(E) Partner Engagement with Educational Institutions

Describe how the State’s Strategies will engage the State’s community colleges and area career and technical education schools, as partners in the workforce development system to create a job-driven education and training system.

Idaho’s workforce development system includes the State’s six technical colleges (located at Idaho’s four Community Colleges, Lewis Clark State College, and Idaho State University) and secondary career and technical programs as partners in the workforce development system to create a job-driven education and training system. At the strategic level, this engagement will be carried out by three main entities: Idaho’s Workforce Development Council, Idaho Career & Technical Education, and the Office of the State Board of Education. The specific efforts of these three entities are provided in more detail below.

Idaho’s STEM Action Center also plays an important role in engaging Idaho’s schools with science and technology through teacher professional development, connecting schools and students with grants and scholarships, and hosting educational camps and events.

Idaho’s Workforce Development Council

Several of Idaho’s workforce development strategies—as specified in the State Workforce Development Council’s Strategic Plan—are focused on education and training. These strategies include:

• Enhance opportunities for lifelong learning by expanding delivery options
• Support a comprehensive education system for all students K-Career that includes rigorous school-based learning and relevant work-based learning
• Develop and Align Career Pathways with Target Sectors

It is no coincidence that the state’s workforce development goals target education and training. As the WIOA State Board, Idaho’s Workforce Development Council includes the President of the State Board of Education, the Administrator of Career & Technical Education, a community college representative, two representatives of registered apprenticeship programs and a representative of a community-based organization for out-of-school youth. In addition, the Governor has appointed the Executive Director of the Idaho STEM Action Center as his designee to the Council (the STEM Action Center is located within the Executive Office of the Governor). These Council members provide a direct connection to job-driven education.

The Workforce Development Council has also directed the creation of Industry Sector Grants and Micro Grants using state Workforce Development Training Funds. These grants support job-driven training for in-demand occupations by requiring the collaboration of business and education to meet employer-identified gaps in the workforce. The Industry Sector Grants are awarded to industry partnerships consisting of education providers and at least three businesses within the industry providing a cash match. These grants are used to develop training programs at educational institutions to provide industry with the skilled workforce it needs. The Micro Grants are awarded to community-based teams representing business, education and other community partners to provide training for specific in-demand skills in the local area.

Idaho Career & Technical Education

Idaho Career & Technical Education (ICTE), which administers both the WIOA Title II and Carl D. Perkins programs, and oversees both secondary and postsecondary career and technical education in Idaho, is essential in connecting workforce programs with career and technical education, engaging the State’s technical colleges, and guiding the development of meaningful career pathways. ICTE also coordinates the state Workforce Training Network, which includes the directors of the Workforce Training Centers located at Idaho six technical colleges. The Workforce Training Network leverages best practices and develops statewide solutions to meet the talent needs of Idaho’s businesses.

ICTE supports the career and technical programs at Idaho’s technical colleges through both state and federal funds. For the past three years, ICTE has used in-demand occupations to drive its postsecondary budget request to the State legislature. To guide this request, technical colleges identified programs where all graduates were being placed in in-demand, high-wage occupations and where extensive student waiting lists existed to access these programs. As a result, the Idaho legislature funded $5.6 million in FY17 and FY18 and the Governor is recommending an additional $1 million in FY19 for the expansion of these targeted programs that align with the most pressing workforce needs of Idaho’s employers.

At the secondary level, ICTE is working to expand an incentive program driven by program quality metrics and alignment to industry needs. Within the efforts to improve program quality is an emphasis on technical advisory committees (TACs). All CTE programs (secondary and postsecondary) are required to have technical advisory committees; however, the effectiveness of these committees varies. ICTE is providing professional development for CTE faculty on creating high-impact TACs and has created a mechanism to allow for state-level review of the activities of local TACs to inform its strategic planning.

The Idaho Office of the State Board of Education

The Idaho Office of the State Board of Education plays an important role in ensuring that workforce training programs at Idaho’s colleges are eligible for Title I-B individual training accounts, and to serve as Eligible Training Providers (ETPs). Previously all of the state’s postsecondary schools were on the WIA eligible training provider list. A group of education stakeholders from the board’s jurisdiction representing ICTE, private and proprietary schools, and the Workforce Training Network collaborated to develop WIOA ETP transition policies and data reporting requirements.

The postsecondary institutions expressed interest in continuing to provide occupational skills training under WIOA, but faced challenges in implementing the new WIOA performance reporting for ETPs. In particular the workforce training programs, preferred by employers, did not collect the level of student information required for WIOA reporting. The stakeholder group met for over a year to write policy and develop technical solutions. Most importantly, this group generated buy-in for the much resisted data collection required.

State education staff worked to ensure that all programs within the state’s designated career pathways were included on the Eligible Training Provider List. The Office of the State Board of Education leveraged Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems grant funds to assist the schools in developing data collection systems for WIOA reporting.

The stakeholder group has been re-established to provide input for the final ETP Criteria which is under development by the Workforce Development Policy Committee of the Council.

UI claimants have the opportunity to attend WIOA Title I-B eligible or TAA training programs at educational and training institutions while still retaining eligibility for UI benefits.Continued UI eligibility is confirmed when the AJC career planner notifies UI staff of the claimant's training status.