Tested, practical ideas to meet current and future skilling needs of both workers and employers The labor market in the United States faces seemingly contradictory challenges: Many employers have trouble finding qualified applicants for current and future jobs, while millions of Americans are out of work or are underemployed—their paths to living-wage jobs blocked by systemic barriers or lack of adequate skills. Growing Fairly offers workforce development reforms that meet the needs of both workers and employers. Based on the experiences of hundreds of leaders and workers, the authors set out ten principles for designing a more effective and equitable system that helps workers obtain the skills necessary for economic mobility. The principles outlined in the book argue for a more comprehensive view of the skilling needs of current and prospective workers. They spell out the attributes of effective programs and make the case for skill-based hiring, widely distributed performance data, and collaboration. The book emphasizes the importance of local action to overcome the structural barriers that challenge even the most determined would-be learners. Growing Fairly shows cross sector leaders how to work across organizational boundaries to change the trajectory of individuals struggling to make a living wage. This is not a book of untested theories. Instead, it is written by practitioners for practitioners. Much of it is told through the voices of those who run programs and people who have taken advantage of them. While the issues the book addresses are profound, its take on the subject is optimistic. Between them, the authors have spent decades searching out and supporting effective practices. Even more critically, they have learned how to knit competing agencies and organizations into cohesive systems with coordinated missions. Their practical ideas will benefit a wide range of readers, from practitioners in the field to students and scholars of the American labor system.

A look at local efforts to improve job training.

The Handbook of Career and Workforce Development provides educators, researchers, and policy makers with information on evidence-based programs and activities. Chapters describe ways that current research can be used to promote the design of more effective career development programs and services at local, state, and national levels. Promising career development practices applicable to a range of settings and special populations are identified, as are strategies for communicating evidence in ways that influence career and workforce development public policy. The Handbook of Career and Workforce Development can be used by policy makers and grant program officers to identify key career development ingredients that should be considered in proposals; researchers seeking to make their career development research relevant and practical; and practitioners implementing or advocating for career development programs and services.

Proposing an entirely new governance model to unleash innovation throughout local government At a time when trust is dropping precipitously and American government at the national level has fallen into a state of long-term, partisan-based gridlock, local government can still be effective—indeed more effective and even more responsive to the needs of its citizens. Based on decades of direct experience and years studying successful models around the world, the authors of this intriguing book propose a new operating system (O/S) for cities. Former mayor and Harvard professor Stephen Goldsmith and New York University professor Neil Kleiman suggest building on the giant leaps that have been made in technology, social engagement, and big data. Calling their approach "distributed governance," Goldsmith and Kleiman offer a model that allows public officials to mobilize new resources, surface ideas from unconventional sources, and arm employees with the information they need to become pre-emptive problem solvers. This book highlights lessons from the many innovations taking place in today's cities to show how a new O/S can create systemic transformation. For students of government, A New City O/S: The Power of Distributed Governance presents a groundbreaking strategy for rethinking the governance of cities, marking an important evolution of the current bureaucratic authority-based model dating from the 1920s. More important, the book is designed for practitioners, starting with public-sector executives, managers, and frontline workers. By weaving real-life examples into a coherent model, the authors have created a step-by-step guide for all those who would put the needs of citizens front and center. Nothing will do more to restore trust in government than solutions that work. A New City O/S: The Power of Distributed Governance puts those solutions within reach of those public officials responsible for their delivery.

"For the century of approximately 1870 through 1970, America's ongoing industrialization brought growing prosperity to much of its citizenry and, after World War II, created a broad middle-class society. After the mid-1970s, however, de-industrialization or the movement of manufacturing production to other countries resulted in growing economic and social stress on many of the working class who did not possess a college education. Donald Trump was the first major U.S. politician to recognize this problem and promise to create "good jobs" for working-class Americans. Yet, his most dramatic policy initiatives in the areas of trade, immigration, and deregulation did not produce dramatic change during his first term. A more positive trend is bubbling up from state and local governments, with the encouragement (but not funding) from the Trump administration. This is the growing importance of workforce development programs, which seek to develop the skills necessary for America's 21st century economy through education reform, industrial apprenticeships, and tax incentives. Does the future of the national economy rest in safe arms with the new re-industrialization strategy and education reform? States and local governments must ascertain what mix of higher education reform, k-12 reform, career readiness, and high-tech training is the best equation for the growing workforce deficit and waning middle-class. In addition, education reform must consider high-tech automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence as a curriculum component in education reform. This policy area must be constructed in ways that not only broadens the middle-class but helps the victims of deindustrialization and reindustrialization. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the challenges facing the working class in the United States and an outline of the book. Chapter 2 describes the stage of industrialization (1870-1970) that created a middle class society. Chapter 3 discusses the periods of deindustrialization (1970-2000) and reindustrialization in advanced manufacturing (early 21st century). Chapter 3 then analyzes the causes (globalization, organizational change, public policy, business strategy, and automation) and consequences (the emergence and shrinkage of a broad middle-class society) of the changing dynamics of industrialization. Chapter 4 presents a case study from the state of Alabama, demonstrating how manufacturing reduces inequality. Chapter 5 discusses how work-based learning programs promote racial diversity. Chapter 6 investigates modern apprenticeship and work-based learning programs. Finally, Chapter 7 considers the implications of this study and argues that workforce development policies hold the key to American prosperity in the 21st century"--

This book brings together leading scholars and practitioners working in the job skills field to examine what research tells us about the current state of the U.S. skills system in comparative perspective and the changes that are required for the future.