Education as the cure-all for any adverse economic condition is everywhere. But this contention exaggerates the role of schools in the economy, and it conflates two issues: First, how can American firms increase productivity to improve their ability to compete? Education can help in the first area, although it is far from a silver bullet. As to…

Includes three articles: "More College Graduates May Be Chasing Fewer Jobs" (Shelley); "College Graduates: Do We Have Too Many or Too Few?" (Hecker); and "College Earnings and Why They Vary" (Hecker). (SK)

Individual personalities and tastes are incorporated into male and female earnings equations and their effects on discrimination are analyzed. Results indicate that the omission of tastes and personalities from previous studies may have led to an overestimation of the extent of discrimination against women without college schooling. (Author/SSH)

Elements of the West German apprenticeship system, in which most non-college-bound secondary school graduates enter a two-year-minimum, low-paying apprenticeship that may provide more training than is practically necessary, are discussed and some misconceptions are examined. (MSE)

This paper examines whether failure to control for family background, aptitude, high school quality, high school curriculum, and community characteristics leads to bias in estimates of the economic return resulting from postsecondary education. High school specific fixed effects were used to control for all observed and unobserved characteristics…

Wage rates and earnings give misleading signals to public and private policymakers as to the benefits of certain kinds of education and training investments. These misleading signals result from the fact that (1) workers and employers prefer employment contracts that either do not recognize or only partially recognize differences in productivity…

After more than three decades of development and two decades of evaluation, career academies have been found to be effective in improving the performance of students in high school, particularly for students at greatest risk. Career academies have become the most durable and best-tested component of a high school reform strategy that includes…

The benefits of offering high school students career and technical education (CTE) in addition to training in basic academic skills and the cost-effectiveness of CTE were examined by reviewing available data on demand, supply, and results for CTE. The analysis confirmed that the market and demand for workers with only a high school education still…

The Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims of the House Committee on the Judiciary met to hear testimony on the benefits to American workers, businesses, citizens, and legal residents of more educated immigrants in the national workforce. Statements were given by the following persons: (1) Lamar Smith, U.S. Congressman from Texas; (2) William…

Employment, earnings, and poverty among single mothers in New York City and across the United States in the age of welfare reform were examined to identify goals and recommendations for reauthorization of legislation regulating Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The study indicated that although job holding by single mothers has risen…

This book explains how high school teachers and counselors can modify their schools' existing programs to create viable options for noncollege-bound students and help them regain control over their lives. Chapters 1-7 discuss the following topics: (1) rescuing a generation adrift; (2) recognizing the forces behind the "one way to win" mentality;…