Investments in Education, Workforce Development, and the Community - Appalachia

The questions that guided the analysis of the API-funded programs included the following:

1. Alignment. To what extent were the API programs’ strategies and goals aligned with the API’s vision and strategy?
2. Beneficiaries. What was the geographic scope of API programs, and which beneficiaries did the programs reach?
3. Sustainability. How sustainable did API program administrators report their programs were?
4. Community catalyst. What steps had the API undertaken to catalyze a community of stakeholders to work toward similar goals?

The API strategic framework resulted in the following findings for K-12 STEM education programs:

1. All created awareness and assisted with a “cultural shift” or “mindset change” in how students view STEM education in schools and how teachers teach STEM subjects.
2. Museum-based learning in the literature has been shown to provide hands-on learning opportunities that may not be available in the classroom.
3. Developing new models for skills acquisition in K–12 STEM education is a particularly strong area of the API portfolio.
4. Stakeholders can better understand what could be effective if the API focuses on funding a diverse set of experimental K–12 educational models.
5. Teachers need to have additional STEM education knowledge and skills.
6. Industry apprenticeships and internships for U.S. high school students encourage students to pursue STEM majors in college and, if they persist, careers in STEM.

The API strategic framework resulted in the following findings for workforce development programs:

1.  API workforce development programs did not specifically aim to improve trainees’ awareness of STEM careers but did so indirectly through the education and training provided.
2. Each program had a specific aim to impart knowledge and skills to participants that aligned with the demands in the energy and manufacturing industry. However, depending on the course offered, this often occurred through hands-on, activity-based learning approaches or on-the-job training and apprenticeships or internships, which would complement traditional classroom lecture formats.
3. Only two of the five workforce development programs explicitly mention transitioning workers as a target population or goal to address the skills alignment focus of the API program.
4. For industry engagement, four of the five programs involved employers and industry leaders.
5. Three of the programs offered some kind of opportunity for trainees to access job placement efforts.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2017
• Author(s): S. Culbertson, G. C. Gonzalez, N. Nanda
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies