State leaders are under pressure to show clearer pathways from education to employment while reducing duplicative planning and reporting across agencies. Combining Perkins and WIOA state plans—supported by recent federal guidance and technical assistance—offers a practical way to align Career and Technical Education (CTE), adult education, workforce programs, and employer demand into one coherent strategy.
Why combined planning is gaining momentum
Perkins V and WIOA already share many goals: career pathways, equity, employer engagement, and measurable outcomes. Yet states often manage them through separate planning cycles, different stakeholder convenings, and parallel accountability narratives—creating avoidable complexity for local providers and partners.
A combined approach helps states:
- Coordinate investments across secondary, postsecondary, and workforce systems
- Reduce duplication in stakeholder engagement and plan updates
- Improve alignment between program design and performance accountability
- Make it easier for local implementers to understand “what success looks like” across programs
Combined planning is less about merging funding streams and more about aligning strategy, governance, and measurable outcomes so pathways operate as a system—not a set of disconnected projects.
What “combining plans” actually means (and what it doesn’t)
States typically pursue one of three levels of integration. The right choice depends on governance, data maturity, and how tightly the state wants to couple education-to-employment pathways.
| Approach | What it looks like in practice | Strengths | Common pitfalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinated (separate plans, shared strategy) | Perkins and WIOA plans remain separate but reference a shared vision, shared sector priorities, and aligned implementation timelines | Lower lift; fewer statutory concerns | Can remain “paper alignment” without shared measures and delivery |
| Partially combined (joint sections + crosswalks) | Core strategy, pathways, and equity sections are co-authored; program-specific sections remain distinct | Better coherence; easier local translation | Cross-agency ownership can be unclear without governance |
| Fully combined planning (single pathway framework + shared measures) | One pathway architecture, one engagement process, shared performance narrative and dashboards | Highest alignment; best for continuous improvement | Requires strong data governance and operational coordination |
What combined planning does not require:
- Commingling funds in ways that violate program rules
- A single agency owning all delivery
- One-size-fits-all program models across regions
Example: A state can keep Perkins reserve grant decisions within the CTE agency while using a shared sector strategy and shared pathway definitions that also guide WIOA training investments.
The shared backbone: career pathways, sector strategies, and equity
Combined plans work when they anchor on a small number of system-level design choices that both Perkins and WIOA can operationalize.
1) A common definition of “career pathway”
A combined plan should standardize:
- Entry points (youth, adult learners, dislocated workers, justice-involved individuals)
- On-ramps (pre-apprenticeship, bridge programs, integrated education and training)
- Work-based learning options (including Registered Apprenticeship)
- Credentials and credit articulation (secondary-to-postsecondary and noncredit-to-credit)
- Employer validation and hiring signals
Example: A healthcare pathway can define a single progression from CNA to LPN to RN, while allowing regional variation in provider networks and clinical placement capacity.
2) A unified sector strategy that partners can execute
Sector strategies become actionable when the plan specifies:
- Priority sectors and occupations (often grounded in O*NET-informed demand signals)
- Employer roles (curriculum validation, placements, mentorship, hiring commitments)
- Intermediary responsibilities (convening, standard setting, quality assurance)
- Where work-based learning is the default—not an add-on
3) Equity goals tied to operational levers
Both Perkins and WIOA prioritize equitable access and outcomes, but combined plans are strongest when equity is measurable and tied to design decisions such as:
- Supportive services coordination
- Scheduling and modality (evening, hybrid, competency-based)
- Credit for prior learning and accelerated options
- Early-warning indicators for retention and completion
Governance: the make-or-break layer
A combined plan can be well written and still fail in execution if governance remains fragmented. States that succeed typically formalize a cross-agency operating model with clear decision rights.
Key governance elements to define:
- Joint ownership: who approves pathway definitions, priority sectors, and performance targets
- Local alignment: how local workforce boards and eligible training providers translate the plan
- Quality assurance: how the state validates program quality and work-based learning standards
- Change control: how updates are managed across the 2–4 year plan cycle
If stakeholders hear one strategy in meetings but see different requirements in grants, reporting, and monitoring, alignment erodes quickly.
Data and reporting: where combined plans often stall
Even when strategy is aligned, states can get stuck on measurement. Perkins and WIOA use different reporting structures, timelines, and data definitions—so combined planning must include a realistic measurement and interoperability plan.
A practical combined measurement approach includes:
- A shared set of pathway KPIs (enrollment, persistence, completion, placement, wage progression)
- Crosswalks between Perkins indicators and WIOA §116 performance measures
- A plan for participant-level data integrity (validation rules, required fields, audit trails)
- A reporting calendar that reduces duplicative requests to local providers
The interoperability reality: build for exports, not spreadsheets
Many agencies still rely on ad hoc spreadsheets and manual reconciliations to answer basic questions like “How many participants progressed from pre-apprenticeship into Registered Apprenticeship?” or “Which populations are underrepresented in high-wage pathways?”
