National Priority and News about Apprenticeships

Current Priority for Workforce Development

White House Issued Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships:

1. 1. To help Americans find family-supporting jobs, White House issued the Presidential Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships in America to prepare workers to fill both existing and newly created jobs and to prepare workers for the jobs for the future.
      • Learn more about Work-Based Learning and its different strategies.
   2. The U.S. Department of Labor has established the Apprenticeship Expansion Task Force is charged with the mission of identifying strategies and proposals to promote apprenticeships, especially in sectors where apprenticeship programs are insufficient. Upon completion of this assignment, the Task Force shall submit to the President of the United States a final report which details these strategies and proposals. For more information please visit Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion.
   3. Department of Labor’s TAACCCT Grant Program and SkillsCommons is helping expand and create new work-based learning programs by providing free and open access to apprenticeship-related curriculum as well as exemplary practices for the design and implementation of apprenticeship programs.
      • Learn more about SkillsCommons materials that are freely and readily available for your use in industry specific apprenticeship programs.
      • Explore guidelines, tools, and templates for planning apprenticeship programs on the U.S. Department of Labor’s websites.

---

Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning (WBL): What’s It All About?

• Work-Based Learning is the umbrella for apprenticeships, internships, and externships.
  • Apprenticeships and internships are paid position in the normal work environment where the employee is provided direct supervision and instruction on the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required for the successful execution of work to meet local, regional, or national standards of quality.
  • Apprenticeships are frequently associated with work that requires specific certification that includes the demonstration of skills to an industry standard and an amount of experience in the workplace performing the job.
  • 2018 Presidential Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeships defines apprenticeships as an arrangement that includes a paid-work component and an educational or instructional component, wherein an individual obtains workplace-relevant knowledge and skills.
• Research shows that work-based learning can bridge the gap between education and the workplace, accelerating learning and ensuring that graduates are job-ready.
• Work-based learning activities can strengthen ties between industry, the workforce system and community colleges.
• Work-based learning works across a variety of sectors and contexts.
• Work-based learning can reinforce other strategic priorities, especially diversity and inclusion; employer engagement and industry alignment.