Rapid Resources
Small Business Innovation Research
Small Business Innovation Research
Small Business Innovation Research

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is administered out of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The program provides up to $1.1M in funding for research and development of innovative forms of learning and instructional technologies for classrooms.
Reports
Career Readiness: A Business-Led Approach for Supporting K-12 Schools
Career Readiness: A Business-Led Approach for Supporting K-12 Schools
Career Readiness: A Business-Led Approach for Supporting K-12 Schools

This paper reviews how states and districts have historically approached career readiness in K-12 schools and the limitations and challenges with current approaches. This paper also defines career readiness and argues that it should be pursued as an integrated measure under postsecondary readiness as part of ESSA state accountability systems as well as specific recommendations for the business community in addressing key implementation challenges involving the career readiness components of a postsecondary readiness indicator.
Reports
The Effect of Career and Technical Education on Human Capital Accumulation: Causal Evidence from Massachusetts
The Effect of Career and Technical Education on Human Capital Accumulation: Causal Evidence from Massachusetts
The Effect of Career and Technical Education on Human Capital Accumulation: Causal Evidence from Massachusetts

This paper investigates the impact of participating in a specialized high school-based CTE delivery system on high school persistence, completion, earning professional certifications, and standardized test scores. The paper focuses on individuals from low-income families, an overrepresented group in CTE.
Rapid Resources
Coronavirus, Economic Crisis Cloud Resurgence of Career Tech Ed.
Coronavirus, Economic Crisis Cloud Resurgence of Career Tech Ed.
Coronavirus, Economic Crisis Cloud Resurgence of Career Tech Ed.

This article discusses the impacts of COVID-19 on career and technical education.
Rapid Resources
Communicating the Value and Promise of CTE with Parents and Students
Communicating the Value and Promise of CTE with Parents and Students
Communicating the Value and Promise of CTE with Parents and Students

This research highlights the ways how advocates can more effectively communicate about CTE with parents and students.
Reports
Measuring the Effects of Self-Awareness: Construction of the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire
Measuring the Effects of Self-Awareness: Construction of the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire
Measuring the Effects of Self-Awareness: Construction of the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire

This two-part, mixed-methods study looks at understanding dispositional self-awareness through developing a questionnaire to measure its outcomes.
Rapid Resources
The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Achievement and What it May Mean for Educators
The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Achievement and What it May Mean for Educators
The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Achievement and What it May Mean for Educators

This article describes the expected learning losses from the COVID-19 shortened COVID-19 school year.
Rapid Resources
What Do Test Scores Really Mean for the Economy?
What Do Test Scores Really Mean for the Economy?
What Do Test Scores Really Mean for the Economy?

This article argues that lower reading and math test scores will impact the future U.S. economy.
Reports
How Children's Social Competence Impacts Their Well-Being in Adulthood
How Children's Social Competence Impacts Their Well-Being in Adulthood
How Children's Social Competence Impacts Their Well-Being in Adulthood

This 20-year study tracked a group of kindergarten students who were evaluated on social capabilities (e.g., listening to other, sharing materials). Researchers followed these children for the next two decades, examining whether these assessments could predict how these same children would fare by early adulthood.
Best Practices
What US Schools Can Learn From Finland’s Approach to Education
What US Schools Can Learn From Finland’s Approach to Education
What US Schools Can Learn From Finland’s Approach to Education

This report lists four reforms any U.S. state or school can implement to make sustainable improvements within the current educational system.
Rapid Resources
Funding Results Strengthening Career & Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V)
Funding Results Strengthening Career & Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V)
Funding Results Strengthening Career & Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V)

This webpage lists the 2020-21 fiscal year allocations to California middle, high, and adult schools from the U.S. Department of Education Vocational Education Basic Grant Award.
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.