McGraw-Hill and Career Credentialing Organization Recommend New Ways to Make Career, Technical and Adult Education More Responsive to the Needs of Job-Seekers and Employers

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Describing the current state of U.S. career training as the makings of a "perfect storm" that could sink the nation's hopes of re-establishing its economic vitality, experts from McGraw-Hill Education and the National Organization for Career Credentialing have released the new policy paper, "New Approaches to Acquiring Skills and Building Careers in a 21st Century Global Job Market." The paper examines how America has fallen short on career training over the last several decades and offers solutions for creating a more comprehensive and inter-connected system that helps U.S. workers acquire marketable skills in the new economy.

In the paper, co-authored by Mitch Rosin, editorial director at McGraw-Hill Education, and Barbara Bolin, Ph.D., founder and president of the National Organization for Career Credentialing™, the authors pinpoint some of the historic shortfalls in career and technical education in the country, chief among them: stigma. Dating back to the 1970s, so-called "vocational" training has been unfairly devalued and considered less desirable than college preparation. For this reason, they theorize, the federal government's investment in workforce development for young people fell 70 percent from 1994 to 2010. And while the nation's investment in building a skilled workforce was declining, the percentage of jobs described as "skilled" continued to increase, rising from 15 percent of all jobs in the 1950s to 85 percent of jobs today. The result: a significant disparity in the number of available skilled jobs and the number of available workers who qualify as highly skilled.

"It is essential that we provide greater support for career and technical education, and re-think, re-design and re-connect the entire system that seeks to train both high school students and adults for better-paying careers in growth industries," Rosin said. "Our nation's economic competitiveness and global standing depend on it."

The authors acknowledge the important steps the Obama administration has taken toward reversing challenges to strengthening America's skilled labor force – such as the Community College and Career Training Grant Program and greater coordination between the departments of Education and Labor to connect local employers with community colleges. However, the authors note:

• More than 7,000 high school students drop out each school day
• One in four college freshmen quit halfway through their first year
• 88 million U.S. adults have at least one major education barrier to employment, such as no high school diploma
• There is no centralized or easy-to-navigate GED process at the city, state or federal level
• Community colleges – a highly popular, practical and cost-effective alternative to four-year universities – are ill-equipped to handle sharp increases in applications, yet employers are willing to pay a premium for associate degree holders

Adding to the labor crisis, notes Dr. Bolin, are economic and demographic factors such as the rapid growth of the service sector; increasing competition for both manufacturing and now service jobs; the aging Baby Boomer population that will leave a large skills gap, and the exponential growth of immigrant and non-English-speaking groups in the U.S. Still, the authors assert, there are new ways of making career, technical, and adult education in the U.S. more efficient and responsive to the needs of both job-seekers and employers. These approaches include:

• Sector-based job training programs (sometimes called Bridge Programs) that focus on training applicants for particular industries while stressing both academic and career education;
• The Career Readiness Certificate, which is a standardized  skills credential that is universally recognized, portable, and transferrable between industry sectors; when combined with an academic credential such as a high school diploma or GED, it provides a foundation upon which people can build their careers;
• Development of tools that help job-seekers make more informed decisions about their career paths, including the new, comprehensive approach from McGraw-Hill Education – Contemporary Workforce Connects – that coordinates and connects all facets of the job-searching process and helps learners acquire the specific skills they need to qualify for specific jobs;
• Reinvention of the GED Test to become more standardized and academically rigorous;
• A greater investment in community colleges to expand enrollment and enhance resources and infrastructure; and
• Providing greater access to online learning and resources that benefit adult learners and have shown to increase the number of U.S. job-seekers with GED credentials, post-secondary degrees and other professional credentials.

"Long before the sharp rise in unemployment, employers struggled to find qualified workers," notes Bolin, who points to a recent survey in which 61 percent of employers report being unable to fill many job openings because of poor applicant skills. "Contemporary Workforce Connects is the missing link for job-seekers, learners and employers alike. It uses a very practical and targeted approach to solving a very real problem in this country."

Optimistic that the U.S. can turn around the current labor and career training trends through public-private partnerships, Rosin says: "There is still time to ensure a different future – but only if we act now to change our current system of career, technical and adult education so that every American citizen who wants to improve his or her job opportunities and career skills has the means and a clear pathway for doing so."

A copy of "New Approaches to Acquiring Skills and Building Careers in a 21st Century Global Job Market" is available for download.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading innovator in the development of teaching and learning solutions for the 21st century. Through a comprehensive range of traditional and digital education content and tools, McGraw-Hill Education empowers and prepares professionals and students of all ages to connect, learn and succeed in the global economy. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education