Best Practices
Soft Skills to Pay the Bills
Soft Skills to Pay the Bills
Soft Skills to Pay the Bills

The Soft Skills to Pay the Bills teaches youth soft- and work-ready skills by offering modular, hands-on curriculum that focus on six key skill areas.
Reports
Entrepreneurial Soft Skills for the Future: a Scoping Study
Entrepreneurial Soft Skills for the Future: a Scoping Study
Entrepreneurial Soft Skills for the Future: a Scoping Study

This report contributes to the broader debate around the role that soft skills can play in entrepreneurial success.
Rapid Resources
What Employers Can Do for Employees Whose Children Have Special Needs
What Employers Can Do for Employees Whose Children Have Special Needs
What Employers Can Do for Employees Whose Children Have Special Needs

This article helps working parents of children with special needs identity what they should look for in a company. It also helps employers see how they can better serve their employees.
Rapid Resources
Afterschool Toolkit: Community to Business
Afterschool Toolkit: Community to Business
Afterschool Toolkit: Community to Business

This toolkit helps after-school advocates form partnerships benefitting the business community, after-school programs, parents, and the youth who need these programs.
Best Practices
What Are 21st Century Skills?
What Are 21st Century Skills?
What Are 21st Century Skills?

This list describes 21st Century skills, how they help students, and their importance for career success.
Rapid Resources
Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAP) General Fact Sheet
Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAP) General Fact Sheet
Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAP) General Fact Sheet

This fact sheet details Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAP) requirements and the importance of IRAPs.
Rapid Resources
Teaching Teenagers to Develop Their Emotional Intelligence
Teaching Teenagers to Develop Their Emotional Intelligence
Teaching Teenagers to Develop Their Emotional Intelligence

This article discusses the importance of teaching teenagers social and emotional learning in improving career outcomes.
Reports
To Secure Knowledge-Social Science Partnerships for the Common Good
To Secure Knowledge-Social Science Partnerships for the Common Good
To Secure Knowledge-Social Science Partnerships for the Common Good

This report highlights the need for government, academia, donor organizations, and the private sector to collaborate on social science research through funding, data, ethics, research quality, and research training.
Rapid Resources
A Guide to Understanding Career and Technical Education
A Guide to Understanding Career and Technical Education
A Guide to Understanding Career and Technical Education

This guide provides a summary of the value of Career and Technical Education as well as a glossary of terms, branches of government, business associations, and student organizations meant for anyone conducting outreach in the CTE Community.
Rapid Resources
Microsoft, Verizon, and Other Big U.S. Companies Design Their Ideal High School Courses
Microsoft, Verizon, and Other Big U.S. Companies Design Their Ideal High School Courses
Microsoft, Verizon, and Other Big U.S. Companies Design Their Ideal High School Courses

This article details what courses executives at major companies would like to see in high schools.
Rapid Resources
Why Social and Emotional Learning and Employability Skills Should Be Prioritized in Education
Why Social and Emotional Learning and Employability Skills Should Be Prioritized in Education
Why Social and Emotional Learning and Employability Skills Should Be Prioritized in Education

This brief highlights the need for social and emotional learning in schools as a key of success to workforce development.
Rapid Resources
U.S. Businesses Need More Multilingual Employees
U.S. Businesses Need More Multilingual Employees
U.S. Businesses Need More Multilingual Employees

This report provides additional information supporting the claim that learning a new language opens career paths and increases employment opportunities for students.
Reports
Ready for Work? How Afterschool Programs Can Support Employability Through Social and Emotional Learning
Ready for Work? How Afterschool Programs Can Support Employability Through Social and Emotional Learning
Ready for Work? How Afterschool Programs Can Support Employability Through Social and Emotional Learning

This brief defines employability skills overall with a focus on social and emotional competencies and research on why they are essential. It also discusses how social and emotional learning programs and practices can support the development of these skills and how after-school and expanded learning settings are an ideal place for this to happen.
Rapid Resources
11 Future Lessons We Can Learn From the History of Business
11 Future Lessons We Can Learn From the History of Business
11 Future Lessons We Can Learn From the History of Business

This article details 11 lessons businesses can learn from history to ensure a better present and improved future business outcomes.
Rapid Resources
How to Use Colleges & Universities to Help Your Business
How to Use Colleges & Universities to Help Your Business
How to Use Colleges & Universities to Help Your Business

This article gives small businesses recommendations for creating partnerships with colleges and universities.
Reports
Well-Being in the Workplace: Why it Matters for Organizational Performance and How to Improve It
Well-Being in the Workplace: Why it Matters for Organizational Performance and How to Improve It
Well-Being in the Workplace: Why it Matters for Organizational Performance and How to Improve It

This report presents the key findings from a three-year international study that investigated workplace well-being, the activities most effective for enhancing well-being, and the benefits for organizations fostering well-being for their employees.
Rapid Resources
What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It)
What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It)
What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It)

This article highlights three findings from research on the definition of self-awareness and how to improve it.
Best Practices
Connecting Community Colleges with Employers: A Toolkit for Building Successful Partnerships
Connecting Community Colleges with Employers: A Toolkit for Building Successful Partnerships
Connecting Community Colleges with Employers: A Toolkit for Building Successful Partnerships

This toolkit offers practical advice on how community college leaders can take a deliberate approach to communication with potential partners in their community, including local businesses and industry leaders.
Best Practices
Career Pathways Advisory Committee Toolkit
Career Pathways Advisory Committee Toolkit
Career Pathways Advisory Committee Toolkit

This toolkit helps educators and business/industry representatives strengthen the CTE pathways system through advisory committees. It includes a guide for business/industry members on roles and responsibilities, with related interactive forms.
Best Practices
A How-To Guide for School-Business Partnerships
A How-To Guide for School-Business Partnerships
A How-To Guide for School-Business Partnerships

This guide helps school officials and business leaders who are interested in engaging in school-business partnerships.
Reports
Workforce of Today, Workforce of Tomorrow: The Business Case for High-Quality Childcare
Workforce of Today, Workforce of Tomorrow: The Business Case for High-Quality Childcare
Workforce of Today, Workforce of Tomorrow: The Business Case for High-Quality Childcare

The report argues for the importance of childcare for the business future of the United States.
Reports
Bridging the Soft Skills Gap
Bridging the Soft Skills Gap
Bridging the Soft Skills Gap

This report makes a case for partnerships between business and education sectors and outlines strategies already being used successfully across the country as well as providing recommendations for businesses looking to help students develop soft skills for the workplace.
Rapid Resources
The Importance of Teaching History In Business Schools
The Importance of Teaching History In Business Schools
The Importance of Teaching History In Business Schools

This article explains why business schools should teach history to better prepare their graduates for successful business careers.
Rapid Resources
Improving Social Emotional Skills in Childhood Enhances Long-Term Well-Being and Economic Outcomes
Improving Social Emotional Skills in Childhood Enhances Long-Term Well-Being and Economic Outcomes
Improving Social Emotional Skills in Childhood Enhances Long-Term Well-Being and Economic Outcomes

This paper provides data for investing in impactful social and emotional learning programs for all children and recommendations for future research.