This report, from JFF and the Center for American Progress, delineates the vital role that Congress can play in closing the high school graduation gap. Prepared by JFF’s Adria Steinberg, Cassius O. Johnson, and Hilary Pennington, it calls upon Congress to enact the Graduation Promise Act of 2007.
This act would: establish a federal commitment to partner with states, districts, and schools to raise graduation rates; seed and scale up effective policies, strategies, and school designs for keeping high school-aged students in school and achieving at a high level of academic performance; and immediately put proven strategies to use in the worst-performing high schools.
Moving Indiana Forward:
High Standards and High Graduation Rates
JFF and Achieve conducted a strategic assessment on how Indiana can create a more coherent, intentional, and aligned use of standards-based and support-based high school reform strategies and policies to improve both achievement and graduation rates for struggling and out-of-school students. This report presents findings and recommendations from a policy analysis centered on three major areas where state action could lead to improvements in the high school graduation rate without compromising on high standards: data and accountability; interventions in the high schools losing the most students; and quality pathways to graduation. The assessment was conducted as part of Moving Forward: High Standards and High Graduation Rates, an initiative jointly sponsored by Achieve, Inc., and JFF and funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Key Steps for Cities:
Using Strategic Assessment to Serve Disconnected Youth
On January 31, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST, an audioconference will focus on strategic assessment as a key step for cities concerned about disconnected youth. Boston, MA, Portland, OR, and New York, NY, will report on the multiple benefits of taking a comprehensive look at the circumstances of out-of-school youth and struggling students, and of developing and implementing cross-system plans and strategies to better meet the needs of those youth.
This audioconference, co-sponsored by the National League of Cities, JFF, and the Out-of-School Youth/Struggling Students Work Group of the Youth Transition Funders Group, is free, but registration is limited. Register by close of business Monday, January 29, 2007. For more information, see the National League of Cities Web site.
Jobs to Careers Web Site Launched
A new Web site provides resources and information from Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care, a national initiative to support the development of workers’ skills and career opportunities. JFF serves as the national program office for Jobs to Careers, a four-year, $15.3 million initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with the Hitachi Foundation.
Investing in Frontline Workers
This opinion piece, in the December issue of Behavioral Healthcare, describes two Jobs to Careers projects that aim to give entry-level behavioral health workers a promising future.
Workers Who Care:
A Graphical Profile of the Frontline Health and Health Care Workforce
This “chartbook” provides comprehensive employment data on frontline health and health care workforce occupations. The data offer a profile of the frontline workforce at the national level and across states and regions. The chartbook was produced by Health Workforce Solutions, LLC, and published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Achieving Success
The Policy Newsletter of Achieving the Dream
In the January 2007 issue of Achieving Success, key members of Virginia’s Achieving the Dream team discuss what the state is doing to improve its data systems and create incentives for greater institutional attention to student outcomes. Also featured are policy developments in Achieving the Dream states and resources and news on relevant developments around the country.
Achieving Success is published by JFF for Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, a national initiative to help more community college students succeed (earn degrees, earn certificates, or transfer to other institutions to continue their studies). The initiative is particularly concerned about student groups that have faced the most significant barriers to success, including low-income students and students of color.
Communities are turning to new labor market institutions, known as workforce intermediaries, in response to a dual challenge: aiding low-skilled workers seeking advancement opportunities and aiding employers seeking employees who can help them compete in today’s economy. In addition, several states are investing in workforce intermediaries as a key part of regional workforce and economic development strategies. In this report, JFF’s Heath Prince and Jerry Rubin deepen the consideration of why states support workforce intermediaries, how they provide that support through policy and programs, and how other states might begin to invest in workforce intermediaries.
5Helping Low-Skilled Adults Enter and Succeed in College and Careers
BreakThroughs Newsletter
The January 2007 issue of BreakThroughs, the newsletter of Breaking Through, presents some of the initiative’s first-year accomplishments. It also offers a message from a Ford Foundation official and proclaims the addition of four learning colleges to the network.
Breaking Through Web Site BreakThroughs is available through the Breaking Through Web site, a new tool for information sharing and dissemination of promising strategies. The Web site presents information about the initiative and the colleges involved in it, along with resources that can all community colleges can use to help low-skilled adults succeed.
Income Equity and Workforce Development:
Balancing the Scale
This commentary by Jim Jacobs, former president of the National Council for Workforce Education, reflects on the changing, and increasingly urgent, role of community colleges in helping low-income adults create sustainable incomes for their families.
