2018 Frederic W. Ness Book Award, AAC&U How can educators ensure that young people who attain a postsecondary credential are adequately prepared for the future? Matthew T. Hora and his colleagues explain that the answer is not simply that students need more specialized technical training to meet narrowly defined employment opportunities. Beyond the Skills Gap challenges this conception of the “skills gap,” highlighting instead the value of broader twenty-first-century skills in postsecondary education. They advocate for a system in which employers share responsibility along with the education sector to serve the collective needs of the economy, society, and students. Drawing on interviews with educators in two- and four-year institutions and employers in the manufacturing and biotechnology sectors, the authors demonstrate the critical importance of habits of mind such as problem solving, teamwork, and communication. They go on to show how faculty and program administrators can create active learning experiences that develop students’ skills across a range of domains. The book includes in-depth descriptions of eight educators whose classrooms exemplify the effort to blend technical learning with the cultivation of twenty-first-century habits of mind. The study, set in Wisconsin, takes place against the backdrop of heated political debates over the role of public higher education. This thoughtful and nuanced account, enriched by keen observations of postsecondary instructional practice, promises to contribute new insights to the rich literature on workforce development and to provide valuable guidance for postsecondary faculty and administrators.

Why do children do the things they do? What can teachers do to manage it all? While there is not a simple method for understanding and managing all behaviors or all children, teachers can give young children the social and emotional tools needed to grow and thrive on their own. Developed and tested in the classroom, Beyond Behavior Management, is a strength-based approach to guiding and managing young children's behavior by helping them build and use essential life skills—attachment, collaboration, self-regulation, adaptability, contribution, and belonging—into the daily life of the early childhood classroom. As a result, children will learn to exhibit more pro-social behaviors, work better as a community, and become excited and active learners. This edition includes two new chapters and content reflecting early learning standards, new research, cultural diversity, and strategies to strengthen the home-school connection. Discussion and reflection questions, exercises, journal assignments, child profile templates, a planning worksheet, and sample scripts are also included. Jenna Bilmes is an early childhood consultant and an instructional designer for WestEd Child and Family Services. She is a frequent presenter to teachers, administrators, and counselors nationally and internationally.

In this improved and expanded edition of a classic resource, Paul Wehman and his colleagues take a fresh look at transition, examining the persistent yet unfortunate reality that not working is perhaps the truest definition of having a disability. Specialists in a variety of disciplines can use the creative and practical techniques in this book to ensure careful transition planning, to build young people's confidence and competence in this work skills, and to foster support from businesses and community organizations for training and employment programs. Young people with disabilities need life-skills training before they leave school. Life Beyond the Classroom offers professionals and students indispensable information and effective strategies for ensuring successful, supported transitions.

A visionary guide for the future of learning and work Long Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs That Don’t Even Exist Yet offers readers a fascinating glimpse into a near-future where careers last 100 years, and education lasts a lifetime. The book makes the case that learners of the future are going to repeatedly seek out educational opportunities throughout the course of their working lives — which will no longer have a beginning, middle, and end. Long Life Learning focuses on the disruptive and burgeoning innovations that are laying the foundation for a new learning model that includes clear navigation, wraparound and funding supports, targeted education, and clear connections to more transparent hiring processes. Written by the former chief innovation officer of Strada Education Network’s Institute for the Future of Work, the book examines: How will a dramatically extended lifespan affect our careers? How will more time in the workforce shape our educational demands? Will a four-year degree earned at the start of a 100-year career adequately prepare us for the challenges ahead? Perfect for anyone with an interest in the future of education and Clayton Christensen’s theories of disruptive innovation, Long Life Learning provides an invaluable glimpse into a future that many of us have not even begun to imagine.