California Apprenticeship Initiative: Technical Assistance and Evaluation

In 2015, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office launched the California Apprenticeship Initiative (CAI) and invested tens of millions of dollars annually to support emerging apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs linked to the state’s robust community college system. SPR partnered with the Foundation for California Community Colleges to help launch and grow these new programs across the state.

Project Highlights

SPR conducted a

development evaluation of the first round of CAI grantees and authored a suite of briefs and case studies that illustrate the innovative apprenticeship programs launched with support from the CAI.

We facilitated

a robust community of practice made up of CAI grantees and the broader network of apprenticeship stakeholders in California. This work involved regular in-person and virtual convenings, including a series of learning labs where attendees uplifted successes, shared practices, and collaborated to solve specific challenges.

We also documented

what works in a playbook that illustrates the strategies, tactics, and methods that can help new apprenticeship stakeholders institutionalize apprenticeship as a quality educational pathway leading to great careers.

“
Learning is essential for scaling apprenticeship."

Dr. Robert Lerman Urban Institute

SPR served a dual and mutually reinforcing role as both a technical assistance (TA) provider and the evaluation partner during the first year of the program. The evaluation team uncovered data and system gaps that would inform program guidance, and the TA team surfaced challenges and promising practices.

Over the course of the multi-year initiative, SPR authored a report, a suite of evaluation briefs, and a catalog of additional resources and project outputs, including case study briefs, a playbook, public and cohort-based consortiums, virtual and in-person learning labs, and online network hubs and news feeds.

Related resource

Boosting California’s Recovery through Equitable Apprenticeship

06/15/2022

Related resource

Building New Apprenticeship Programs: The California Apprenticeship Initiative

This paper is part of a suite of products resulting from SPR's evaluation of the first year of the California…

04/04/2020

Related Resource

Grow Apprenticeship California

Grow Apprenticeship California (formerly the California Apprenticeship Initiative) maintains a public-facing website where visitors can access resources, research, maps, toolkits, newsletters, webinar recordings and other information to which SPR has regularly contributed.

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