The Transition From School To Work

As anxieties about America's economic competitiveness mounted in the 1980s, so too did concerns that the nation's schools were not adequately preparing young people for the modern workplace. Spurred by widespread joblessness and job instability among young adults, the federal government launched ambitious educational reforms in the 1990s to promote career development activities for students. In recent years, however, the federal government has shifted its focus to test-based reforms like No Child Left Behind that emphasize purely academic subjects. At this critical juncture in education reform, Improving School-To-Work Transitions, edited by David Neumark, weighs the successes and failures of the '90s-era school-to-work initiatives, and assesses how high schools, colleges, and government can help youths make a smoother transition into stable, well-paying employment. Drawing on evidence from national longitudinal studies, surveys, interviews, and case studies, the contributors to Improving School-To-Work Transitions offer thought-provoking perspectives on a variety of aspects of the school-to-work problem. Deborah Reed, Christopher Jepsen, and Laura Hill emphasize the importance of focusing school-to-work programs on the diverse needs of different demographic groups, particularly immigrants, who represent a growing proportion of the youth population. David Neumark and Donna Rothstein investigate the impact of school-to-work programs on the "forgotten half," students at the greatest risk of not attending college. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth, they find that participation by these students in programs like job shadowing, mentoring, and summer internships raise employment and college attendance rates among men and earnings among women. In a study of nine high schools with National Academy Foundation career academies, Terry Orr and her fellow researchers find that career academy participants are more engaged in school and are more likely to attend a four-year college than their peers. Nan Maxwell studies the skills demanded in entry-level jobs and finds that many supposedly "low-skilled" jobs actually demand extensive skills in reading, writing, and math, as well as the "new basic skills" of communication and problem-solving. Maxwell recommends that school districts collaborate with researchers to identify which skills are most in demand in their local labor markets. At a time when test-based educational reforms are making career development programs increasingly vulnerable, it is worth examining the possibilities and challenges of integrating career-related learning into the school environment. Written for educators, policymakers, researchers, and anyone concerned about how schools are shaping the economic opportunities of young people, Improving School-To-Work Transitions provides an authoritative guide to a crucial issue in education reform.

Over the years, careers have transformed to be flexible and changing rather than stable, life-long commitments to an organization. As such, making work meaningful, controlling the work environment, and taking the opportunity to get required training for the next job are as important as the financial advantages. Educators’ careers cannot be isolated from the rest of the labor market, and these developments are expected to influence the career decisions of educators. Vocational Identity and Career Construction in Education uses career construction theory to investigate objective factors influencing career choices and paths of educators, including factors influencing vocational personality development, career counseling activities, transition from school to work, adaptation to different work environments, and meaning of work for educators. Featuring research on topics such as diagnosing career barriers, person-environment fit, and workforce adaptability, this book is designed for educational administrators, human resources theorists, students studying career-related subjects, and practitioners working in managerial positions in private and public educational organizations.

Sociology of Education in Canada utilizes a contemporary theoretical focus to analyze how education in Canada is affected by pre-existing and persistent inequalities among members of society. It presents the historical and cultural factors that have shaped our current education system, examines the larger social trends that have contributed to present problems, discusses the various interest groups involved, and analyzes the larger social discourses that influence any discussion of these issues. To achieve this, Karen Robson uses many current, topical, and relatable issues in Canadian education to ensure that readers fully comprehend the information being presented and leave with an appreciation of how the sociology of education is inextricably linked to issues of stratification.

This volume makes an important contribution to the growing literature on the transition from school to work. It provides a unique perspective on the global changes that have transformed school-to-work transitions since the 1970s; offers an integrative conceptual framework for analysis; and promotes a comparative, cross-national understanding of school-to-work transitions in a changing social context. The articles assembled in this volume compare and assess variations in school-to-work transitions across Europe and North America, providing empirical evidence on how young people negotiate the different options and opportunities available and assessing the costs and returns associated with different transition strategies. Unlike many other volumes on this subject - which are pitched at either the macro or micro level - this volume attempts to integrate both perspectives, capturing the complexity of this critical life course transition. Furthermore, the authors address policies aimed at improving the capacity of individuals to make effective transitions and at enabling societies to better coordinate educational and occupational institutions.

The Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the House Committee on Education and Labor (now the House Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities) asked the Office of Technology Assessment to examine the potential opportunities and possible pitfalls of work-based learning that would be supported by the School to Work Opportunities Act (STWOA). Three main questions are addressed: (1) What are the alternative models of work-based learning and how effective are they? (2) What new learning technologies could support work-based learning? and (3) How can employers be persuaded to provide work-based learning experiences for students? This report assesses the potential of work-based learning as a component of the school-to-work transition systems that are currently being developed in many states and local school districts. Chapter 1 reports the findings about work-based learning and the STWOA. Chapter 2 discusses the history of work-based learning in the United States as well as problems with school-to-work transitions and provides an overview of STWOA. Chapter 3 describes and analyzes the apparent advantages and disadvantages of five learning processes that can be used in work settings: experiential learning, work-group learning, mentoring, workplace instruction, and technology-assisted learning. Chapter 4 discusses various ways that work-based learning can be structured with respect to the following: the types of students who are served; the program objectives; the coordination with schooling; the timing, intensity, duration, and progression of work-based experiences; the settings of work-based learning; and the issue of payment for students. Chapter 5 describes various models of school-to-work transition programs with work-based learning and summarizes the evidence on their effectiveness. These models are youth apprenticeships, clinical training, cooperative education, school-to-apprenticeship programs, school-based enterprises, and career academies. Chapter 6 considers the factors that influence whether or not employers will participate in work-based learning programs. (YLB)

Uses a sample of 324 young adults in four Canadian urban centers who left high school in the mid-1980s, as well as interviews with their parents, former teachers, and employers, to identify factors that ease the transition from school to work. Looks at factors such as level of education, social class, gender, and motivation, with emphasis on the importance of cooperative education. Suggests closer relations between school and work, such as exist in the UK and Sweden, to facilitate transition into the labor market. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A study examined the school-to-work transition of a group of 16-year-olds from two mining communities in Nottinghamshire, England. During the study, the 174 school leavers were interviewed within 6 months prior to their leaving school. Nine months later, 103 of the original 174 youths were interviewed again. Finally, the youths were asked to complete a short questionnaire approximately 2.5 years after beginning their working lives. A total of 154 of the original respondents returned the questionnaire. Included among the topics covered during the various interviews were the following: the youths' attitudes toward school and their teachers, occupational choice, means of finding jobs and sources of help, aims and attainments, entry into work, work attitudes, attitudes toward their supervisors, career changes, and school-to-work transitions. Those adolescents who attended the school with academic streaming had significantly more positive attitudes toward school and their teachers and significantly more negative attitudes toward their jobs than did their counterparts from the school that does not have academic streaming. While the adolescent girls in the study appeared to like school more than did their male counterparts, they were less happy at work, less apt to be considering promotion, and lower paid. (MN)