Community of Practice Overview and Process
In today’s rapidly evolving job market, technical skills get you in the door, but it’s the durable skills—like communication, adaptability, and teamwork—that keep you there. Yet, too often, these essential skills are overlooked in education. What if we could change that?
America Succeeds set out to do just that. This fall, we engaged a cohort of 11 community colleges in a Community of Practice (CoP) to explore how these institutions are integrating durable skills into their Continuing Education (CE) programs. The goal of the CoP was to identify the products, tools, and services needed to support these programs and enhance students’ development of durable skills.
Each college selected 3-5 continuing education and workforce development staff members, along with 3-5 industry partners, to participate in the CoP. This diverse group allowed us to gather insights from leaders, administrators, CE faculty, and regional employers. Throughout the CoP, we administered surveys before each of the three meetings, using survey data to shape the discussion topics for each session. In each meeting, we shared survey results and provided a brief introductory presentation before dividing participants into five breakout groups, organized by participant role types.
During the first survey and meeting, we asked broad questions to gauge participants’ perceptions of how effectively their colleges were integrating durable skills into CE programming, along with their strengths, challenges, and strategies. The second survey and meeting delved deeper into these areas, focusing on the strategic changes, products, tools, and services colleges could leverage to better support CE students in developing critical durable skills. In the third meeting, attended exclusively by the colleges’ industry partners, we discussed how well-prepared students from these programs are for the workforce and the ways these industry partners collaborate with the colleges to enhance the talent pipeline in their region.
What We Discovered: Four Pillars of Progress
Through the CoP meetings and surveys, four key themes emerged as universal challenges and opportunities for improvement across participating colleges. Each theme presents actionable insights that could enhance durable skills integration within CE programs.
1. Content and Customizable Teaching Modules
There was a clear demand among participants for durable skills-aligned content and customizable teaching modules. Faculty identified pre-packaged materials, including industry-specific activities, assignments, and micro-lessons, as essential. Participants also noted that self-reflection exercises help students connect these skills to real-world applications. Consistency in integrating durable skills across academic experiences emerged as a priority, along with a toolkit containing durable skills prompts, assignments, and rubrics that can be easily integrated into learning management systems.
2. Professional Development (PD)
Effective faculty training is a significant challenge and opportunity for integrating durable skills. CE instructors, especially adjuncts, face time and compensation barriers to participating in PD. Three main formats for effective PD were recommended: short and focused videos, collaborative sessions with industry experts to align classroom instruction with workplace expectations, and interactive sessions for sharing best practices. These formats address time constraints, engage faculty, and enhance the relevance of in-course durable skills development to industry needs.
3. Assessment, Credentialing, and Signaling
Participants emphasized the need for tools to assess and signal durable skills proficiency, such as pre- and post-course surveys, reflection exercises, and real-world scenario simulations. Scenario-based learning tools, like those used at Henry Ford College, were highlighted as effective in providing students with industry-relevant experiences. There was also strong interest in digital badging and micro-credentialing, though participants noted challenges in gaining employer recognition for these credentials. Developing a standardized method for signaling durable skills through recognized credentials remains a priority.
4. Collaboration with Industry Partners
Enhanced collaboration between colleges and industry partners is critical for developing durable skills in students. Survey responses indicated a strong need for greater integration of work-based learning and internships. Suggested solutions included industry-specific skill-modeling videos to demonstrate skills in real-world contexts and a feedback platform to track student skill development and align curricula with industry standards. Such tools would streamline collaboration, support curriculum adjustments, and improve student preparation for the workforce.
Engaging Higher Education to Enhance Durable Skills Education
At America Succeeds, we believe that engaging higher education institutions in our Durable Skills Initiative is essential to strengthening the talent pipeline and preparing students for a rapidly changing workforce. Our recent Community of Practice demonstrated that community colleges play a pivotal role in developing durable skills – such as critical thinking, communication, and leadership – that employers increasingly seek. By fostering deeper connections between colleges and industry, equipping educators with practical tools, and developing durable skills demonstration tools, we can better align educational outcomes with workforce demands. We hope that our work with higher education institutions will enable colleges to adapt curriculum to real-world needs, ensuring that students not only gain technical knowledge but also master the durable skills necessary for long-term success.
America Succeeds remains committed to advancing these initiatives, empowering students, and working with education and industry partners to close the skills gap and enhance economic opportunities for all.
