The need to invest in our nation's crumbling infrastructure goes back decades. But today, with millions of people unemployed, there is unprecedented momentum to act. Women, immigrants, and people of color are disproportionately represented in these numbers as are young adults. President Joe Biden and Congress are counting on infrastructure…

Public Impact asked a simple question: "Will our nation's boldest efforts to recruit more top teachers and remove the least effective teachers put an excellent teacher in every classroom?" They ran the numbers and discovered the disappointing answer: No. But that's not the end of the story. With a change in schools' strategies, they realized, 87…

In this article, the author describes a role-playing activity on tar sands and the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline. In this activity, students take on the characters of six key stakeholders invited to an imaginary public hearing to discuss whether or not the State Department and President Obama should approve the Keystone XL pipeline.…

A misplaced obsession with the size of federal budget deficits remains the single biggest obstacle to enacting new measures to create jobs on a scale commensurate with the crisis in the American labor market. Even assuming that budget scoring rules can't be changed, at the very least policy makers should be aware of the true impact a given piece…

America faces many challenges in working together to restore the promise of economic growth and security for the country, U.S. families and the American worker. The challenges are both real and serious. Despite hopeful signs of economic recovery, America remains mired in the deepest jobs crisis since the 1930s. One out of every 12 Americans who…

Research continues to confirm that without "excellent" teachers consistently, most students who start behind stay behind, and too few middling and advanced students leap ahead. Even solid teachers who achieve one year of learning progress leave achievement gaps intact. Schools that "consistently" provide all students with…

The emerging transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy holds great promise for economic growth and prosperity, innovation, and job creation. New green technologies and discoveries--coupled with new demand and forward-thinking public policies that advance sustainability and encourage public-private investments--are starting to transform…

These five papers underscore the fact that the labor market policies of Japan, West Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia are similar in many ways. The papers are "Japanese Labor Market Policies" (Koji Taira), "The Labor Market Policies of West Germany" (Deborah R. Cichon), "The Management of the U.K. Labour…

An Appalachian Regional Commission-sponsored conference on entrepreneurship stressed that the availability of investment capital is important to economic development in Appalachia and other rural areas, but it is not enough. A local social and business culture that embraces entrepreneurship and risk-taking must be developed through…

Analyzes the Federal government's record, since the 1930s, on issues affecting employment and the economic well-being of Blacks. Throughout the last 50 years, legislative efforts to create full employment have been directly hampered by poor implementation, weak leadership, and a tendency, highly visible in the Reagan era, to place expenditures for…

A series of articles discusses employment issues in various countries: youth employment, reduced working hours and wage cuts, dislocated workers, government employment policies, and job creation. (SK)

Although university technological research may help industry save money, some are concerned it may also help eliminate needed jobs. Observers disagree over the ultimate impact of technology transfer and the role of public policy in promoting it. Some recommend social policies designed to mitigate disruption by technological change. (MSE)

This summary of the plans for additional research in the project called "Vocational Training and Regional Development" lists the following aspects and criteria of the common evaluation approach: regional framework conditions, program structure, organizational features, pedagogical approach, and procedure in evaluating the success of the…

This paper examines various aspects of public employment programs designed to reduce unemployment in Western industrialized countries. The historical context in which these programs emerged and the forms such programs might take are discussed. Public employment is considered in terms of special public service jobs, public works, and training and…

This paper discusses the use of gender analysis to ensure that economic development policy has equitable consequences for women and men, and describes the role of nonprofit community organizations in promoting such analysis. Gender analysis assumes that role differences between men and women are socially defined and therefore open to change.…