Michigan

Michigan is making bold policy changes to help workers reach better jobs quickly and efficiently by learning new skills. Workers need good paying jobs and companies need skilled workers, so the state is taking action to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to gain credentials sought by employers. Michigan is committed to ensuring the promise of its groundbreaking No Worker Left Behind initiative, which has laid the groundwork for the state’s recovery by helping workers gain new skills for better jobs. While the statewide demand for training and education is unprecedented, an additional 1.7 million adults in need of basic skills remain at risk of being left behind. These workers require help improving their skills quickly in order to take advantage of crucial education and training opportunities.

Through Michigan’s participation in Shifting Gears, the state is changing its policies and practices to advance its No Worker Left Behind: Everybody In! effort. These new policies and practices will:

• Help communities work better together by delivering lifelong learning through regional partnerships between three core partners - adult, postsecondary and workforce education systems. State policy changes are underway to secure commitments from the three core partners to align investments in basic skills and postsecondary transitions within regional partnerships. The state is also setting standards and developing a toolkit to support operations of the regional partnerships, including strategic planning tools.  
• Educate workers more effectively with regional partnerships providing education that is flexible, expeditious, and relevant to the workplace. State policy changes are underway to prioritize and provide standards for expanding the use of contextualized curricula, modularized programs, integrated basic skills and occupational training programs, and navigation services offered by the regional partnerships.  The state is also providing common tools for use among regional partners, including a standardized intake and planning tool, assessment crosswalks, and definitions of frequently used terms.
• The regional partnership strategy also will be connected to Michigan’s sector strategy (Michigan Skills Alliances).

• Identifying performance baselines from which system goals can be articulated;
• Conducting analysis of worker outcomes to inform policy changes and to support advocacy for changes; and
• Building the state’s infrastructure for data collection and analysis, in part through the inclusion of adult learner data in the state’s P-20 data warehouse.

For more information, see Michigan's Policy Agenda and Action Plan.

State Profiles

Student Testimonial – Marcus Harvey, Monroe County Learning Bank
Student Testimonial – Stacie Allen, Monroe County Learning Bank
Program Director Testimonial  – Vuncia Council, Monroe County Learning Bank
Instructor Testimonial – Sounya Walker, Mott Community College

State Resources

Building Bridges for Career Pathways in Michigan: A Professional Development Toolkit (2011)
The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth has released a new toolkit for adult education providers that will help local providers and regional partnerships plan, develop, and sustain bridge programs for their students. This comprehensive, multi-part toolkit includes step-by-step information on topics such as conducting a gap analysis, funding and providing support services, and tracking student and program performance.

Michigan's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs (October 2009)
Through a partnership with the national Skills2Compete campaign, The National Skills Coalition developed this report that projects the number of middle skill jobs – those requiring less than a four-year degree, but more than a high school diploma – available in the next decade. The report makes the case that every working Michigander should have access to the equivalent of at least two years of education or training past high school so the state can improve economic competitiveness and fill these available middle-skill jobs. 

Transforming Michigan’s Adult Learning Infrastructure: A Report to the Council for Labor and Economic Growth (March 2008)
In 2008, an Adult Learning Work Group made up of leaders from adult education, postsecondary education, and workforce development provided recommendations for transforming Michigan’s approach to basic skills development to better meet the needs of adult learners, employers, and the state in an ever-changing economy. This report outlines the recommendations and a new vision for lifelong learning in Michigan that calls for regional partnerships as an effective model for educating adult learners. This report is the foundation for Michigan’s No Worker Left Behind: Everybody In! effort.