Career Pathways Technical Assistance
NCPN and CORD offer customized professional development tailored for local program improvement. A wide range of workshop topics is available to help practitioners of Career Pathways, Tech Prep, and other workforce development initiatives lead their programs to new heights.
To prepare educators to meet the requirements of the Perkins IV legislation, CORD’s National Career Pathways Network (NCPN) has developed the Career Pathways Leadership Certification Workshop. Incorporating materials from the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium’s Career Clusters Initiative, this workshop offers a variety of topics and can be customized to address specific challenges at the state or local level.
CORD has developed a one-day Adult Career Pathways Leadership Certification Workshop for community college administrators, faculty, and staff to find solutions to problems that prevent many citizens from obtaining the education that today's workplace demands. The purpose of this workshop is to challenge the community college campus to work together in providing the leadership for an adult career pathways system. This workshop will lead participants through practical strategies and examples. Participants will leave with a draft plan to tackle this urgent need.
Adult Career Pathways Support Services for Colleges and Communities
In 2007, CORD published the book Adult Career Pathways: Providing a Second Chance in Public Education. In 2011, an updated and expanded 2nd edition was published. The Adult Career Pathways (ACP) model is an extension of Career Pathways that focuses on adult learners whose educational backgrounds are varied, whose need for support services is considerable, and whose lack of academic preparation for college-level work is often extensive. The ACP model offers a strategy for overcoming workforce barriers by bringing together selected industries, community services, government agencies, and community colleges to identify, enroll, educate, and prepare these adults for high-demand career opportunities. The model specifically targets unemployed, underemployed, and dislocated workers and is ideal for serving individuals with little or no college, returning veterans, foreign-born U.S. residents, and ex-offenders.
CORD offers consultative services in two phases that will enable community colleges and their industry and community partners to:
- Create a systematic and sustainable process to enhance a region’s economic/workforce development and quality of life.
- Establish successful programs specifically designed for underemployed and unemployed adults that can be replicated by the college in several career areas.
- Establish new career pathways, curricula, and support programs appropriate for adult students preparing for careers in targeted occupations.
- Enlarge the local pool of highly qualified workers developed in part through re-employment of dislocated and unemployed adults.
- Develop solutions to enhance the performance of incumbent workers.
Consultative services are delivered in two phases:
Phase 1: ACP Advancement
In the first phase of the program, a customized Adult Career Pathways Plan will be developed in collaboration with industry and community leaders to ensure alignment with the region’s short-term challenges and long-term opportunities in workforce and economic development.
Phase 2: ACP Implementation
Phase 2 of the process (scope and length determined during Phase 1) is designed to enable the college to implement ACP programs that are sustainable and mutually beneficial for the community and local industry.
For more information about CORD's Career Pathways technical assistance services, read about some of our recent projects or email hcotner@cord.org.
