Are employability skills learned in U.S. youth education and training programs?

Abstract

Skills are a central source of high productivity and economic well-being. But what do we mean by productive skills? Both with regard to measurement and policy, the primary focus in the U.S. has been on academic skills, as measured by tests of reading, writing and math abilities and by educational attainment, including degrees completed. However, a new consensus is emerging that an array of non-academic skills and occupational skills may be at least as important for labor market success. After reviewing the evidence on respective roles of various types of skills required by employers, this paper examines the skill-enhancing effects of several youth programs and demonstrations, with an emphasis on how well these efforts raise non-academic skills directly through purposeful activities or indirectly as a result of other employment-enhancing services.

Fostering and Measuring Skills

“…17 The commentary and text of Robert Lerman was helpful in preparing this section. See Lerman (2013).…”

“…We have benefitted from the commentary of Robert Lerman in preparing this subsection. SeeLerman (2013) for a discussion of related issues 11. Students involved in Wisconsin's Youth Apprenticeship Program believed their worksite learning experiences were excellent, with 84%-86% reporting that they enabled them to improve their problem-solving and teamwork skills(Scribner and Wakelyn, 1998).…”

Linking Teacher Quality, Student Attendance, and Student Achievement

“…Attendance is an objectively measurable behavior that is correlated with at least three of the "Big Five" character skills identified by psychologists: Attendance is positively associated with conscientiousness (Duckworth et al 2007) and negatively associated with neuroticism and low levels of agreeableness (Lounsbury et al 2004). 2 Conscientiousness is a character skill that is valued in the labor market (Heckman and Kautz 2013) and regular attendance is highly valued by employers (Morrison et al 2011;Lerman 2013;Pritchard 2013). Similarly, regular school attendance is positively associated with academic achievement (Gottfried 2009;Aucejo and Romano 2013;Gershenson, Jacknowitz, and Brannegan 2015) and negatively associated with grade retention (Nield and Balfanz 2006), drug use (Hallfors et al 2002), and dropping out of school (Rumberger and Thomas 2000).…”

Fostering and Measuring Skills Interventions That Improve Character and Cognition

“…The scale of apprenticeship varies widely across coun- 112 The commentary and text of Robert Lerman was helpful in preparing this section. See Lerman (2013). tries. Apprenticeships as a share of the total labor force are about 3.7%-3.9% in Australia and Germany, about 2.3%-2.5% in Canada and England, and 1.7% in France but only about 0.3% in the United States.…”