CEO Library

The brief summarizes lessons learned from using machine learning to study the implementation of career pathways programs. First, this brief describes the research questions that guided the study and summarizes the machine learning methods designed for the data collection and analysis activities, including study limitations and challenges encountered. It then provides lessons learned on using machine learning methods for social science research.

The datasets compiled for the Career Trajectories and Occupational Transitions (CTOT) Study can be used to inform career pathways and other employment and training programs by (1) identifying launchpad occupations associated with higher than average wage growth, (2) identifying occupational and worker characteristics associated with wage growth, and (3) identifying specific occupational steps associated with wage growth.

The report of the Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project focuses on “mid-level” occupations—occupations that typically require education or experience beyond a high school diploma or equivalent, but less than a four-year college degree. The report presents study findings on the magnitude of the differences between occupations in the career outcomes that entrants go on to experience within 10 years after entering, which occupations are associated with high wage growth, and what traits of occupations predict higher wage growth.

The brief summarizes findings of the Career Pathways Descriptive and Analytical Project’s meta-analysis study, which analyzes research on the impacts of 46 career pathways programs, based on evaluation findings published between 2008 and 2021. The brief first describes the programs and participants in the evaluations included in the meta-analysis. It then discusses the study’s overall impact findings and the findings about which program characteristics were associated with impacts, as well as the implications of each for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.

The report summarizes 46 impact evaluations that focus on programs that embed elements of the career pathways approach. In the past decade, the career pathways approach to workforce development emerged as a promising strategy to promote long-term earnings advancement and self-sufficiency by helping workers attain in-demand postsecondary credentials (Fein, 2012). The approach involves a combination of rigorous and high-quality education, training, and other services to support participant success (WIOA, 2014).

In 2019, the Chief Evaluation Office’s Evaluation Technical Support contract, implemented by Manhattan Strategy Group, partnered with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research to conduct a two-part paper series on trends in contingent work and alternative work arrangements in the United States under the Evaluation Technical Support portfolio of studies. The analysis describes the characteristics of workers in these arrangements, and the implications of these arrangements for worker outcomes.

The Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) to the Current Population Survey (CPS), fielded six times between 1995 and 2017, was designed to measure jobs that were temporary in nature as well as work arrangements thought to be associated with less commitment between workers and employers. The latter includes independent contractor and platform work, temporary help and other intermediated contract work arrangements, and on-call work, which captures a certain type of unpredictable work schedule.

View Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program Evaluation Addendum to this plan published in March 2024.

On October 1, 2012, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) introduced two new requirements for all cases within the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program (FECP). The first requirement is that within 28 days of the start of a worker’s participation in FECP disability management, OWCP must assign a field nurse to the case. The second requirement is that, for workers determined to be “totally disabled,” a second opinion evaluation is necessary if the case remains unresolved after 12 months.

The Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS) to the Current Population Survey— administered six times between 1995 and 2017—is uniquely valuable in providing detailed information on a consistent set of work arrangements in a large, nationally representative survey. Drawing on data from all six CWS waves, researchers provide an in-depth picture of the nature of contingent and alternative work and whether and how employment arrangements are changing in the United States.

The purpose of this project is to provide evaluation technical support to CEO in leveraging data and expertise to assemble knowledge and answer questions of interest to DOL.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been unprecedented changes in employment for America’s workforce. Many businesses ceased or scaled back operations and many state governments issued stay-at-home orders. Using key labor force statistics from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) researchers with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) sought to provide insight into the recent changes.

The researchers who produced this paper evaluate health outcomes for workers subject to incentivized compensation in an effort to better understand the effects and implications of modern day performance and piece rate pay in the growing gig economy sector. This paper is the first to explore the effects of pay type on worker health outcomes in a large and representative longitudinal and cross-sector panel of the U.S. workforce.

The report presents the results of an empirical study of ten years of employee misclassification summary judgment decisions by U.S. district courts, in which judges were asked to determine whether a worker was an employee or an independent contractor. Using text mining, machine learning classifiers, and regression analysis, the research reveals among 747 opinions that the judge ruled that the plaintiff was an independent contractor in thirty-eight percent of cases, and that the plaintiffs’ occupation was a strong predictor of outcomes.

The literature review updates and expands the findings of the Career Pathways Design Study that included the Career Pathways Research and Evaluation Synthesis, an analysis of career pathways research as of February 2017, that found a substantial amount of research and evaluation studies would be published in the near future. The findings from the updated scan will inform the project’s planned meta-analysis, which will examine the extent to which different career pathways program components drive impacts found in this body of evidence.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been unprecedented changes in employment for America’s workforce. Many businesses ceased or scaled back operations and many state governments issued stay-at-home orders. Using key labor force statistics from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), researchers with the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) sought to provide insight into the recent changes.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) developed a Technical Assistance (TA) Center Program comprising five TA Centers which seek to promote successful employment policy and practices for people with disabilities. Each center had a unique focus, including assisting customers with workforce accommodations, systems-level changes, and accessible technology, as well as finding ways to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The brief presents findings on how customers of the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) and the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) used the Centers.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been unprecedented changes in employment for America’s workforce. Many businesses ceased or scaled back operations and many state governments issued stay-at-home orders. Using key labor force statistics from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) researchers with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) sought to provide insight into the recent changes.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has a mission to develop and influence policies and practices to increase the number and quality of employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The brief presents findings on customer perceptions of services received from two Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) Technical Assistance (TA) Centers: the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) and the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN).

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Mathematica Policy Research to conduct the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Research Portfolio Project.

Focusing on ten states in the Midwest and Appalachia, the researcher analyzes the effects of right-to-work (RTW) law on labor unions. There are two main chapters to this report. The first examines whether RTW law affects the frequency and type of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) representation petitions filed and petition outcomes.

In 2020, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Urban Institute and its partner the Capital Research Corporation to conduct the Implementation Evaluation of the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grants (YARG) under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.

In 2020, Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) and the Office of Policy Development and Research (OPDR) within the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractors Urban Institute and Mathematica to conduct the State Apprenticeship Capacity Assessment under the Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio of studies.