Tech Directions - December 2007 - (Page 5)

direct from washington Anne C. Lewis anneclewis@earthlink.net Lessons from the Jobs Initiative Schools, community colleges, adult education, and workforcetraining systems all have an interest in helping disadvantaged young people find jobs with long-term security. And the issues in this area have been studied ad infinitum. Ordinarily, one more report about the problem would not stir up a lot of interest, but a recent one describing lessons learned from the Jobs Initiative is particularly insightful and helpful, perhaps because it comes from outside the public bureaucracy. For eight years, the Annie E. Casey Foundation invested in building better workforce training systems for young people, and although most of the work took place outside of the public school system, it involved the same clientele that the schools often lose for various reasons. Also, advocates for career preparation within public schools need to know the issues and what can be done about them. The Jobs Initiative took place in six urban areas: Philadelphia, Milwaukee, St. Louis, New Orleans, Denver, and Seattle. It focused on minority young men and women, aiming to connect them to familysupporting jobs. Early on, initiative organizers realized that the young people needed job readiness skills for the short term such as basic skills and having access to supportive services. But for the long-term and job retention, they needed hard skills. This latter point, reports from the Jobs Initiative have noted, is rarely acknowledged in federal workforce training programs or welfare reform. The final report of the Jobs Initiative is organized around problems that surfaced as the cities worked through the barriers to creating viable workforce training. Foremost among them are the major demographic changes taking place in the potential workforce. Organizers of any training programs must know how to be culturally competent and how to develop new responses to the obstacles confronting people of color. They must acknowledge that adult basic education, remedial education, and English-as-a-second language programs “are essential to workforce development systems.” The report calls for identifying effective practices in GED and remedial education, increasing funding for career coachAnne Lewis, one of the country’s most respected writers on education policy, works in the Washington, DC, area. www.techdirections.com WASHINGTON 5 http://www.torcomp.com http://www.graymarkint.com http://www.graymarkint.com http://www.techdirections.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech Directions - December 2007

Tech Directions - December 2007 Technically Speaking Contents Direct from Washington The News Report Technology Today Technology's Past Mastering Computers Is This Op-Amp Any Good? Lab-Built Checker Removes All Doubt Here Comes the Sun! Residential Solar Systems Add Up to Savings Pinhole Cameras—For Science, Art, and Fun! Poster Project Maps Out Design Process Gifts for Geeks E-gallery More than Fun

Tech Directions - December 2007

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