Here’s a heads up about a new report from Gallup that sheds light on the mindsets of American K-12 superintendents.  The report is called “Leadership Perspectives on Public Education” and you can get a copy here – https://www.gallup.com/education/241151/gallup-k-12-superintendent-report-2018.aspx

A few of my insights from the Career Connected Learning perspective —

1. I was disappointed that career readiness/career development doesn’t appear to be on the Superintendent’s radar as a key challenge for their districts.  Or perhaps it just wasn’t part of the survey by Gallup.  Academic performance, poverty-related challenges, and recruiting/retaining teachers were seen as the top 3 challenges, with nothing relating to career development or work-based learning.

2. On a more positive note, “how engaged students are with school” was seen as the most important measure of school effectiveness, with 91% of superintendents saying it is very important. Other top priorities were “how hopeful students are about their future,” and “percentage of students who graduate from high school.”  Going to technical school, college or community college was seen as very important/somewhat important by over 95% of superintendents, but the engagement, hope, and high school graduation were seen as Very Important, perhaps because these are factors that are more immediate and under the influence of school districts.

3. In terms of strategies to implement relating to college preparation, social and life skills were seen as very important by 66% of superintendents. Career Counseling or other CCL were not listed at all as valuable strategies for college preparation.

4. Job shadowing/entrepreneurship were seen as the top strategy for workforce preparation (69%), and developing social skills was second. Even in the realm of workforce preparation, career counseling was seen as important by only 13% of superintendents.

My Take-Away

This report is helpful because it’s important to know the mindset of superintendents.  Unfortunately, from this research, I think it is safe to say that career planning and career development are not seen as valuable strategies by many superintendents, and certainly not relevant for “college-bound” students.

In short, superintendents, in general, seem to want the right outcomes (engagement, hope, graduation, college-work transitions), but they don’t see a connection or value to Career Connected Learning strategies.

We CCL advocates have our work cut out for us – to help connect the dots between CCL strategies (career development, pathway programs, work-based learning) and the greater student engagement, hope, and successful college and work transitions that superintendents want to achieve.

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

From time to time, both through our Engage.Connect newsletter and through this blog, we’ll be sharing resources that will help you strengthen your Career Connected Learning efforts in various ways. This month I’m pleased to share a Partnership Practices Rubric to help you improve the effectiveness of your industry and community partnership efforts.

This rubric, presented in PDF format, highlights effective practices in the following areas:

• Recruiting
  • Communication
  • Outreach
• Partnership Design
• Management/Administration
• Measurement and Evaluation
• Reporting
• Sustainability

If you’re interested in building a strong and sustainable partnership network, these quality standards should help you review your current efforts and build a powerhouse program. And please note that we’d love feedback on this resource; contact Brett Pawlowski to share your thoughts and experiences!

Brett Pawlowski is Executive Vice President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com). NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Partnership Practices Rubric

Over the last four decades, the national narrative has focused on the hollowing out of American towns that were once hubs of farming or manufacturing.  The narrative goes — as jobs dried up, hopelessness set in and left economic and social dysfunction in their wake.

But is that the REAL story?  I’ve been reading an excellent book that turns this narrative on its head, instead observing that there is a resurgence in many towns and small cities, a resurgence that is not flashy, but is consistent and positive.  It is built on the human energy of relationships, collaboration, and strong local leaders.

The book is “Our Towns, A 100,000 Mile Journey Into the Heart of America,” by James Fallows and Deborah Fallows.  The story follows the Fallows over four years as they travel, in their small propeller airplane, from one small town to the next, talking to the new-age pioneers, listening to their stories, and making observations about what’s happening on the ground.

Here are the towns and small cities in the order the Fallows visited between 2013 and 2016: Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Rapid City, South Dakota; Holland, Michigan; Burlington, Vermont; Eastport, Maine; Greeneville, South Carolina; St. Marys, Georgia; Columbus, Mississippi; Caddo Lake, Louisiana-Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Duluth, Minnesota; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston, West Virginia; Guymon, Oklahoma; Ajo, Arizona; San Bernardino, California; Riverside, California; Redlands, California; Winters, California; Bend, Oregon; Redmon and Prineville, Oregon; Chester, Montana; The American Prairie Reserve, Montana; Dodge City, Kansas; Garden City and Spearville, Kansas; and, Erie, Pennsylvania.

Each chapter is written in a friendly, narrative style, not like a formal case study.

