Full Description
Education, long the key to opportunity in the United States, has become simply essential to earning a decent living. By 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education or training. Teachers and civic leaders stress the value of study through high school and beyond, but to an alarmingly large segment of America's population-including a disproportionate number of ethnic and racial minorities-higher education seems neither obtainable nor relevant. Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in Metropolitan America, edited by Laura W. Perna, offers useful insights into how to bridge these gaps and provide urban workers with the educational qualifications and skills they need for real-world jobs.
Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in Metropolitan America probes more deeply than recent reports on the misalignment between workers' training and employers' requirements. Written by researchers in education and urban policy, this volume takes a comprehensive approach. It informs our understanding of the measurement and definition of the learning required by employers. It examines the roles that different educational sectors and providers play in workforce readiness. It analyzes the institutional practices and public policies that promote the educational preparation of today's students for tomorrow's jobs. The volume also sheds light on several recurring questions, such as what is the "right" amount of education, and what should be the relative emphasis on "general" versus "specific" or "occupational" education and training?
Ensuring that today's students have the education and training to meet future career demands is critical to the economic and social well-being of individuals, cities, and the nation as a whole. With recommendations for institutional leaders and public policymakers, as well as future research, this volume takes important steps toward realizing this goal.
Contents
Introduction
-Laura W. Perna
I. DEFINING SUCCESS IN PREPARING INDIVIDUALS FOR WORK
Chapter 1. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: A Public Policy Agenda for Today's Students and Tomorrow's Jobs
-Alan Ruby
Chapter 2. Assessing and Measuring Workforce Readiness: Toward the Development of a Universal and Valid Measure
-Katherine M. Barghaus, Eric T. Bradlow, Jennifer McMaken, and Samuel H.
Rikoon
Chapter 3. Work-Based Learning: Initiatives and Impact
-Bridget N. O'Connor
II. THE ROLE OF DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL PROVIDERS IN PREPARING STUDENTS FOR
WORK
Chapter 4. Improving Career and Technical Education in the United States
-Nancy Hoffman
Chapter 5. Postsecondary Education and Economic Opportunity
-Anthony P. Carnevale, Nicole Smith, and Jeff Strohl
Chapter 6. Community College Occupational Degrees: Are They Worth It?
-Thomas Bailey and Clive R. Belfield
Chapter 7. The Conundrum of Profit-Making Institutions in Higher Education
-William G. Tierney
III. IMPLICATIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL PRACTICE AND PUBLIC POLICY
Chapter 8. Strengthening the Education and Workforce Connection: What Types of Research Are Required to Determine How Well Career Pathways Programs Prepare Students for College and Careers?
-Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, Michael Armijo, and Lisa Merrill
Chapter 9. Conceiving Regional Pathways to Prosperity Systems
-Ronald F. Ferguson
Chapter 10. Aligning Secondary and Postsecondary Credentialization with Economic Development Strategy, or If Low Educational Attainment = Poor Metropolitan Competitiveness, What Can Be Done About It?
-Laura Wolf-Powers and Stuart Andreason
Chapter 11. Creating Effective Education and Workforce Policies for Metropolitan Labor Markets in the United States
-Harry J. Holzer
Conclusion
-Laura W. Perna
Notes
List of References
List of Contributors
Index
Acknowledgments
