Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Study from Center for Public Education Links Apprenticeships to 21st Century Skills

  • 10/23/18

The Center for Public Education (CPE), a research arm of the National School Boards Association (NSBA), announced today the release of A New Look at Apprenticeship: Linking School to 21st Century Skills, which examines apprenticeships, finding them to be an effective, key element in helping students acquire the knowledge and skills needed to be successful after high school graduation.  

"Schools constantly need to expose students to a variety of programs that ready them for college, the workplace and a successful community life," said NSBA Executive Director and CEO Thomas J. Gentzel. "While apprenticeships have had a long history of developing trade skills for young people, they should now be viewed for their role in building 21stcentury skills and narrowing the skilled labor gap in our ever-evolving technological world."  

In its new report, CPE explores apprenticeships' impact on developing workplace skills, finding that the apprenticeship model-career building and life-long learning-can be effective. CPE also found that modern apprenticeships have been shown to lower unemployment among youth, produce high-skilled workers who meet industry needs, and foster meaningful and lifelong learning.  

The increasingly challenging and competitive job market of tomorrow requires educators and policymakers alike to focus on enhancing students' educational opportunities. In examining the data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), CPE suggests school districts, when developing apprenticeship programs and partnerships, consider the following:

-- Find ways to make school more relevant to the job market; 
-- Help establish a continuous pipeline of high-skilled workers to the job market; 
-- Consider partnerships with community colleges and local businesses; and
-- Better link school learning to 21st century skills.  

"Apprenticeship programs in the 21st century help students acquire not only occupational skills, but also communication and collaboration skills that employers want and need," said Jinghong Cai, Ph.D., Research Analyst at the Center for Public Education and author of the report.

Featured

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Utah Valley University Opens New Engineering Building

    Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, recently held a grand-opening ceremony for the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building, according to a news release. The facility is one of the largest engineering buildings in the state at almost 200,000 square feet, and it plays home to the university’s Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET).

  • University of Oklahoma Announces New Campus Master Plan

    The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., recently announced that it will soon launch a new, comprehensive Campus Master Plan to guide the campus’ physical development during the next decade, according to a news release.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.