After telling the story of the individual towns, the authors identify 10 (and a half) characteristics they observed, almost all of which were in play in each of these towns.  Not every community had experienced a full level of revitalization, but at the time of the visit, were moving in a positive direction.  It seems to me that at least two of the 10 characteristics have a strong connection to our focus in this blog – Career Connected Learning.

The 10 characteristics are:

1. People work together on practical local possibilities, rather than allowing bitter disagreements about national politics to keep them apart.
2. You can pick out the local patriots (a small group of local leaders really matter).
3. The phrase “public-private partnership” refers to something real.

On this note, several examples of what the authors called public-private partnerships had to do with education and worker training.  The “private” side of this equation was getting employers involved, and the “public” side was tax-payer funded entities like the public-school system, community college, and in one case, a correctional institution.

One example was Technical Employment Training Inc, a non-profit business and education cooperative, in partnership with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools to provide manufacturing trades education and hands-on skills training to prepare them for a skilled workforce.  Another chapter talks about the Christo Rey high school in Columbus, Ohio, which operates an innovative work-study program with over 100 private sector, non-profit and governmental employer partners.  The school itself is private, but many of the employer partners are governmental and non-profit organizations. (See http://www.cristoreycolumbus.org/workstudy).  As a side note, the documentation on the work-study program at the school’s website is an excellent resource for anyone interested in quality work-based learning.

4. People know the civic story.
5. They have downtowns.
6. They are near a research university.
7. They have and care about, a community college.
8. They have distinctive, innovative schools.

Throughout the book, there are several other interesting examples of schools that had a strong employer presence as a partner.  And even when the authors didn’t uncover it, I know of vibrant examples of CCL happening in places like Louisville, Kentucky, Erie, Pennsylvania, and a more recent work-in-progress, Rapid City, South Dakota.  Sooner or later, I believe that any community that is serious about revitalization is going to discover some form of Career Connected Learning.

9. They make themselves open (welcoming newcomers).
10. They have big plans.

10 ½ was the observation that all of these towns also have good micro-breweries, which is a sign of entrepreneurship and the “hip” factor that attracts and keeps young professionals.

The book brings to life many of the concepts that I learned about in an earlier book by Jim Clifton, “The Coming Jobs War.”  Jim Clifton, Chairman of Gallup, said that Gallup’s research always points to local leaders who really care about the community, and organize the social and economic forces to make positive change happen.  In his words, “Don’t allow your local constituencies to look to Washington.”  Clifton’s sentiments echo characteristic #1 of the Fallows’ list of common characteristics, the one about working together on “practical, local possibilities.”  If we can avoid national political feuds as much as possible, people of good will can actually work together and get great things done.

Let’s start with something that makes eminent sense – Career Connected Learning.

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Student-run enterprises, in which students act as an informal or formal business to provide a product or service to the community or to fellow students, serve as a great way for young people to learn about all the different elements of running a business while generating funds for some purpose.  While doing some partnership workshops earlier this year in South Dakota, an attendee shared a great example of such an initiative. (And regretfully I didn’t get the educator’s name or I’d be able to attribute the example.)

In her rural community, the student newspaper was going to close due to lack of funding. Her students decided to offer a family photo service to the community, charging $20 per session and providing families with a CD of the final photos that they could then take to Wal-Mart or CVS to have prints made. A local photographer offered some older (but still attractive) backgrounds for free, and the students ran the initiative on nights and weekends. They earned enough to keep the program going and gained some valuable experience in the process.

A couple of interesting takeaways: First, people found this to be an extremely valuable offering in the community, with families who otherwise might not be able to afford a session with a studio photographer finally able to get a high-quality family photo done. And second, their work was of such high quality that Wal-Mart told them they needed to get releases before having them printed – they couldn’t believe these weren’t professionally done!

Not only did the students fund their program, but they got great experience in the process and built new relationships across their community. A “win” for all involved!

Brett Pawlowski is Executive Vice President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com). NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Over the past few years, Hans Meeder, president of NC3T, has been blogging on pathways-related issues on this site under the name Pathways Sherpa. If you’ve been a regular visitor to this space, you saw the Pathways Sherpa blog go on summer vacation, followed by today’s relaunch under a new name, CCL InSight.

What gives?

