ERIC Number: ED474216
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2001
Pages: 4
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
High Schools' Role in College and Workforce Preparation: Do College-for-All Policies Make High School Irrelevant? Spotlight on Student Success.
Rosenbaum, James E.
High schools have responded to the poor labor market primarily by encouraging college-for-all policies, leading the majority of seniors to plan to get college degrees, even those who perform poorly. School policies focus too narrowly on academic achievement, overlooking soft skills like motivation, dependability, attention to quality, and social interaction. Educational policies also fail to give students a clear understanding of incentives for mastery of both academic and soft skills. Other nations like Germany and Japan provide clearer incentives for achievement that Americans could use as policy models. Labor market entry policies can be improved by making achievement relevant to goals. Improved student contacts with colleges and employers can clarify incentives for achievement. These two reforms are promising: (1) tech prep programs that teach students about college and occupational demands and allow a seamless college transition, and (2) youth apprenticeship and cooperative learning programs that give work experiences students need to improve chances for labor market success. Policies to improve graduates' readiness for college or employment are the following: colleges involved in tech prep could adopt standardized tests of college readiness; high schools could provide employers with better signals of soft skills; and high schools could build more trustworthy employer relationships. (YLB)
Descriptors: Apprenticeships, Articulation (Education), Career Guidance, College Bound Students, Comparative Education, Cooperative Education, Education Work Relationship, Educational Change, Educational Policy, Employment Potential, Entry Workers, High Schools, Labor Force Development, Labor Market, Noncollege Bound Students, Relevance (Education), School Business Relationship, School Role, Student Motivation, Success, Tech Prep, Vocational Education
For full text: http://www.temple.edu/lss/pdf/spotlights/600/spot605.PDF.
Publication Type: Information Analyses
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Mid-Atlantic Lab. for Student Success, Philadelphia, PA.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: A digest of research from the Laboratory for Student Success.