CASAS’ 2016 National Summer Institute hosted nearly 800 workforce development professionals, education providers, business and industry representatives and state-level personnel coming together to increase their knowledge and skills in using assessment results to inform instruction and improve programs, and to learn more about data-driven decision-making.
“As we make the transition to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), this is our opportunity to strengthen and broaden our collaborations with many partners and improve services to those ‘most in need and hardest to serve,’” said CASAS President, Patricia Rickard. “Together we will build shared accountability systems and provide integrated education and training focused on key career pathways that address priority industry sectors. This will necessitate the ability to efficiently share common assessment results, common measures, and track post-secondary training and employment information.”
Andy Hall participated in “WIOA: A Panel Discussion on Implementation,” joining a panel of state and local leaders from around the country in a discussion about the implementation of WIOA. Leaders from adult education, labor and employment discussed the opportunities for success and the challenges of implementation.
SDWP’s research team was also a part of the institute in a session titled, “Learn Priority Sectors and How to Partner with the San Diego Workforce Partnership.” Tina Ngo Bartel, Director of Business Programs and Research, presented SDWP’s business programs and how those programs help connect employers to workers. To be successful, educators and organizations seeking to train job seekers to meet the needs of employers need to make sure that those programs are supported by employers. Bartel presented case studies and success stories highlighting how this can be accomplished. To close the session, SDWP Research Analyst, Coral Lin, gave an overview of San Diego’s Priority Sectors and directed the audience to where they can download SDWP reports as well as the Priority Sector and essential skills posters, which were a huge hit among the crowd. Participants walked away from this session with a greater understanding of San Diego’s priority sectors and how to collaborate with SDWP.