1Accelerating Advancement in School and Work: Taking the Message to Congress On February 16, JFF CEO and co-founder Hilary Pennington was a
featured speaker at the Aspen Institute Congressional Seminar
on "The New Challenge for Public Education: Secondary School Reform."
Pennington made four key points:
The nation needs to focus on where
students go when they leave high school—that is, their
transition to postsecondary education and work.
If education beyond high school
is the goal for all students, high school reform alone
will not get us there.
The task is to create multiple
pathways to and through the second year of college, not
to reform the "one-size- fits-all" comprehensive high
school.
We have a unique moment of obligation
and opportunity to address these challenges, and Congress
has a key leadership role to play.
2Employer Organizations and Communities: New Publications from WINs
Employer associations and their partners in efforts to address
the workforce development needs of businesses and communities
can benefit from two new publications from WINs—Workforce
Innovation Networks:
Making the Connections: The Role of Employer Associations in Workforce Development, produced by
the Center for Workforce Success of the National Association
of Manufacturers, is a guidebook for helping employer associations
serve their members in a tight labor market.
The Theory of Change for Workforce Innovation Networks, prepared by the WINs partners with the assistance
of Brody-Weiser-Burns, is a strategic planning tool to help
identify the change strategy and process and the outcome indicators
for the WINs initiative. WINs is a multi-year collaboration
of Jobs for the Future with the Center for Workforce Success
of the National Association of Manufacturers and the Center
for Workforce Preparation of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
On April 22-24 the 2002 Inner City 100 Summit will honor fast-growing
companies located exclusively in America's inner cities. Each
year, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and Inc.
Magazine unveil the Inner City 100, highlighting stories that
are shifting the focus of urban policy from assigning blame to
celebrating success.
ICIC, aided by Jobs for the Future, is engaged in an analysis
of human resource practices that draws heavily on the winners
of the Inner City 100 designation. This collaboration is identifying
innovative practices for enhancing employment opportunities for
entry-level and low-skill workers. Later this year, JFF will make
those innovations widely available to the human resource field
through a user-friendly Web site.
The WHAT KIDS CAN DO Web site offers continuing evidence that
the energy and passion of youth can light dark times. Working
with several strategic partners, including Jobs for the Future,
WKCD documents the value when young people work with teachers
and other adults on projects that combine powerful learning with
public purpose.
Hear Us Out: Commentary By Youth on School and Society: In this
collection of personal commentaries, seven young people speak
of their struggles and inspirations, their challenges and triumphs.
The students came from five projects identified by Jobs for the
Future's FROM THE MARGINS TO THE MAINSTREAM INITIATIVE. Coached
by WKCD story director Kathleen Cushman, the students enjoyed
the close editorial consultations that a professional writer takes
for granted, but the words are their own.
Also new on the WKCD Web site is Making Peace, Restoring Justice.
The very tendency to test limits that might get young people in
trouble can sometimes provide an opportunity for them to develop
their drive for justice and their longing for understanding and
respect. Across the country, several remarkable projects are bringing
young people into dialogue with one another and their communities,
restoring peace to situations rife with conflict, and creating
non-adversarial solutions in distressing situations.
A new book by Eliot Levine and an essay by Jobs for the Future's
Adria Steinberg provide insight into a remarkable urban high school:
The Metropolitan Career and Technical Center of Providence, Rhode
Island. All Met students have a personalized curriculum and complete
real-world internships based on their interests. There are no
classes, tests, or grades, but high achievement is expected of
all students—regardless of their background.
One Kid at a Time: Through the lens of the Met School, Eliot
Levine's One Kid at a Time weaves compelling stories about new
possibilities for American education. Based on the Met's first
four years, it offers powerful ideas for school improvement.
Forty-Three Valedictorians: In June 2000, 43 young people received
diplomas from the Met. Although 70 percent of the students are
children of parents whose education didn't extend beyond high
school, every Met graduate was accepted to college, and many received
substantial financial aid. Based on four years of interviews,
Steinberg looks at this success-story-in-the-making through the
voices of Met students
Accelerating Advancement in School and Work: Taking the Message to Congress 
Go back to top
