 |
Upskilling
adults with disabilities through better systems alignment: A new brief
highlights Texas model
National
Skills Coalition: 2.11.2019 by Amanda Bergson-Shilcock
American
businesses are facing the tightest labor market in decades. At the same time,
seven out of ten Americans with disabilities are working or want to work, but
they are not always well-served by workforce and education systems. Skills
advocates can address both sides of this equation by improving alignment among
workforce and education systems so that people with disabilities can upskill
for in-demand jobs.
A
new brief from NSC showcases one community that has embarked on this type of
alignment process. Stakeholders in the workforce development, adult education,
and vocational rehabilitation systems in the Rural Capital region of Texas have
been collaborating since 2016.
Upskilling
adult learners with disabilities: How collaboration among adult education,
vocational rehabilitation, and workforce development partners can strengthen
systems also provides recommendations for state and federal policymakers who
want to support the upskilling of jobseekers with disabilities through better
systems alignment.
When
systems work better, people with disabilities can upskill more easily
Imagine
an adult learner who is eager to earn his high school equivalency and find
employment, but whose severe dyslexia has never been properly diagnosed or
treated. If his adult education instructor is well-connected to her
counterparts in the vocational rehabilitation (VR) system, he may be referred
for formal diagnostic testing and become eligible for additional supports.
Similarly,
consider a jobseeker with a hearing impairment who has been working with a VR
counselor and is frustrated that she can’t find a laboratory-technician
training program that will also allow her to brush up on her math skills. If
her VR counselor is well-connected to workforce and education partners, she may
be referred to an Integrated Education and Training program that fits the bill
– and allows her to find rapid employment in this in-demand field. READ
MORE >>
Workplace
2018: A Stronger Nation: Learning
Beyond High School Builds American Talent, Lumina
2017: UpSkilling Playbook for
Employers, Aspen
Institute
2015: Skills Gap Report, NAM-MI
2008: Reach Higher America: Overcoming
Crisis in the U.S. Workforce, NCAL
2007: America’s Perfect Storm, ETS
2007: Can California Import Enough College
Grad's. Meet Workforce Needs?, PPIC
2007: Mounting Pressures: Workforce . . .
Adult Ed, NCAL
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment