JFF's bookshelf pulls together our favorite reads on apprenticeship and work-based learning from across the field. We'll continue to update our bookshelves as new favorites emerge, so be sure to check back for the latest!
Iowa High School Apprenticeships: Creating Pathways to Promising Careers
Urban Institute, June 2020
Many high schools across America run work-based learning programs to help students apply and expand knowledge gained in the classroom to real-world applications. Youth apprenticeship ensures that students earn income while they learn the skills for a rewarding career. Iowa’s statewide initiative to expand youth apprenticeships is notable for the quality and focus of work-based learning through Registered Apprenticeships, the engagement of high schools as sponsors of apprenticeship programs, and the potential for growth based on employer and student interest. The Urban Institute conducted a case study of Iowa’s initiative to explore the partnerships needed to create youth apprenticeship programs, as well as the impacts the programs have on businesses, students, schools, and communities. Iowa’s successes and challenges in building a youth apprenticeship system can serve as useful lessons for policymakers and practitioners working to create their own.
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CareerWise: Case Study of a Youth Apprenticeship Intermediary
Urban Institute, June 2020
As students search for experiential and career-oriented learning opportunities and employers seek to fill critical skills gaps in the workplace, more organizations in the US are turning to youth apprenticeship. Youth apprenticeship is an innovative work-based learning model supported by the work of intermediaries across the country. One such intermediary is CareerWise, a Colorado-based organization that supports businesses, students, and educators seeking to start programs employing young people as apprentices. The Urban Institute conducted a case study of CareerWise’s program to understand the impact of youth apprenticeship on employers and apprentices, and how CareerWise has worked to scale their model at the state level and beyond. CareerWise’s successes and challenges in developing their program can serve as useful lessons for advocates working to build youth apprenticeship across the country.
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Youth Apprenticeship Programs Adapt to Meet Crucial Needs in Pandemic
New America, June 2020
This blog explores programs across the U.S. that are helping young adults, employers, and communities adapt to rapid economic change.
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Why Should Employers Invest in Youth Apprenticeship?
New America, June 2020
This blog includes an infographic and video that explain the benefits employers receive by investing in youth apprenticeship.
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Making Youth Apprenticeships Equitable and Effective: Lessons From North Carolina
North Carolina Justice Center, June 2019
In order for youth apprenticeship to live up to its promise, programs need to overcome design barriers and ensure that students’ interactions with parents, families, social networks, high schools, employers, and community colleges help, rather than hinder, their progress through the pipeline.
This study seeks to identify the specific barriers that hold back participation and completion in youth apprenticeship, especially for students of color, and in turn, offer concrete recommendations and learnings to improve the equity and effectiveness of apprenticeship pipelines.
This study looks at a leading model—specifically, the cluster of county-level, locally led apprenticeship programs belonging to the Eastern Triad Workforce Initiative (ETWI) in central North Carolina—in an effort to identify the design and functional barriers that hold back progress and make recommendations to overcome the barriers.
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Youth Apprenticeships in Georgia: Experiences and Recommendations
The Urban Institute, April 2019
Around the world, apprenticeship training is primarily targeted at youth and young adults. In contrast, only a few states in the U.S. have successfully used apprenticeship to support youth employment and training. This report examines the experiences and successes of the state of Georgia’s youth apprenticeship program.
Georgia youth apprenticeships are operated by the state’s high schools in collaboration with local employers. Youth apprenticeship coordinators report that the greatest barrier to expanding youth apprenticeship is forming partnerships with employers. Employers involved with youth apprenticeship report high levels of satisfaction with the program, but often require clarification on the regulations governing employment of minors.
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