CareerOneStop, an online portal for career resources and training, has released a new report titled "SemiNano: Bridging the Gap between Industry and Education." The report highlights the success of the SemiNano project, which aims to address the skills gap between the semiconductor industry and education.

According to the report, SemiNano has developed a competency-based education model that aligns with industry standards and provides students with hands-on training in semiconductor manufacturing. The program has partnered with industry leaders to provide students with real-world experience and prepare them for careers in the field. 

The report features case studies from several community colleges and universities that have implemented the SemiNano model. These institutions have seen significant improvements in student outcomes, including higher job placement rates and increased student engagement.

The SemiNano project has received funding from the National Science Foundation and has already impacted hundreds of students across the country. With the demand for skilled workers in the semiconductor industry on the rise, the success of this program serves as a promising example of...

Connect with colleagues and update your knowledge and skills at HI-TEC this year!

HI-TEC is a national conference on advanced technological education where secondary and postsecondary educators, counselors, industry professionals, trade organizations, and technicians can update their knowledge and skills. Charged with preparing America’s skilled technical workforce, the event focuses on the preparation needed by the existing and future workforce for companies in the high-tech sectors that drive our nation’s economy.

The annual conference is perfect for: 

• Community College and University Educators
• High School Educators
• Workforce Development Advocates
• Trade Organizations
• Industry Professionals
• Technicians

This year's conference will be held at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center, July 24–27. Pre-conference events will be held July 24–25. Read more and register on the HI-TEC website! 

Join CAST for a free webinar with experts on implementing UDL! 

Learn how to support all of your students, including those who are not performing up to their potential. As the founders of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), CAST is world renowned for its innovative professional development. Let us help your teachers build the pedagogical skills they need to support their under-performing students and help you to build school- and district-wide systems that will support your teachers!

This informative webinar about CAST’s Professional Learning model could start your school or district on its journey to improved teaching and learning.

The webinar is Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 4:00PM – 5:00PM ET. Register here!

A unique and amazing partnership between four centers led to the development of this brief on connecting Implementation, Equity Inquiries, Universal Design for Learning, and Multi-Tiered System of Support. This brief explains how four important system design initiatives frequently promoted by state and local education agencies for school improvement can be implemented through an intentional systematic approach for a powerful, positive impact on student outcomes.

The brief, titled Increasing Equity in Education through Stage-based Implementation of Universal Design for Learning in a Multi-Tiered System of Support, comes from the SWIFT Schools, Great Lakes Equity/MAP Center, National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), and State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices Center (SISEP). 

Read or download. the full brief on the SISEP website!

The world's fleet of electric vehicles grew to over 6 million units last year. Within a decade, there will be enough electric cars on the road for every person in California, as global electric vehicle ownership is estimated to reach 20 million units by 2025. Learn more about electric cars at the Electric Vehicles Battery Tech USA 2023 Exhibition and Conference, March 6-7 in at the Hyatt Regency Orange County, California. 

A new report from the Managing the Future of Work Project at the Harvard Business School found that many people training and applying for jobs remain ill-equipped to enter the workforce. Report co-author, Manjari Raman, said to NPR: 

"Businesses thought it's enough to sit in advisory councils at the local community college. Very often the people on those councils are retired small business owners. You're not really seeing engagement from large employers … going to a community college and saying, ‘Look, I need about 50 or 60 or maybe 500 people to come and work for me. Here is the kind of workforce readiness I need. This is what I need in the curriculum.'"

The report says that communication is lacking between employers and community colleges. The report states that critical middle-skills positions are unfilled resulting in revenues are lost, and customers are dissatisfied. At the same time, some students come out of the community college system only to find that they are unemployable in their field of study or at a living wage. Employers do not find them “workforce ready” and capable of carrying out the more sophisticated technology-promoted tasks associated with middle-skills...

A new report from NSF's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) provides high-level insights from multiple data sources into the diversity of the STEM workforce in the United States. Some key takeaways were concerning workforce, education, and degrees were: 

• The U.S. STEM workforce gradually diversified between 2011 and 2021, with increased representation of women and underrepresented minorities
• Persons with a disability who worked part time in an STEM-related occupation in 2021 reported wanting to work full time at about twice the rate of those without a disability
• Underrepresented minorities—Hispanic, Black, and American Indian or Alaska Native individuals—made up a higher share of the skilled technical workforce in 2021 than of workers who were employed in STEM occupations with at least a bachelor’s degree
• In 2020, women were underrepresented among degree recipients at all degree levels in physical and earth sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, and engineering

The full report can be accessed on the NSF website. 

A new book, with NSF-funded authors, is now available. The book, titled Leading Change in Gender and Diversity in Higher Education from Margins to Mainstream, has many chapters relating to the intersection of STEM, higher education, and diversity. Of particular interest to ATE Grantees may be the chapter "Improving gender diversity in STEM through an inclusive professional framework."

Each of the book's four sections topics unpack and speak to gender and diversity, equity, inclusion and access, social justice, and leadership and sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs). Incorporating innovative processes and methods, the researchers address how the experiences of groups who have been subordinated and marginalized can be heard, proposing a re-imagination of empowerment and leadership within higher education and best practices for the benefit of ongoing higher education development.

This book is ideal reading for higher education leaders, students on higher education courses, leadership courses, gender in education, as well as researchers, practitioners, for topics of gender and diversity, equity, inclusion and access, social justice, leadership and sustainability. 

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The Community College Presidents' Initiative in STEM (CCPI-STEM), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is designed to further engage community college leadership in the support of regional STEM education and workforce development through NSF ATE grants.  There is a national clarion call for a diverse workforce with STEM backgrounds for the millions of employment opportunities that remain unfilled.  

Join us on January 30, 2023 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET for the first of a series of Webcasts that will highlight the vision and mission of the grant with a focus on the 2-year sector. 

Participants will hear about the various opportunities to participate in regional dialogue and collaboration, receive support to learn more about the NSF's Advanced Technological Education funding program, and join a growing Community College network designed to address STEM education and workforce needs.

Please use this link to Register by January 28, 2023.