President Barack Obama recently called upon U.S. employers and educational institutions to collaborate on developing a high-technology workforce, part of Obama’s plan for increasing the number of workers trained in science, technology, engineering, and math occupations. The STEM College and Career Readiness project, developed by the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, is part of a statewide effort to better prepare Illinois high school students for the rigors of college.

Education professor Lorenzo Baber, an affiliate of OCCRL and a co-author of a new brief about the project, spoke recently with education editor Sharita Forrest about the initiative. Read more...