Book Description

A study assessed the relevance of work-based learning approaches used in school-to-work efforts. Evidence indicated that employers were steadily raising the entry requirements into the low end of the labor market. Despite the serious skill deficiencies of welfare recipients, employers felt no responsibility to people who lacked the basic skills needed to hold a job and provided little support for individuals who could not function effectively in a work environment. They provided limited training for entry-level workers, but were receptive to helping welfare recipients. School-to-work models incorporated work experience and learning at work through mentoring, contextual learning, and credentialing of competencies and skills learned on the job. Three skills-related challenges facing welfare recipients could be addressed through work-based learning approaches in paid employment or community-service placements: understanding the workplace; learning a range of skills and knowledge broader than needed to accomplish immediate job tasks; and getting employers to recognize credits for skills and knowledge mastered on the job. Technical assistance and integration with the education system are still needed to assist welfare recipients' efforts to get jobs and advance in a career. These policy directions were identified: grants/support for third parties, laboratories and demonstration programs, financial incentives for employers, and integration of the welfare, employment and training, and education systems. (Appendixes contain instruments and 94 references.) (YLB)