Last month, Missouri held a workforce summit, and they have posted some interesting presentations on the web. See the list [1].
You can download the more valuable presentations here.
Strategic Workforce Development Planning: The St. Louis Workforce Information System [2] provides a model for a regional workforce information system. Getting good information is a major challenge for workforce development. Looks like St. Louis has some interesting insights we can use.
A Panel Discussion: Ex-Offender [3]. Re-integrating ex-offenders is a major challenge facing our region. Here is an interesting presentation from a representative of the Missouri Department of Corrections. She provides some helpful frameworks we might be able to use.
Workplace Readiness Credential: Cape Girardeau [4]. Kentucky is another state that is moving forward with workforce readiness credentials. This strategy is attractive to employers, because a high school diploma no longer conveys what skills young people actually have.
Career Paths and Career Clusters [5]. This presentation does a good job in demonstrating how to build an integrated creer pathway from elementary school.
Links:
[1] http://www.ded.mo.gov/workforceconference/conferencepresentations.shtml
[2] http://www.ded.mo.gov/workforceconference/pdfs/govconfoct03may04.pdf
[3] http://www.ded.mo.gov/workforceconference/pdfs/valueofcareerassessment.pdf
[4] http://www.ded.mo.gov/workforceconference/pdfs/workplacereadinessconferencefinal.pdf
[5] http://www.ded.mo.gov/workforceconference/pdfs/govonworkforcedevcareerclusterpres.pdf