Simply put, after a lot of thinking and a lot of internal and external conversations, we realized that we needed to speak more broadly than we had been. College and career pathways are an excellent strategy, one which time and again make an outsized impact on the students, staff, and industry and community partners who launch and manage them. But we realized that, while pathways are an ideal, they aren’t always a fit 100% of the time in 100% of circumstances. Sometimes there are other pressing challenges to be addressed; sometimes not all the pieces are in place; and sometimes schools and their communities need a more tangible, shorter-term starting point in order to prove the concept before investing more fully in such a model.

That’s why we’ve decided to start speaking more broadly about the importance of Career Connected Learning (the CCL in CCL Insight). Because any steps that educators at all levels can take in this direction are positive ones. Maybe you can’t launch a wall-to-wall pathways model – but engaging employers as speakers, mentors, and advisory board members still offers a great deal of value and relevance. Maybe you can’t start a career academy – but setting up site visits, job shadows, or internship can make a tremendous difference in the lives of students. Whatever steps you can take to connect learning to the real world, especially the world of work, can immediately improve the learning dynamic, improving engagement, student outcomes, and community support for your students, staff, and school.

Going forward, both Hans and I will be writing regularly about various aspects of Career Connected Learning, touching on theory, major developments (Perkins is top of our list to cover!), resources, and hands-on strategies. We hope you’ll join us as we go forward; the most important voice in this conversation belongs to those doing this important work in school and businesses across the country.

Brett Pawlowski is Executive Vice President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Doing some later winter organizing, I came across a gem of a report from 2014 that is still incredibly fresh and relevant.  The “Four-Year Myth: Make College More Affordable” from Complete College America, a multi-state alliance calling attention to strategies to help students complete post-secondary education on time. Read the report here.

What’s so valuable about this report is that it highlights some of the pernicious problems facing students at the post-secondary level.  One of the report’s contentions is that the measurement of “on-time graduation” for post-secondary institutions is actually normalizing very slow completion.  Based on national accountability data, four-year degree students are considered “on-time” if students graduate in six years, and two-year degree program students are considered “on-time” if they graduate in three years.

These measures may be fine for measuring institutional effectiveness, but when it comes to an actual student, each additional year of post-secondary education carries a big financial burden and slows their entry into the workforce.  By trying to be fair to institutions, we’re actually normalizing a very slow and inefficient path to graduation for most students.

This is how bad things really are:

• Just 36% of students in four-year programs graduate within four years.
• Just 5% of students in two-year degree programs graduate in two years.

The report also points out some of the contributing factors:

• There is one advisor for every 400 post-secondary students;
• Students wander the course catalog, accumulating an average of 134 credits for a 120-credit degree, and an average of an 81 credit for a 60-credit degree. This is called the “over-crediting” phenomenon.
• 60% of Bachelor’s degree students transfer colleges, and in the process, they lose some or all of their credits. This loss of credits contributes to a slower time to graduation.

To address some of their problems, the report recommends some key strategies, such as:

• Organize college programs from dozens of individual majors into a simpler set of “Meta-Majors” like STEM, social sciences, business, education, and liberal arts. Starting with a choice among 6-8 meta-majors is better for the student than choosing among dozens of majors.  Then as the student starts to work through some introductory courses in the meta-major, they can learn about and select from the subsidiary majors.
• Clearly map out the recommended sequence of courses over two or four years for each meta-major, demonstrating that on-time graduation is doable.
• Align mathematics to each program of study, rather than fostering a one-size-fits-all approach to math. Mathematics is the biggest stumbling block for students, so it is vital that the level of math match the actual needs of the major.

Implications for Pathways Coalitions

These recommendations and reforms happening within college echo the pathways-oriented reforms that are also underway in many middle and high schools.

In forming a regional pathways coalition, secondary participants should be aware of these trends within post-secondary education and work together to create as much seamless alignment as possible.  A good first place to start is trying to align Meta-Pathways with Meta-Majors.  I really appreciate the Meta-Pathways structure that Pennsylvania adopted a few years ago: Arts & Communications; Business and Finance; Engineering and Technology; Human Services and Science & Health.  This is simple enough to not overwhelm the student.  Many colleges are actively organizing their majors now – get the conversation started and make sure it is built around a solid understanding of the workforce.

Further, implementing pathways systems at the K-12 level will really help students make a smoother transition into the post-secondary environment because graduating students will have a much better understanding of the career area they want to pursue.  If students can finish high school with a number of meaningful career development and employer engagement experiences, they will be ready to make a more informed selection about a college Meta-Major.  Also, if they have a better sense of the career interest that is guiding their enrollment in postsecondary education, they’ll probably make a better selection of school, reducing the transfer rate and loss of credits.

