Building a Workforce Development System for Texas: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Reform

This research project focuses on workforce development reform in Texas. It was conducted during the 1996-97 academic year with funding from the Texas Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness, the independent, strategic-planning, oversight, and evaluation body guiding the development of the state's workforce system. The project had two main objectives. The first was to identify the key challenges and issues of building a workforce development system in Texas. The second was to examine how other states have addressed these and similar issues that have surfaced as a result of their reform efforts. The findings were used to fashion recommendations that will facilitate further implementation of the system in Texas.