Using Perkins to Strengthen Teaching for Workforce Outcomes

Perkins funding plays a central role in career and technical education (CTE). Too often, however, it is discussed in terms of compliance, planning, and allowable uses. But for colleges that are serious about workforce outcomes, it should be seen as something more important: a strategic lever.

Under Perkins V, formally the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century Act, there is a clear expectation that CTE programs do more than enroll students. They are expected to help learners gain relevant skills, complete their programs, and move into employment or further study.

Meeting those expectations depends on more than policy. Workforce outcomes are shaped by what students experience in their programs. They are more likely to succeed when teaching helps them understand, apply, and retain what they are learning in ways that prepare them for the workplace.

For that reason, Perkins funding should not be used only to support equipment, compliance activity, or isolated initiatives. Colleges should be asking a more strategic question: how can Perkins funds be used to strengthen the quality and consistency of teaching across workforce and CTE programs?

That is where the real long-term impact lies.

Across community and technical colleges, workforce leaders are under growing pressure to improve completion, strengthen employer confidence, and demonstrate that programs are delivering real value for students and local economies.

That pressure is playing out in the classroom. It is directly connected to the quality of teaching and learning.

Students do not complete because a policy says they should. They complete when teaching is clear, expectations are structured, support is timely, and learning feels achievable. They build confidence when instructors know how to break down complex material, check understanding, guide practice, and connect learning to real workplace applications.

In workforce education, these things matter even more. Many students are balancing jobs, family responsibilities, transportation challenges, and financial pressure. At the same time, programs are fast-paced, intensive, and closely tied to technical skill development. There is little room for confusion, disengagement, or weak instruction.

If colleges want stronger workforce outcomes, they must pay close attention to the quality of the learning experience students are having every day.

That means paying close attention to teaching.

This is also especially important because many workforce and CTE faculty come from industry. Their subject expertise is essential. But subject expertise alone does not automatically translate into strong teaching. Teaching is a professional skill in its own right. It must be developed, supported, and strengthened if colleges want consistent student success across programs, campuses, and delivery modes. 

Perkins is one part of a wider effort across the US to strengthen workforce outcomes and ensure that education is more closely aligned with employment. Within that wider context, it provides colleges with an important opportunity not just to maintain programs, but to improve them.

Used well, Perkins funds can support stronger teaching, more consistent instructional practice, and better support for faculty. That is why investment in professional development should be part of the Perkins conversation.

However, in many colleges, professional development is not designed in a way that supports effective teaching. Too often, it is occasional, generic, or disconnected from the real demands of teaching. As a result, it does not consistently change day-to-day practice in the classroom.

In workforce and CTE settings, this is made more complex by the context in which teaching takes place. Many faculty are industry professionals, adjunct instructors, or part-time staff who may have limited access to sustained or relevant support. Teaching often takes place in labs, workshops, technical classrooms, and hybrid environments, where learning is closely tied to the application of skills.

Too often, professional development does not reflect these realities. It may not meet the needs of adjunct instructors, part-time faculty, or subject matter experts who are new to teaching, and it can be difficult to scale in a way that actually changes day-to-day practice across programs.

In this context, traditional approaches to professional development are not enough.

If colleges want to improve completion, consistency, and workforce readiness, faculty need practical support they can use in the flow of teaching.

They need development that is relevant, usable, and easy to apply.

They need help turning workforce expertise into teaching expertise.

When teaching improves, workforce impact improves with it. Students are more likely to stay engaged, understand what is being taught, complete their programs, and leave with stronger skills and greater confidence. Employers are more likely to see the difference.

This is the connection colleges cannot afford to miss. Workforce outcomes do not begin at the point of job placement. They begin much earlier, in the design and delivery of learning itself.

If Perkins funds are used to strengthen teaching quality across workforce and CTE programs, colleges are not just funding professional development. They are investing in the core mechanism that drives student progress and workforce success. That is a far more strategic use of funding.

This is where approaches like TeachingHOW2s become important. If workforce outcomes depend on teaching quality, then colleges need a way to strengthen instructional practice consistently and at scale.

TeachingHOW2s gives colleges a scalable way to strengthen instructional practice by turning evidence-based techniques into clear, step-by-step visual guides that faculty can apply immediately.

This helps colleges move beyond one-off professional development and towards consistent teaching practice across programs, campuses, and instructors. This is particularly valuable for instructors moving into education from industry, who need practical, easy-to-use support they can apply immediately.

The platform helps colleges build a shared language of practice, support instructional consistency, and make professional learning part of everyday work. Its AI Assistant also enables faculty to adapt proven techniques to their own subjects, settings, and learner groups, making development more relevant and usable.

For colleges thinking carefully about how to use Perkins funds, that matters. The goal is not simply to spend the funding. The goal is to improve workforce impact. And if workforce impact is the goal, teaching has to be part of the strategy.

Perkins funding gives colleges an important opportunity to strengthen the quality, relevance, and impact of workforce education. The institutions that use it most strategically will be those that look beyond short-term activity and invest in the foundations of long-term success.

Strong programs need strong teaching. Strong teaching supports stronger completion. Stronger completion supports stronger workforce outcomes.

That is why colleges should use Perkins funds not only to support workforce programs, but to strengthen the teaching that makes those programs work.

Don’t miss the opportunity to include HOW2 in your Perkins application. Book a demo to learn more.