ACP: Building Strategic Partnerships: Engaging Employers (3 hours):  This course is the first in the series of three self-directed courses focusing on adult career pathways and is intended for multiple audiences:

  1. State adult education directors,

  2. State program managers,

  3. State professional development staff,

  4. Local and regional program administrators,

  5. Career and technical education state directors; and

  6. Adult education and English language acquisition instructors with an active interest in developing stakeholder and employer relationships for instructional enhancements and workforce preparation skill building or project- or work-based learning will also benefit from reviewing the content.

While this course may be taken alone, the user may benefit from taking all three ACP courses.


Integrated Education and Training (IET) programs are designed to help adults improve their basic skills while learning occupational and workplace skills to prepare them for in-demand careers. The IET Fundamentals online course introduces the foundational concepts, requirements, and core elements of IET design and implementation.

This course has been designed to help adult education providers design new pre-apprenticeships or refine existing programs. It is also intended to support providers who are implementing other similar integrated education and training programs. The content includes examples and resources that are relevant to a range of adult education providers and a variety of industries.

The IET Toolkit guides you through a team-based approach to developing customized IET solutions that address the needs of adult learners and local businesses. The approach is broken out into four iterative phases: Research and Assess, Design and Plan, Develop and Implement, and Evaluate and Improve. You may choose to review the phases sequentially or navigate to the phase most pertinent to your work. The IET Toolkit includes a self-assessment to help identify areas of the IET Toolkit that can help strengthen your efforts, as well as links to customizable, fillable tools you can use as you develop your IET solutions. The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) supported development of this Integrated Education and Training (IET) Toolkit to assist state and local adult education staff to plan, design, implement, and evaluate effective IET programs that are responsive to state and local labor market demands and fulfill the requirements of WIOA. This is the Summer 2022 release of the Toolkit and replaces the initial release first shared in October 2021.

This course is designed for adult educators, administrators, teachers, and advisors who seek an introduction to the concept of workforce preparation and the specific skills outlined in the U.S. Department of Education's Employability Skills Framework. Participants should expect to learn what constitutes the workforce preparation activities referenced in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA); explain how to integrate workforce preparation activities into adult education programming and instruction; and locate resources to develop and incorporate workforce preparation activities into curriculum and instruction. This is the first in a two-part series exploring workforce preparation skills. The second course is Workforce Preparation Activities in the Classroom: Contextualizing Employability Skills for Deeper Learning.

This course is designed for adult educators, administrators, teachers, and advisors who would like more familiarity with how workforce preparation and employability skills can be incorporated into instructional activities. It is recommended that users also complete the Introduction to Workforce Preparation and Employability Skills course, which covers workforce preparation and the specific skills outlined in the U.S. Department of Education's Employability Skills Framework. After completing this course, participants will be able to:

  • describe the rationale behind contextualized instruction that simultaneously addresses college and career readiness instruction and general workforce preparation and employability skills, and demonstrate how this rationale is already incorporated into an existing curriculum;
  • explain best practices concerning workforce preparation activities as referenced in WIOA and illustrate how these practices are currently being used to teach employability skills to adult learners; and
  • locate resources to develop incorporate workforce preparation activities into curriculum and instruction.