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Adult and Workforce Education Policy Post-2020","","The essay argues that the post-pandemic pivot toward digital learning, alongside social discontent and economic instability, demands a rethinking of how adult and workforce education (AWE) policy is designed and implemented. It outlines the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA), summarizes research findings on AWE policy development, and highlights policy gaps. It critiques employment-driven framing, discusses measurable-outcome accountability risks, and examines provider constraints caused by regulation and limited funding.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/where-do-we-go-now-adult-and-workforce-education-policy-post-2020/588926/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/where-do-we-go-now-adult-and-workforce-education-policy-post-2020/588926.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Chumphorn","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What main change does the author call for in AWE policy after 2020?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The author calls for re-imagining how adult and workforce education policy is “done,” emphasizing a future that is socially conscientious, inclusive, and democratic while addressing workforce development reform needs and earnings inequality.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What are the core goals of WIOA as described in the essay?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"WIOA aims to integrate adult education, workforce, and social systems to improve interoperability and reduce duplicated services, streamline learning opportunities, and require wraparound supports and common measures for accountability and research.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What concerns does the essay raise about employment-driven and measurable-outcome policy framing?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It argues that focusing on measurable learning gains and employment may pressure providers to serve learners better able to meet targets, potentially disadvantaging marginalized adults, and may reduce flexibility for meeting local needs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},588926,1792164945,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46,"preview_page_count":4},2336475401981,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c94efd8d5204d?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786935347598174694","ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION Winter 2021  \n| [http://doi.org/10.35847/ERoumell.3.1.75](http://doi.org/10.35847/ERoumell.3.1.75) |  |\n| --- | --- |\n|  | Research Digest |\n\nWhere Do We Go Now? Adult and Workforce Education Policy Post-2020  \nElizabeth A. Roumell, Texas A&M University  \nIn this essay, I argue that our recent pivot toward digital learning, in addition to the social discontent and economic turbulence exacerbated by the pandemic, requires a re-imagining of how we “do” adult and workforce education (AWE) policy. First, I briefly describe the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA) policy. Next, I present findings from recent research on AWE policy development and identify substantial policy gaps. I emphasize a pressing need to return to the proverbial policy drawing board in AWE policy and invite our field to imagine a future for AWE that promotes a socially conscientious, inclusive, and democratic society and responds to the very real demand for workforce development reform, and the urgency of reducing earnings inequality.  \nCurrent Policy  \nRecent legislative efforts (WIOA) have worked toward integrating a wide variety of systems and to improve interoperability of adult educational, workforce, and social programming, and reduce the duplication of services. The primary aim was to economize and streamline educational opportunities for adults, and ultimately to help them maximize their earning potential (Brown & Holcomb, 2018; McDonnell & Soricone, 2018; Mortrude, 2018). In addition to  \nimproving cooperation and coordination between complimentary services, WIOA also further required providers to enhance wraparound services addressing various barriers many adults must overcome in order to participate in educational opportunities (Patterson, 2018; Prins & Clymer, 2018). Another legislative aim was to create common understandings and measures to improve comparability of learning outcomes and measures for the purpose of accountability and research (Alamprese, 2016).  \nEfforts spurred by the Career Pathways (U.S. Department of Labor, 2012, 2016) initiative intended to bring academic improvement together with workplace training by aligning adult education, community college, human services, and workforce development efforts (Mortrude, 2018). Career Pathways initiatives are interposed between WIOA, the Higher Education Act, and the Strengthening Career & Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) federal legislation. Career Pathways was primarily focused on the transition into postsecondary education and vocational, career, and technical training, and aimed to make educational trajectories clearer for adult learners and reduce the amount of time needed to obtain measurable learning gains, qualifications, and ultimately employment (Campbell et al., 2016; Uvin, 2018).  \nCorrespondence: [earoumell@tamu.edu](earoumell@tamu.edu) 75  \nFrom a learning outcomes and economic standpoint, the aims of both Career Pathways and WIOA are reasonable and the legislation presents an inexorable argument for tightening links between education and labor markets. However, over the decades, many have criticized the employment-driven AWE policy framing that primarily conceives of adult learning as a means to an economic end (Finnegan, 2016; Milana & McBain, 2015; Rose, 1999; Sandlin, 2005). Eysterand Nightingale (2017) explain that while little new funding at the federal level was authorized through WIOA, the aim of the legislation was to “shift the available funding through WIOA and the largest discretionary grant programs administered by the Department of Labor more toward developing training programs for in-demand jobs”(p. 5). Many reports suggest that training programs embedded within an employment context are, indeed, more effective (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014; Schochet et al., 2008), and that adults who receive specialized academic and career coaching and targeted support services tend to see better outcomes over","cbCaijSs8wqqHHOT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijSs8wqqHHOT","pdf",169115,"English","# Current Policy\n## Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA)\n## Career Pathways initiatives\n# Critiques and Policy Gaps\n## Employment-driven framing and equity concerns\n## Provider constraints and funding limitations","[{\"question\":\"What main change does the author call for in AWE policy after 2020?\",\"answer\":\"The author calls for re-imagining how adult and workforce education policy is “done,” emphasizing a future that is socially conscientious, inclusive, and democratic while addressing workforce development reform needs and earnings inequality.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the core goals of WIOA as described in the essay?\",\"answer\":\"WIOA aims to integrate adult education, workforce, and social systems to improve interoperability and reduce duplicated services, streamline learning opportunities, and require wraparound supports and common measures for accountability and research.\"},{\"question\":\"What concerns does the essay raise about employment-driven and measurable-outcome policy framing?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that focusing on measurable learning gains and employment may pressure providers to serve learners better able to meet targets, potentially disadvantaging marginalized adults, and may reduce flexibility for meeting local needs.\"}]","Where Do We Go Now? Adult and Workforce Education Policy Post-2020 | PDF",1792066208]