This study investigated whether sheltered workshops help prepare individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for competitive employment within the community. Two groups of individuals were compared: (a) 215 supported employees who were in sheltered workshops prior to entering supported employment and (b) 215 supported employees who were not in…

Great teachers have the ability to transform and enrich the lives and living standards of Americans. According to recent research, a student's kindergarten teacher has long-lasting influence on important lifetime outcomes, such as future earnings. These effects are so important that the difference between having an above-average kindergarten…

This paper analyzes the dynamics of rate of returns for postgraduate education and the determinants of wage premiums for postgraduate labor, especially for the impact of higher education expansions, in terms of quantity and quality, since the late 1990s in Taiwan. Utilizing quasi-panel data over the 1990-2004 period and employing the double fixed…

Hispanics' earnings remain below those of Whites, even after controlling for educational attainment. This article explores the effect of college major on estimated starting salaries of White and Hispanic bachelor's-degree recipients from Connecticut colleges and universities. Results indicate that while the earnings gap between Hispanic and White…

By using unique survey data, we conduct a detailed study of the gender salary gap within economics departments in Japan. Despite the presence of rigid pay scales emphasizing age and experience, there is a 7% gender salary gap after controlling for rank and detailed personal, job, institutional and human capital characteristics. This gender salary…

Physics is the study of matter and energy and the ways in which the two interact. Some physicists use their expertise in physics to focus on radiation. These specialists, called medical physicists and health physicists, work to help people or protect the environment. Medical physicists work with physicians, assisting patients who need imaging…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the primary federal legislation establishing national wage and hour standards. The purpose of the Act is to protect the working class from overwork and underpay by providing non-waivable rights to a minimum wage and a premium pay rate at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40…

Using data from the Current Population Survey and the New Immigrant Survey, this paper examines the common perception that immigrants are concentrated in high-risk jobs for which they receive little wage compensation. Compared to native U.S. workers, non-Mexican immigrants are not at higher risk and have substantial values of statistical life.…

Historically, the early childhood care and education (ECCE) workforce has been characterized as a low-education, low-compensation, low-stability workforce. In recent years, considerable investments have been made to correct this, but we lack evidence about the extent to which these investments were accompanied by changes in the characteristics of…

Background: With increasing budget cuts to education and social services, rigorous evaluation needs to document school nurses' impact on student health, academic outcomes, and district funding. Methods: Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, we evaluated outcomes in 4 schools with added full-time nurses and 5 matched schools with part-time nurses…

Using Spanish Social Security records, we document the channels through which mothers fall onto a lower earnings track, such as shifting into part- time work, accumulating lower experience, or transitioning to lower-paying jobs, and are able to explain 71 percent of the unconditional individual fixed- effects motherhood wage gap. The earnings…

Increasing numbers of recent college graduates are ending up in relatively low-skilled jobs that, historically, have gone to those with lower levels of educational attainment. This study examines this phenomenon in some detail, concluding: (1) About 48 percent of employed U.S. college graduates are in jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)…

In 2002 the Council of the Great City Schools and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project were to: (1) Establish a common…

A November 2011 Heritage Foundation report--"Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers"--presented data on teacher salaries and benefits in order to inform debates about teacher compensation reform. The report concluded that public-school teacher compensation is far ahead of what comparable private-sector workers enjoy, and that…

This paper reports that between 2008 and 2009, unemployment rates across OECD countries increased among people at all educational levels, but rose to especially troubling heights among people without an upper secondary education. In 2009, the average employment rate across OECD countries was much higher for individuals with a tertiary (i.e.…