely support to identify and assess the overwhelming array of choices they face in their postsecondary journeys, ranging from comparing student loans and grants, to applying to programs and institutions, to ultimately navigating to and through college and achieving a high-quality first post-college job. Last week, America Forward submitted comments to the Senate Health, Education,
More
Rebuilding the Institute of Education Sciences: America Forward Recommendations
The federal Institute of Education Sciences (IES), housed under the U.S. Department of Education, has played a critical role in advancing high-quality education research and data for more than twenty years. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration laid off nearly all IES staff and canceled numerous research contracts. Subsequently, the Department of Education published a formal request for information on
More