The United Way of Rhode Island asked JFF to prepare a scan of work readiness certificates that have emerged throughout the United States in recent years. A Survey of Selected Work Readiness Certificate Models, by JFF’s Norma Rey-Alicea and Geri Scott, summarizes five of the nation’s many work readiness certificates, which are representative of the diverse range of such initiatives in terms of target population, certification requirements, geography, and other factors. The report highlights issues that stakeholders should consider in determining which approaches would most benefit their state’s unique demographics, economy, and political landscape.
A year ago, Jobs for the Future welcomed leaders in business, education, and government to Fate of the American Dream, a two-day forum convened to address the failure to prepare the nation for the demands of the knowledge-based global economy of the 21st century. The challenge is no less intense today. Thus, JFF announces the DVD of the forum’s centerpiece, a provocative Fred Friendly Seminar on the underlying problems threatening the American Dream for many families across the country. This valuable resource explore the tensions and trade-offs confronting employers in need of skilled workers and the education and workforce systems that must meet those needs.
8Making a Difference Forum Honors Martin Luther King, Jr.
On January 11, over 200 Boston-area leaders from schools, businesses, foundations, government, and community-based organizations gathered to explore solutions to the education and workforce challenges facing men of color. The occasion was JFF’s “Making a Difference in Our Community” breakfast, held annually in commemoration of Martin Luther King's birthday. “We are all here today,” said JFF CEO Marlene B. Seltzer on opening the breakfast forum, “because we have a grave concern that we are losing a generation of young men of color—to a life of poverty, dead-end jobs, and hopelessness—a life that will prevent them from participating in the economic and social benefits of our society.”
The forum featured a variety of speakers, including Suzanne Bump, director of workforce development for Massachusetts, and Dana Mohler-Faria, the Governor’s Special Adviser for Education, both of whom brought greetings from the administration of Governor Deval Patrick. Keynote speakers were Dr. Rosa Smith, president of the Schott Foundation for Education; Claudio Martinez, executive director of the Hyde Square Task Force; and Keith Motley, vice president of business affairs at UMASS Boston and a cofounder of Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts.
A forum transcript and addition information are available on the JFF Web site.
Data Quality Campaign
The Data Quality Campaign has released a one-year progress report, Maximizing the Power of Education Data While Ensuring Compliance with Federal Student Privacy Laws: A Guide for State Policymakers. Over the past year, the DQC, a national partnership to improve the quality, accessibility, and use of data in education, has highlighted the power of developing and using longitudinal data systems as a key tool to improve student achievement.
Dropout Policies
This is the focus of the latest National Governors Association Honor States Newsletter. The newsletter includes news from the Early College High School Initiative and Connected by 25, JFF’s partnership with the Youth Transition Funders Group in its multi-city Strategic Assessment Initiative for struggling students and out-of-school youth.
Resources for First-time College-goers
What Kids Can Do/Next Generation Press has created resources around college access and retention. These include two books, a DVD, and a Web site targeted at students who are the first in their family to go to college.
Reclaiming the American Dream
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this Bridgespan Group report analyzes different academic and social supports to determine which make the greatest difference in helping low-income youth prepare for and succeed in college.
KnowHow2GO
The Advertising Council has joined with Lumina Foundation for Education and the American Council on Education to launch a national public service advertising campaign designed to encourage low-income and first-generation students to take the steps necessary to go to college.
Improving Options and Outcomes for Underserved and Out-of-School Youth
This report, from JFF and the Center for American Progress, delineates the vital role that Congress can play in closing the high school graduation gap. Prepared by JFF’s Adria Steinberg, Cassius O. Johnson, and Hilary Pennington, it calls upon Congress to enact the Graduation Promise Act of 2007.
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A year ago, Jobs for the Future welcomed leaders in business, education, and government to Fate of the American Dream, a two-day forum convened to address the failure to prepare the nation for the demands of the knowledge-based global economy of the 21st century. The challenge is no less intense today. Thus, JFF announces the DVD of the forum’s centerpiece, a provocative Fred Friendly Seminar on the underlying problems threatening the American Dream for many families across the country. This valuable resource explore the tensions and trade-offs confronting employers in need of skilled workers and the education and workforce systems that must meet those needs. 
On January 11, over 200 Boston-area leaders from schools, businesses, foundations, government, and community-based organizations gathered to explore solutions to the education and workforce challenges facing men of color. The occasion was JFF’s “Making a Difference in Our Community” breakfast, held annually in commemoration of Martin Luther King's birthday. “We are all here today,” said JFF CEO Marlene B. Seltzer on opening the breakfast forum, “because we have a grave concern that we are losing a generation of young men of color—to a life of poverty, dead-end jobs, and hopelessness—a life that will prevent them from participating in the economic and social benefits of our society.”
