Hi All, In all the talk recently about WIOA, I think this new primer on Understanding the Workforce Development System <http://www.urban.org/research/publication/understanding-local-workforce-systems> from the Urban Institute provides a useful overview for those of us who have mostly worked in adult ed. Now that WIOA requires closer collaboration between all components of the workforce development system and especially WIOA's six core titles, it behooves all of us to understand the bigger picture of what is considered a workforce development system. What becomes immediately clear is what a small - though not insignificant - piece adult ed is in that system, and I would guess the most marginalized and least funded. This is not a critical analysis of the WD system though it does name improving job quality and access as one of the 7 functions of a local workforce system. (It doesn't claim that all WD systems do a good job about promoting good jobs.) For an excellent paper on workforce strategies supporting the mobility and stability of low-income workers, I highly recommend the Raise the Floor and Build Ladders <http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/economic-opportunities/restore-promise-of-work> paper by the Aspen Institute and its companion paper Restore the Promise of Work. Silja . Silja kallenbach [image: Red Squares]Vice President [image: Red Squares] 617.482.9485 www.worlded.org [image: JSILogo] <http://www.facebook.com/worlded> [image: JSILogo] <http://www.twitter.com/worlded>