Publications on Employment & Education

Low-wage adult workers have trouble getting and keeping higher-paying jobs. Most lack the basic skills and education needed to move up, but certain kinds of assistance might give some the edge they need to break the pattern. In this summary, Holzer and Martinson recommend competitive federal matching block grants that reward states for developing new advancement systems which are linked to state workforce development structures. They would also require partnerships with employers and training providers, including community colleges.

This two-guide set for evaluators and others interested in evaluation grew out of a National Science Foundation funded effort to improve cross project evaluations. Guide 1, Designing a Cross-Project Evaluation, focuses on evaluation design including identification and operationalization of program goals, building of logic models, and selection of indicators and appropriate measures for these indicators. Guide 2, Collecting and Using Data in Cross-Project Evaluation, lays out multiple issues involved in data collection, strengths and weaknesses of different data collection formats, and methods for ensuring data quality, confidentiality, and the protection of human subjects.

Education policy is important to the discussion of mobility because it serves both as an end and a means to an end in eliminating inequalities. In addition to fostering mobility among those directly benefited by it, the children of beneficiaries may indirectly benefit as well. Thus, properly targeted education programs may enhance outcomes in both present and future generations. This review summarizes the complex and well-developed literature on the interplay between education and inter- and intragenerational economic mobility. (Review 2 of 11.)

This paper, written for the Workforce Alliance in Washington, D.C., analyzes data on recent employment and wage trends, as well as projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to analyze the likely future demand for workers in "middle-skill" jobs –- i.e., those requiring more than secondary school but less than a bachelor's degree. Contrary to recent assertions that demand for middle-skill jobs will shrink dramatically (creating an "hourglass" or "dumbbell" labor market), we find that demand for such jobs will remain quite robust. The growth in supply of workers with these skills will also likely shrink as baby boomers retire and are replaced by immigrants. Thus, education and training programs that help less-educated workers gain these skills remain a worthwhile investment.

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This brief summarizes the contribution of immigrants to Maryland's workforce and trends in the workforce between 2000 and 2006. Maryland's immigrant workers are unusually highly educated and work in key skilled industries such as healthcare, information technology and the sciences. However, there are also large numbers of immigrant workers with low educational attainment and English proficiency—they largely work in construction, agriculture, and services. Education, English language, and job training programs if properly tailored to immigrants' and employers' needs could potentially raise the incomes of immigrant workers and increase their tax contributions to the state.