Education and Training

In today’s economy, education and training are critical to the success of workers, job seekers, and employers. The Heldrich Center’s work in this area runs the gamut from designing and managing educational initiatives, to researching an array of subjects related to education and training, and to developing data-informed solutions to influence local, state, and national educational policy.

The Heldrich Center is currently working with the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools to analyze students who complete career programs at county vocational-technical school districts, their educational outcomes in terms of enrollment and completion of postsecondary education, and their employment and earnings outcomes, including their quarterly wages. To date, the Heldrich Center has completed building the analysis data, including data linkages. The preliminary results of the overall data environment and its implications for the analysis were presented in a data quality memorandum to the Council.

Center researchers are assisting Middlesex County in New Jersey in measuring and assessing the performance of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Workforce Partnership Initiative, a collaboration between RWJBarnabas Health, Middlesex College, and Middlesex County Magnet Schools. The initiative aims to create educational pathways for students and build the capacity of the county’s healthcare workforce. The Heldrich Center provides strategic research consultation and subject-matter expertise to help the partnership develop and implement innovative workforce development initiatives, including conducting foundational sector research and assessing the overall landscape of workforce development efforts in the county. To date, the Center has conducted a detailed labor market analysis of the healthcare workforce, including examining employment trends, projections, and the balance of worker supply and demand for occupations. Additionally, the Center conducted a comprehensive review of the county’s workforce development plan and current strategies to ensure they align with the county’s healthcare economic investment and job creation goals. Lastly, the Center collaborated with the partnership to identify credential requirements for priority occupations, conduct surveys, interview stakeholders, and determine success metrics.

New Jersey is one of many states in the nation confronting concerns about having enough qualified teachers to adequately staff its public schools and meet the learning needs of all students. New Jersey has established an annual data collection and reporting initiative to examine the state’s teacher workforce. Following an initial landscape study of the state’s teacher workforce in September 2023, the Heldrich Center is now conducting an annual analysis of the teacher workforce in New Jersey to understand teacher retention by various demographic subgroups and to examine the pipeline of teachers who could potentially fill vacant positions in schools. The first report in this series was released in March 2024.

From 2012 to 2022, the Heldrich Center provided training and technical assistance to teachers, school counselors, and administrators on the New Jersey Career Assistance Navigator (NJ CAN) website. NJ CAN is a free comprehensive college and career readiness resource that allows students to take personal assessments and career and interest inventories to better understand themselves and navigate their educational experiences in middle school, high school, and postsecondary education. The Heldrich Center worked with schools to improve the site, assist counselors and teachers in implementing NJ CAN into their day-to-day activities to ease administrative tasks, and help personalize students’ educational planning and decision-making.

Need our expertise in addressing issues related to education and training?

Contact us at hcwd@ejb.rutgers.edu.