Narrative: III. a. 2. F.

West Virginia’s workforce development strategy is integrally tied to education, starting with the secondary school system, including CTE centers, and continuing through postsecondary education to include community colleges, and public and private colleges and universities. Adult Education as a core partner is fully engaged with all levels of education within the state.

In West Virginia, Secondary CTE is delivered through comprehensive high schools, county CTE centers, and multi–county CTE centers. Postsecondary CTE is delivered through the state’s community and technical colleges. County CTE centers also provide postsecondary CTE instruction. The West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education delegates to the West Virginia Board of Education responsibility for the administration of federal funds under the Perkins Act.

The core programs will work with the education system to support and develop career pathways identified by employers and the workforce system. The state will be partnering with several community colleges to develop micro–credentials that demonstrate measurable skill gains and are part of a clearly defined career pathway for individuals with barriers to employment. Because the community colleges are Perkins postsecondary recipients, the model developed by these community colleges will serve as a model that can be replicated by all of the Perkins postsecondary recipients across the state. In addition, many of the approved secondary CTE programs of study will offer badges to recognize incremental attainment of skills. Badges are earned when a student achieves a minimum score on the technical assessment. A digital badge is an electronic indicator of one’s skills, performance, and achievement.

In collaboration with WVDE, providers of career and technical education (CTE) programs of study have worked to align industry credentials to high–demand occupations. Secondary career and technical centers make appropriate credentials and micro–credentials available through end–of– program assessment. There has also been significant collaboration between the state workforce development system and community colleges on the multiple Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grants received. The TAACCCT I grants have been used to develop curriculum and customize programs to re–train dislocated workers in the Advanced Manufacturing, Energy Distribution, Production and Conservation, and Healthcare Technology industries. Career coaches at each college aided students by arranging for wrap–around supportive services, as necessary. Adult Education partners at some of the colleges, provided academic support for students prior to and during enrollment in classes. The state will analyze the results of each project and utilize best practices and lessons learned to help improve the broader workforce development system.

Another key area of collaboration and cooperation is the transition from the workforce development program to postsecondary education. Title II program managers, DRS counselors, SPOKES student coordinators and WIOA and Wagner–Peyser employment specialists are establishing relationships with educational staff in adult education programs to support the successful transition of their customers to postsecondary programs. The postsecondary programs include those offered by Perkins postsecondary recipients.

All West Virginians exiting basic education services, both through the traditional K–12 system and through adult basic education, will be prepared to participate successfully in postsecondary level instruction with no need for remediation. To support this vision, Title II adult basic education providers have implemented the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education. At the local level, many adult education providers have developed relationships with postsecondary education providers in the CTE centers and community colleges. Students who do not earn a high enough score on placement tests at the postsecondary institution are referred to a local adult basic education program for remedial work. After the student has demonstrated sufficient academic progress at the local adult education program, as determined by an approved standardized test, the student is referred back to the postsecondary institution. The state will build on best practices developed through these relationships. For example, in the most successful partnerships, both the adult education program and the postsecondary institution have points of contact for referrals. Also, the adult education and postsecondary programs are working together to identify key content areas for the adult education program to cover to support successful transition to the postsecondary program.

The state will strive to connect youth and adults seeking postsecondary education with available financial aid to include Pell grant programs. The state will also encourage those students without a high school diploma or recognized equivalent deemed eligible under ability–to–benefit for financial assistance to enroll in eligible career pathway programs. Contextualized TASC programming will also be used as a mechanism for encouraging students without a high school diploma or recognized equivalent to enroll in eligible career pathway programs.

Postsecondary career and technical education is a critical partner in providing integrated basic education and skills training for adults with basic skill deficiencies, and a proven skills–building strategy. Postsecondary career and technical education programs will work with adult basic education programs to establish integrated education and training programs throughout the state.

In serving individuals with disabilities, DRS will continue to work collaboratively with local community colleges, career and technical schools and other Perkins recipients to explore the development of training programs that are implemented with universal design to train individuals with disabilities for competitive, integrated employment in jobs that meet local labor market demand. This will include working to replicate successful programs and to expand postsecondary education options for youth with disabilities. DRS will also work to develop and implement interagency agreements with community colleges and career and technical schools to fill unmet needs within the local workforce delivery system.

In serving veterans, DRS will continue to work closely with the Department of Education and student veteran organizations at colleges, universities, trade schools and other institutions of higher learning to create “veteran friendly” learning environments. The state will continue to support partners in education with focused outreach and coordination with community partners while supporting veterans and their family members to take full advantage of educational benefits that they have earned. This alignment of services will leverage these education and training platforms to focus on job skills that meet the needs of employers within the regions. Education will coordinate with partners to link employers to these educational institutions and programs to ensure that we graduate skilled applicants who have the greatest potential to move successfully into employment.

Coordinating with Economic Development Strategies Through its Employer Partnership Programs, West Virginia’s community and technical colleges provide the training that workers need while leveraging the company’s training dollars to achieve maximize worker productivity. In 2011, WV CTCS delivered training to more than 600 employers across the state.