Testing Methods for Austin Workforce Program Evaluation, PRP 213

A set of graduate students from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs (LBJ School) and at The University of Texas at Austin wrote this report to the City of Austin to develop and tests methods used to evaluate three local City of Austin workforce training programs: Capital IDEA, Goodwill Central Texas, and Skillpoint Alliance. This evaluation is based on interviews with employers and job-training graduates, along with an assessment of trainee wage data. This report describes background research and findings from interviews with employers and program graduates. It describes workforce training employment outcomes and programs and estimates return on investment (ROI) and social return on investment (SROI). Based on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, the report recommends potential methods that could be utilized by the City of Austin to improve future evaluations of workforce training costs and outcomes.