Widening the Scope of Standards Through Work-Based Learning

A major policy challenge of the next decade is how best to improve the preparation of young people for success in the workplace. Current and past policies have clearly not been enough to insure that many young people grow up and enter the workplace with sufficient skills to earn a good living. Less educated workers have seen their wages stagnate or decline, falling further behind college-educated workers (Goldin and Katz 2008). In the past, any lack of progress of the less-educated was at least partly offset by a rising educational attainment. But recently, growth in educational attainment has stagnated and the share of US workers with a with a college degree is no longer the highest in the developed world. One of the most serious concerns about inadequate preparation is the high rates of failure to complete a high school diploma. Estimates based on administrative records indicate that 25 percent or more of students complete a high school diploma (Chaplin 2002). Among African-Americans, dropouts make up 38 percent of their relevant cohort (Warren and Halpern-Manners forthcoming). The Hispanic graduate rate is over 40 percent. Even by age 25, dropouts face high unemployment rates (9.6 percent in September 2008), lo