Learning to work

In Learning to Work, Norton Grubb offers a comprehensive assessment of efforts to move individuals into the workforce, explains why their success has been limited, and offers a practical vision for reform. Learning to Work begins with a complete history of job training in the United States and details the mosaic of welfare-to-work, second-chance training, and experimental programs, all with their own goals, methodologies, institutional administrations, and funding. Grubb also examines the findings of the most recent and sophisticated job training evaluations and what they reveal for each type of program. Which agendas prove most effective? Do their effects last over time? How well do programs benefit various populations, from welfare recipients to youths to displaced employees in need of retraining? The results are not encouraging. Learning to Work provides possible explanations for these poor results, citing the limited scope of individual programs, their lack of linkages to other programs or job-related opportunities, the absence of academic content or solid instructional methods, and their vulnerability to local political interference. The root of these problems is linked to the inherent separation of job training programs from the more successful educational system. Grubb proposes consolidating the two domains into a clearly defined hierarchy of programs that combine school- and work-based instruction and employ proven methods of student-centered, project-based teaching. By linking programs tailored to every level of need and replacing short-term job training with long-term education, a system could be created to enable individuals to achieve increasing levels of economic success.