We apologize for repeating much of the information from the previous sections, but the text of our plan narrative addresses some of the requested areas of information simultaneously, requiring that we answer the federal government’s request for information in this manner.

Excerpt from the Executive Summary

State Plan Goals

Between 2017 and 2027, the state will produce a million “middle-skill” industry-valued and recognized postsecondary credentials broadly defined here as sub-baccalaureate credentials with demonstrable labor market value, including industry-recognized certificates, or certifications, or certificates of completion of apprenticeship, or professional licenses, recognized by California or the federal government, as well as industry-valued associate degrees that facilitate movement into either the labor market or longer term educational programs aligned with the state’s workforce needs. During this time the state will also double the number of people enrolled in apprenticeship programs.

These goals are aspirational in nature and are based on the need for workforce and education programs to calibrate the production of credentials to labor market trends. The actual number and type of credentials awarded will be determined regionally on the basis of systematic industry engagement. This requires that employers and other industry sector leaders be engaged to help lead the assessment and, where necessary, work with training and education providers to redesign relevant training and education programs. In this regard, regional partnerships between industry and labor, training and education providers, and Local Boards will be vitally important to the success of the State Plan.

Framework for Program Assessment

The state will measure performance of the core programs using WIOA performance metrics and will further assess the overall effectiveness of the workforce system and those educational programs that support and work with it on the basis of these programs’ collective ability to produce industry-valued, recognized postsecondary credentials and the apprenticeship enrollments discussed above. As such, State Plan credential and apprenticeship goals should be understood to be supplemental performance measures, and are not intended to supplant the measurement of WIOA performance outcomes for the core programs. The State Board will also work with non-core programs to align performance measurement for state-funded workforce and education programs for which the California Legislature has mandated performance reporting.

Specifically, the state will emphasize “demand-driven skills-attainment” in the policies it sets pertaining to local and regional workforce planning goals and program performance goals will be consistent with this policy direction. For example, in setting performance standards for Local Boards, the state will give great weight to WIOA performance measures related to skills attainment, program completion, and credential attainment (including, when relevant, high school diplomas), and will validate the labor market value of relevant programs by examining the employment and wage outcomes of the individuals served using relevant WIOA performance metrics.

The purpose of this overall approach to program assessment is to facilitate the attainment of marketable skills that ultimately will improve the labor market outcomes (employment rates and wages) of the individuals being served. The focus on labor market relevant skills attainment (as measured by the production and receipt of industry-valued credentials) is intended to work in tandem with and reinforce the performance assessment system required by WIOA, so as to increase the performance outcomes of local service providers by requiring investments that actually develop the workforce skills of the individuals they serve. If local providers make training-related investments calibrated to the needs of their local and regional labor markets, their performance numbers should benefit.

The State Board will also work with regionally organized Local Boards and other State Plan partners to determine the extent to which persons receiving training and education services aligned with regional industry needs are actually obtaining employment in occupations and sectors directly related to their programs of study. Developing this capacity will require creativity and the development of an operational plan for collecting relevant information. The State Board will work with EDD, Local Boards, and state plan partners to build this capacity and will consider alternative approaches to measuring how well local providers are calibrating training and education offerings to regional labor market trends. Given the current limits of occupation and industry sector information contained in relevant wage records, developing this capacity could prove challenging, though ultimately, worth the effort.

Finally, the State Board will work with state plan partners and relevant stakeholders to conduct program evaluation and research that examines program impacts on wages and employment, using rigorous statistical methodology to compare the labor market outcomes of individuals who participate and complete relevant programs with similar individuals who do not participate and complete these programs.