Introduction
The skills of the workforce are an important contributor to the economic vitality of any region, leading economic developers to consider how to connect their efforts to workforce development and help to build the skills of adults generally.
The specific strategic response will certainly vary from region to region, depending on what industries are thriving or emerging in a given region, what their current and future skill needs are, existing education and training capacities, and how important the skills of the workforce are likely to be in attracting and retaining business and industry. Skill needs can require a response as basic as literacy, English as a Second Language (ESL) training, basic math, or functional literacy (such as reading a train or bus schedule). They can require something more specialized, such as learning industry-defined skills to qualify for better paying jobs in a new field or to advance within an industry. Skill needs may require support for individuals pursuing associate’s or bachelor’s degrees, or high-demand credentials such as those developed in the IT and healthcare fields. Skills needed within the workplace can include knowing how to work as a team, project management, learning how to be a supervisor, or communicating effectively with co-workers and supervisors.
Regardless of the skill needs identified, regional stakeholders and workforce development practitioners do not need to start completely from scratch when designing new programs to meet those needs. They can draw on adult learning research as well as the experience of other practitioners to help design the right adult learning or skill development programs.
This report, produced for the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative, presents the key components - or building blocks - of effective adult learning and skill development programs. The building blocks have been identified from existing research on this topic, the experience and networks of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), as well as documented best practices of practitioners nationwide. The report is intended to be a resource for Workforce Investment Boards, employers, workforce development organizations, or traditional education and training providers who are planning to develop learning initiatives that are linked to the economic needs of a region.
The components of and innovations in exemplary adult learning programs outlined in this report have been highlighted in three different kinds of source material. Some of the components draw on several decades of work in the adult learning field, epitomized by the work of academic researchers like Malcolm Knowles (the "father of adult learning"). Other components have been drawn from research on community college programs and a growing body of literature on training low-skilled workers that is produced by academics, non-profit organizations, philanthropic foundations, the public sector and professional evaluators. Finally, the report includes components drawn from the findings of the corporate training field.