Making Online Learning Effective: A new report details evidence and recommendations for high-quality online learning during the COVID-19 crisis. The researchers offer 10 ways to make online learning successful, including providing teacher supports, connecting and building relationships between students, identifying and supporting underserved students and special populations, and others. Enacting these recommendations will help schools to provide access to more equitable, engaging and effective learning.
Embedding Certifications into Bachelor’s Degrees: Workcred, in partnership with other stakeholder groups, released a new report identifying challenges and successes of current programs that integrate high-quality industry certifications into bachelor’s degree programs. To better understand the current models and practices of the programs, the researchers met with stakeholders in the health care, cybersecurity, manufacturing and liberal arts sectors, as well as representatives from postsecondary institutions. Out of these meetings, the researchers outlined three key findings:
- Support better understanding between participants, certification bodies and higher education institutions by creating a common language to facilitate communication and understanding of embedding certification into bachelor’s degrees.
- Foster an emerging community of practice between postsecondary institutions and certification bodies to create an arena of collaboration and innovation.
- After collaborating, synthesize the convening outcomes and themes into a framework that identifies certification-degree pathway examples, challenges and opportunities associated with building these pathways.
Meeting the Needs of Adult Learners: Strada Education Network conducted research with more than 350,000 participants to examine adult learners needs during their postsecondary education experiences. Three barriers identified for adult students returning for more education and training: competing obligations and logistics, self doubt and cost. The report outlines four key elements that adult learners need to succeed when returning for extra training and education:
- Guidance, mentoring and confidence
- Relevant coursework toward a meaningful career
- Applied learning experiences
- A completed degree
Data on Dual/Concurrent Enrollment: A new report from the National Center on Education Statistics uses data from the 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey to examine participation and funding for dual and concurrent enrollment in grades 9-12. Some of the key findings include:
- 82% of public schools offered dual and concurrent enrollment opportunities
- 90% of rural schools offered dual/concurrent enrollment opportunities, compared to 73% of schools located in cities, 80% of schools in the suburbs and 83% of schools in towns
- 78% of dual/concurrent enrollment funding came from the school, district or state
- In rural areas, funding was more likely to come from families or the students themselves, compared to other communities
Job Opportunities for Skilled Workers Without Degrees: Opportunity@Work in their new report found that across 292 occupations, 100 million projected job openings over the next decade could be filled by skilled workers who do not hold four-year degrees, but are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). In the report, the researcher identified several key findings:
- Low-wage jobs often require skills that are also needed for middle- and high-wage jobs.
- 71 million workers, or almost half of the working population, are STARs, and about 70% of STARs have the necessary skills to earn more than they are currently making.
- STARs have multiple pathways to increase their wages.
- Opportunity gaps exist among Black, Hispanic and women STARs, who are less likely to transition to higher paying roles.
The researchers call on employers, industries and workforce development leaders to reduce barriers for workers to get into high-paying jobs without a traditional four-year degree.
New High School Benchmark Data: The eighth annual High School Benchmarks report released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has new data on high school graduates’ postsecondary enrollment, retention and completion outcomes, as well as a special analysis of COVID-19 and the impact on postsecondary enrollment rates for 2020 high school graduates. Researchers found a limited impact of COVID-19 on graduation rates for high school students; however, there was a 21.7% decrease in high school graduates enrolling immediately in postsecondary institutions. Graduates from high-poverty, low-income and urban high schools were less likely to immediately go to postsecondary institutions after graduating, and the decline in enrollment at postsecondary institutions was disproportionately higher among low-income high schools during the pandemic.
Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Employment: The Congressional Research Service examined the long-term effects on women in the labor market during COVID-19 in their new report, The COVID-19 Pandemic: Labor Market Implications for Women. During the pandemic, women’s employment declined more than men’s, and the decline was even more drastic for Black women and Latinas. The researchers found two factors for the decline in employment:
- The industries that have been hit the hardest during the pandemic are those with higher shares of female employees..
- Women have increased caregiving responsibilities due to school closures, family illness and other family needs during the pandemic.
The researchers say the long-term impacts of these losses could be enduring. How long these losses will persist depends on how long the recession lasts, the speed and robustness of the subsequent recovery, how current employment status affects future job opportunities, and whether changes in choices about caregiving are lasting.