Modern combined planning benefits from:
- PIRL-aligned data structures for WIOA performance reporting
- RAPIDS-compatible records for apprenticeship participation and outcomes
- Repeatable exports and APIs that reduce manual entry and rework
Example: A local provider should not have to retype participant demographics and outcomes into multiple systems to satisfy different program offices.
Where apprenticeship fits: the connective tissue for education-to-employment
Registered Apprenticeship can serve as a high-integrity pathway model inside a combined Perkins–WIOA plan because it naturally connects:
- Structured on-the-job training
- Related Technical Instruction (RTI)
- Employer demand and wage progression
- Completion outcomes that are straightforward to communicate to policymakers and the public
For states, apprenticeship alignment also brings compliance considerations—especially for sponsors and intermediaries working across education and workforce partners. While Perkins and WIOA are not governed by 29 CFR Parts 29/30, many combined-plan pathway strategies depend on Registered Apprenticeship expansion, which is governed by those regulations.
A combined plan should clarify:
- How pre-apprenticeship and youth pathways connect to Registered Apprenticeship
- Sponsor support models (technical assistance, standards development, reporting help)
- How apprenticeship outcomes will be incorporated into statewide performance narratives
An implementation checklist for combined Perkins–WIOA planning
Combined planning is most effective when it is treated as an operating system, not just a document. Use this checklist to move from alignment language to alignment execution.
Strategy and pathway design
- Define statewide pathway templates (entry, progression, credentials, work-based learning)
- Confirm priority sectors and occupations and the evidence used to select them
- Specify employer roles and commitments by pathway
- Identify where credit articulation and dual enrollment are integral to the pathway
Operational alignment
- Align grant guidance and monitoring to the same pathway definitions
- Create a shared technical assistance plan for local implementers
- Standardize program quality criteria (especially for work-based learning models)
- Establish a joint change-management cadence (quarterly reviews, annual refresh)
Measurement and reporting
- Publish a KPI crosswalk between Perkins and WIOA measures
- Define data validation rules and required elements for participant records
- Set a shared reporting calendar and reduce duplicative data calls
- Build dashboards that local partners can use—not just state analysts
How Turbine Workforce supports combined-plan execution
Combined Perkins–WIOA planning succeeds when states can translate strategy into repeatable workflows, clean data, and shared visibility. The Turbine Workforce Platform is designed to operationalize pathway delivery and reduce the friction that often undermines cross-system alignment.
Turning pathway strategy into day-to-day delivery with LearningOps and OJTOps
States and providers need a consistent way to build and deliver RTI and structured work-based learning across regions while preserving local customization.
- LearningOps supports structured curriculum and delivery workflows for pathway instruction.
- OJTOps supports on-the-job training structure and progress tracking that aligns with work-based learning expectations.
Example: A community college and an employer partner align RTI modules to a pathway template, while supervisors track workplace competencies consistently across sites.
Making compliance and audits less disruptive with ComplianceOps
Combined plans increase coordination, which often increases scrutiny—especially when programs braid services and participants move across partners.
- ComplianceOps helps standardize documentation and reduce audit churn through consistent records and exports.
- Supports compliance-ready workflows that reduce last-minute evidence gathering.
Building shared visibility with ReportingOps (without reinventing reporting every quarter)
Combined planning requires shared measurement. ReportingOps supports repeatable reporting and performance visibility across partners and pathways.
- PIRL-aligned exports and WIOA performance integration support consistent outcome reporting
- RAPIDS sync supports apprenticeship data integrity and reduces manual reconciliation
- Dashboards help leaders see pathway health across enrollment, retention, and completion
Interoperability works best when it is designed into the system—so combined planning can be measured continuously, not reconstructed at year-end.
Apprenticeship as a measurable pathway engine with Apprentage
When states use apprenticeship to anchor education-to-employment pathways, they need sponsor enablement, program build tools, and reporting alignment.
Apprentage supports:
- Faster program development using digital templates (reducing registration cycle time)
- Reduced administrative load through smart workflows and validation
- Automated, RAPIDS-compatible reporting and data integrity support
- Pre-apprenticeship pipeline visibility to strengthen pathway entry and equity goals
Example: A state scales a sector-based apprenticeship strategy by standardizing sponsor onboarding and reporting requirements while keeping regional partnerships flexible.
Closing: combined plans are a systems challenge—so treat them like one
Combining Perkins and WIOA state plans is ultimately about making pathways real: coherent for participants, actionable for providers, and measurable for policymakers. The states that get the most from combined planning pair strategy with governance, data integrity, and delivery workflows that local partners can sustain.
The Turbine Workforce Platform—including LearningOps, ComplianceOps, ReportingOps, OJTOps, and Apprentage—helps states and partners move from aligned plans to aligned execution, with the documentation and reporting foundations needed to keep pathways accountable over time.