Back in the saddle again after a brief foray into my other study on curricular decision-making in higher education (http://tpdm.wceruw.org/) and am now preparing a Policy Brief on preliminary analyses for this study.  The brief will be distributed via the WI Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (http://www.wiscape.wisc.edu/) where I've written a couple of pieces on teaching and learning issues.

This brief will describe the lay of the land regarding the skills gap debate on a national and state level, with an analysis of the pros and cons of existing datasets and educational policy that is being developed based on the skills gap idea.  I'll then present preliminary findings from a nice batch of surveys conducted with manufacturers around the state as well as some data from my interviews with HR directors and CEOs.

Ideally, the brief will re-frame the discussion surrounding the skills gap from one that has a single policy solution to a more nuanced view that takes into account the importance of both "hard" and "soft" skills and how the development of these skills is the province of both vocational and liberal arts/college prep education.