This report makes the case for a shift in emphasis in U.S. education and workforce development policy. Specifically, the report sets out a rationale for investing more in upgrading the foundational skill levels of the U.S. workforce. The report summarizes the results of studies that used data from the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey…

To boost college graduation rates, policymakers often advocate for academic supports such as coaching or mentoring. Proactive and intensive coaching interventions are effective, but are costly and difficult to scale. We evaluate a relatively lower-cost group coaching program targeted at first-year college students placed on academic probation.…

This paper analyzes age and cohort changes in the occupational attainment of Blacks and Whites born in successive decades from 1910 to 1979. Occupational attainment is operationalized as "occupational returns to education" and "earnings returns to occupation." The primary objective is to determine whether the relative…

The literature related to people with borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) was systematically reviewed in order to summarize the present knowledge. Database searches yielded 1,726 citations, and 49 studies were included in the review. People with BIF face a variety of hardships in life, including neurocognitive, social, and mental health…

Community colleges are a critical resource for women seeking to achieve economic security and stability, yet many women who are community college students face challenges that make it difficult to persist in their education and complete their degrees. To understand the circumstances and experiences of female community college students in…

This article discusses students taking part-time work whilst studying higher education (HE). It suggests that cross-national trends can be observed in the purposes, types, benefits, negative aspects and outcomes of part-time work by HE students. The paper reviews literature on HE students working part-time in the UK and the US, and UNESCO studies…

This article conducts a meta-analysis of results of studies by Andrieu (1991), DeAngelis (1998), and Liseo (2005) to assess changes over time in the effects of financial aid and other factors on graduate student persistence. A descriptive review of the studies finds that combination aid packages encouraged persistence in 1987 (Andrieu, 1991),…

Previous research on China's labor market gender gaps has emphasized the human and political capital disadvantages of women and new discrimination in the reform era. Analyzing the China Urban Labor Survey/China Adult Literacy Survey, this paper shows that while women are significantly disadvantaged by various measures of human and political…

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) assessed the English literacy skills of a nationally representative sample of more than 19,000 U.S. adults (age 16 and older) residing in households and prisons. NAAL is the first national assessment of adult literacy since the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey. Three types of literacy were…

Utilizes language data from the 1940 Census Public Law Sample to measure the socioeconomic impact of a foreign mother tongue by comparing second-generation Germans who grew up speaking German and English, respectively. Results show that the disadvantages of a foreign mother tongue proved to be negligible for this group. (GR)

With focus on the similarities rather than the differences among Latin American countries, the interrelationships of education and employment are analyzed to draw implications for educational policy and planning. Emphasis is on the need to take into account the socio-political and cultural constraints operating in the Latin American context as…

Implications from a literature review on the employment status and income of deaf people include the following: (1) serious underemployment of the deaf, (2) uncertainty about the effects of compensatory legislation on education and employment problems, and (3) significant effects of deafness on income and lifetime earning power. (SK)

This paper from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides information on current status and historical trends in the employment of Hispanic women. Some of the findings include the following: (1) the Hispanic women's population increased by 52 percent from 1990-1999, compared with 17 percent for black women and 7 percent for white women; (2) 9…

Reviews the book "Who Gets Ahead?", by Christopher Jencks and 11 associates, which discusses the main themes preoccupying research on status attainment, earnings, intergenerational mobility, and the effects of family background, cognitive skills, noncognitive traits, and years of schooling. Compares this book with Jencks' earlier work,…

This publication reports findings from the 1980 Census and from Current Population Survey studies conducted in 1981 and 1982 by the United States Bureau of the Census regarding characteristics of the 12,320,000 noninstitutionalized disabled Americans between 16 and 64 years of age. Tables, figures, and text provide information on age distribution,…