Unfortunately, there is no empirical evidence yet I’m aware of that directly links these secondary and post-secondary outcomes together, but we need to be tracking this data as soon as possible and follow where the evidence leads.   To start with, make sure your secondary and post-secondary partners get a copy of this report, and seriously consider its recommendations as part of your shared pathways agenda.

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Think about your high school memories.  What stands out to you?

For me, these are 40-year-old memories, and I have a suspect memory anyhow.  But the things that really stand out for me are the projects, the things I DID – the urban studies course where we tried to plan a modern city; performing in the choir and the jazz band; learning to write stories and publish a school newspaper; working a printing press and other graphics technology in the print shop class; learning to type on a manual typewriter; doing adventure courses in the youth group at church; even having a mock performance of Macbeth in English class.

Yes, we’re all wired differently, and some experiences will be more meaningful than others.  But whatever really is meaningful in our lives are things that have an element of real-life application, where we put our knowledge to use in some way that is meaningful and authentic.

Chip and Dan Heath (the authors of “Switch” and other great books) talked about this idea in the January 10 issue of Education Week. [i] They talk about the key to student motivation is “Peak Moments,” the experiences with elevation and connection that really make an impact on us.

They describe some peak moments for most of us that involve performances, competitions and ceremonies, but they also make a disturbing observation.

“Unfortunately, all those memorable moments happen outside the classroom, even though students spend the vast majority or their time inside the classroom.”
They pivot to talk about some examples of peak moments inside the classroom they have observed, such as well-structured mock trial they observed in a classroom in California, as well as the practices of the High Tech High charter schools, also based out of California.

Perhaps without knowing it, they are advocating for the kind of Dynamic Teaching and Learning that happens in high-performing Career-Connected Learning environments.  Career-Connected Learning is about designing these kind of learning experiences regularly throughout the school year, and clearly linking classroom instruction and projects to real-world career-connected applications.

It’s a good question to ask all of our teachers and school leaders, “When and how are Peak Moments happening in your classrooms, and how can we make this the norm vs. the exception.”

As the Heaths conclude, “These moments are worth fighting for.”

[i] https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/01/10/the-secret-to-student-engagement.html

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Previously posted on April 16, 2015 

As I have worked with local leaders of pathways projects, I often ask a somewhat obvious question: “What problem are we trying to solve with the Pathways Framework?”

Even among a small group, I will often get a wide variety of answers to that question.  It’s actually a little surprising how easy it is to jump into an initiative, without building a consensus around the problem we’re trying to address.   This can make it hard to measure long-term success, and can also undermine focus if everyone has their own definition of the problem.

Those of us involved with the Pathways work intuitively know that the University-for-All approach hasn’t served many youth and adults well.  But we need to get very specific, and we need to describe the problem in human terms, not just policy wonk terms.

So, what’s the problem?  For different stakeholders, there are different problems, and different felt needs.  They’re all legitimate and more than likely, a well-developed Pathways System will help ameliorate the problem.  And there may be more than one problem that we need to identify.  But let’s get specific.

Here are some examples:

Schools in high-poverty areas:  Too many students are dropping out, not finishing high school, and are poorly prepared.

Schools in affluent areas:  Our students are graduating and going on to college, but about 40% of them don’t finish, and many change majors several times, and wrack up enormous college costs, either for mom and dad or through student loan debt.

Employers: We can’t grow and hire more workers.  Why?  Because we can’t find qualified workers in specific occupations.  Or, we can find potential workers, but many of them lack the generally accepted employability skills and attitudes we expect to see.

So, have the discussion among your leadership team.  “What’s the core problem?”  And once you identify the felt needs – the key problems – work on them so you can get them written in a succinct statement or two.  Then have everyone on your pathways leadership team using the same consistent language to describe the core problem(s) that your initiative is designed to address.

Yes, this is a simple idea, but do it!  It’s critical for your success in leading any sort of pathways or related work.

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

Last week, I was in Hershey, Pennsylvania sharing information on apprenticeship at the statewide Pathways to Career Readiness Symposium.  There are many career technology centers (CTCs) in Pennsylvania that have well developed CTE programs built on clearly articulated industry standards.  These regional CTCs are a natural fit to work with business and industry developing pre-apprenticeships, youth apprenticeships, and in certain cases, adult apprenticeships.

