James May June 2024 web - Flipbook - Page 68
Step 3 Develop a regional pathways
strategy based on current and emerging workforce needs.
After partnering with business
leaders, K-12 and post-secondary leaders should have greater insight into
how all strategies fit together to advance workforce readiness. Community partnerships also reveal critical
gaps and obstacles that prevent more
residents from earning necessary
credentials in high-need fields or high
schools from offering career pathways
that respond to workforce needs.
Regional and community-based
models are promising because they
concentrate efforts on community-wide needs, moving away from
one-off remedies that benefit only
one business or one career pathway.
By developing joint education and
economic development strategies,
new community partners can forge
innovative solutions that replicate
the promising practices of mature
partnerships already underway in
the community.
68
JAMES
M AY/ JU N E 2 02 4
M OV I N G GEORGIA FORWARD
In short, we can move Georgia
forward by creating favorable environments for education, workforce, and
community partners to collaborate.
The Georgia Partnership provides two
recommendations for accelerating
investments in career pathways:
• Differentiate pathways funding
based on demand. The Georgia
General Assembly should initiate
pilot programs to evaluate whether
differentiated funding encourages
school district and post-secondary
institutional leaders to create and
expand programs that meet identified workforce needs. Policymakers
could use the results to determine
if revisions to the K-12 and post-secondary funding formulas are warranted to spur innovation and an
outcomes-based focus.
• Leverage current state efforts
to strengthen credit and program
articulation. The Georgia Partnership
urges the GaDOE and Technical and
University Systems of Georgia to use
existing articulation structures to
expand access to career credentials
and work-based learning opportunities. Through the current Articulated Credit Agreement initiative, the
TCSG awards college credit to high
school students who complete one of
18 career pathways, shortening the
time it takes to earn post-secondary
credentials. GaDOE, TCSG, and the
University System of Georgia can
leverage these credit articulation
efforts to find ways to align CTAE
pathways with credit and noncredit
post-secondary programs.
Defining what programs are
aligned with community and workforce needs and forging stronger
linkages between secondary and
postsecondary career pathways
strategies should increase consumer confidence that CTAE offerings
prepare Georgians for high-demand,
high-wage careers.
Matthew Smith is the Director of Policy and
Research at the Georgia Partnership for
Excellence in Education.