Working under contract with Pennsylvania Department of Education, my firm — NC3T — is forming a user-group of Pennsylvania CTC leaders that are learning about and establishing various forms of apprenticeship.

In this post, I just want to share some of the really important resources we’ve uncovered that could be helpful to you:

Quick-Start Toolkit:  The U.S. Department of Labor offers this quick-start toolkit.   It’s a pretty basic overview and great as a first read for understanding the essential terminology, criteria, and action steps for developing an apprenticeship.  https://www.doleta.gov/oa/employers/apprenticeship_toolkit.pdf

Opportunities for Aligning CTE and Apprenticeship:  This guide was produced for the U.S. Department of Education by the national association for CTE leadership, Advance CTE.  This report gives excellent guidance for thinking about the different types of apprenticeship designs, and also includes eight case studies that exemplify the types of program designs.  https://s3.amazonaws.com/PCRN/reports/Opportunities_for_Connecting_Secondary_CTE_Students_and_Apprenticeship_Programs.pdf

One of the most helpful ideas in this report is the simple delineation of program definitions.

• Apprenticeship is the “formal, on-the-job training program that typically has five components: 1) employer involvement; 2) on-the-job training; 3) related technical instruction; 4) paid work experience; and 5) award of a portable, nationally recognized industry credential.”
• Youth Apprenticeship is a “program that is designed specifically for individuals aged 16-18, and is connected to an adult apprenticeship.”
• Pre-Apprenticeship is a “program or set of strategies designed to prepare individuals for entry into an apprenticeship program.”

I suggest that you use these definitions pretty carefully in your parlance about work-based learning.  There’s a real temptation right now to throw around the term “youth-apprenticeship” or “pre-apprenticeship” for any well designed and well-run work-based learning program involving youth.

Using the term too loosely cheapens it and negatively reflect on programs that truly embody apprenticeship features.  So, I suggest that you reserve the term “youth apprenticeship” only for a program that actually embodies the five components of apprenticeship and is designed for teens age 16-18. Remember, deep employer involvement is a key differentiator for true apprenticeship; in an apprenticeship, the employer makes a hire, provides significant on-site training, and assures wage increases as the apprentice’s skills increases.

In talking about youth employment and work-based programs, I would avoid using the term “Pre-Apprenticeship” unless you’re talking about a work-based learning program that was specifically designed with an actual adult apprenticeship program in mind and at the table.  Someone from the actual apprenticeship program should be involved and help to inform the design and structure of the pre-apprenticeship program; ideally, some of the learning in the pre-apprenticeship program should count toward reduced work hour requirements when the youth enters the apprenticeship, similar to how dual enrollment courses count for both high school and college credits.

U.S. DOL Framework on Apprenticeship for High School Students:  This Training and Employment Notice from U.S. Department of Labor was issued in the waning days of the Obama Administration, but it is still in force and provides guidance and clarity about how teenagers, ages 16-18, can be involved in registered apprenticeships.  Mostly, it serves to officially notify educators and program administrators that apprenticeships for teens aged 16-18 can be legally approved.  https://wdr.doleta.gov/directives/attach/TEN/TEN_31-16.pdf

Available Occupations:  This list of hundreds of occupations indicates those for which apprenticeship is possible including the number of work hours that have been identified for each apprenticeship.  You’ll see that a few occupations don’t require any job hours, some are set at 2,000 hours (essentially one year of work), and many are in the 3,000 – 4,000 hour range.  But a few are actually several years long, with as many as 10-12,000 hours (engraver, bookbinder, artificial eye maker!).  DOL claims there are apprenticeship programs in over 1,000 occupations, but as far as I know, there is not a publicly available master list of U.S. apprenticeship programs.  But, in concept, all of these occupations have been identified for potential approval.

https://www.doleta.gov/OA/occupations.cfm#footer1

Each occupation also indicates the O-Net Code (such as 43-3031.00 for Accounting Technician.). The O-Net Job Classification system has a very thorough list of skills and knowledge for each occupation, and this can be the basis for creating the training guide for the apprenticeship.  You can go to O-Net (https://www.onetonline.org/), type in the O-Net Code into the search bar, and see all the knowledge and skills associated with that occupation.

I hope this information helps in your further exploration of the apprenticeship world!

Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.

One of the most exciting and important forms of career-connected learning is modern apprenticeship.  And right now, apprenticeships are still few and far between in the U.S. and getting employers involved is one of the biggest challenges.

If you need to make the case to employer partners about the value of apprenticeships, there is excellent research that demonstrates the return on investment pay-off.  It’s called, “Benefits and Costs of Apprenticeships: A Business Perspective,” and was released by Case Western Reserve University in 2016.  (Link:  https://www.esa.gov/sites/default/files/the-benefits-and-costs-of-apprenticeships-a-business-perspective.pdf).  The research was commissioned by the Economics and Statistics Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Here’s why the ROI research matters so much:

While there is growing interest in apprenticeships by policy makers and many educators, the biggest challenge is getting employers interested.  In the U.S., employers have largely stood aside from education and had little direct involvement.

Usually employer involvement means pouring support/expertise, volunteers, and resources into school settings.  The next level of involvement would be bringing learners into the work place for tours, short-term job shadow experiences, and internships and cooperative education experiences.  The apprenticeship model is the approach that asks the most from the employer.

• In an apprenticeship program, the employer typically makes an actual hire for a permanent worker, or at least a very strong commitment to a future hire.
• The employer pays the apprentice while they are getting on-the-job training and related classroom learning.
• The employer commits to increases the apprentice’s rate of pay at certain intervals over a one to four-year period.
• The employer provides significant on-the-job training around a set of identified knowledge and skills.

While employers have been pretty well removed from education and training, this dynamic is changing.  With critical shortages of skilled workers in a range of industries, and the wave of Baby-Boomer retirements hitting the American workplace, employers are citing chronic shortages of skilled workers.

So that’s the first ingredient for gaining deeper employer engagement, which is an urgent, felt need.

The second ingredient is a sense of possibility.  Even with an urgent, felt need, employers need to believe that direct involvement, including the high commitment of an apprenticeship, is a worthwhile investment.  They have to justify the pain of changing their company operations, developing new procedures, offering new training capacity, and paying the apprentice while they learn the industry knowledge and skills.  This “pain of change” has to be outweighed by the potential pay-off – the pay-off of being able to fill skilled worker openings, gaining workers who are productive and understand the company culture, and also see increased worker loyalty, retention, productivity and flexibility.

The ROI Research

So, back to the Case Western Reserve research.  They conducted an in-depth analysis of about a dozen companies and created financial and productivity metrics by which to analyze the hard costs and returns of the apprenticeship model.

Here is the analysis from two of the sites:

Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a health system in Lebanon, New York.  Researchers found apprenticeship was a key factor in their expansion and reorganization plans.  The apprenticeship program cost was $59,700 per medical assistant that was apprenticed.  The apprenticeship cost was offset by a $48,000 per apprentice reduction in overtime costs and $7,000 per apprentice increased revenue from medical appointment bookings.  By having more skilled staff, they reduced overtime costs and increased patient booking.  The apprenticeship program was financially self-sustaining in it’s first year and paid a 40 percent rate of return on the investment.  Further, the analysis showed that reducing overtime for workers reduced burnout and maintained the quality of care for patients.

Siemens, USA also participated in the study, focusing on its electric generator operations in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Its rate of return for the apprenticeship program was 50 percent, compared to typical approach of trying to hire machinists off the street.  Siemens found that apprentice candidates have a strong grasp of the principles of their work (as opposed to just operational knowledge) so these apprentices could also handle more complex repair work which brings in more revenues for the company.   Siemens also found that apprentices finished their work in a timelier manner and they were slightly more productive than other workers.

Getting the word out to employers

Getting this research into the hands of prospective employers will help you make the case about the informed-risk of entering into an apprenticeship program.  But even more important is the value of peer influence — finding the actual employers who already working with apprenticeship and giving them the platform to tell other employers about the approach.

I’m on a hunt to find good employer testimonial videos.  There are lots of resources from the UK, but not as many in the U.S.  Here are a few that I’ve found so far.

• PBS News Hour Story: https://youtu.be/zpDAocHVxwM
• Aerospace Apprenticeship in Washington State: https://youtu.be/5WIMj9c6A_M

Here’s a sample from the UK as well:

• UK stories about apprenticeship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R14D1ieLY5M

Employer Testimonials?

If you know of good employer testimonials, written or video, here in the U.S., please send them my way and I’ll share them in a future post.

Thanks for reading and innovating with career-connected learning!

 Hans Meeder is President of NC3T, the National Center for College and Career Transitions (www.nc3t.com).  NC3T provides planning, coaching, technical assistance and tools to help community-based leadership teams plan and implement their college-career pathway systems and strengthen employer connections with education.