Hi Workplace Readers,
This is a rather long newsletter to be forwarding to you, but I had trouble 
finding anything in it to delete that I thought wouldn't interest anyone on 
the list.  So just look through, and use what you'd like.
Donna

Donna JG Brian
Moderator, NIFL Workplace Literacy Discussion List, and
Coordinator/Developer LINCS Workforce Education Special Collection at 
http://worklink.coe.utk.edu/
Center for Literacy Studies at The University of Tennessee
600 Henley Street, Suite 312
Knoxville, TN 37996-4135

865-974-3420 (desk phone) FAX 865-974-3857
djgbrian at utk.edu





>~~~~~~~~~~

>JOBS FOR THE FUTURE

>Creating Strategies for Educational and Economic Opportunity

>

>NEWSWIRE #37, NOVEMBER 4, 2005

>http://www.jff.org/jff/newsroom/newswire/2005/NW_11_2005.html

>

>WELCOME TO NEWSWIRE, an electronic newsletter for

>policymakers, practitioners, the media, and the public about JFF

>and its efforts to:

>  ~ Create successful transitions for youth; and

>  ~ Build economic opportunity for adults.

>

>~~~~~

>IN THIS ISSUE

>

>1. Fate of the American Dream:

>    Strengthening Our Education and Skills Pipeline

>~~ Opening Address by William H. Donaldson

>~~ Keynote Address by Patty Stonesifer

>

>2. Breaking Through:

>    Funding to 16 Community Colleges

>

>3. News of Early College High Schools

>~~ "It's Kind of Different": Student Experiences in

>    Two Early College High Schools

>~~ Early College High School: By the Numbers

>

>4. Connected by 25:

>    Improving Outcomes for Struggling Students

>

>5. News from Achieving the Dream:

>    Community Colleges Count

>

>6. News from SkillWorks:

>    Partners for a Productive Workforce

>

>7. From Our Friends

>~~ New Start New Orleans: Good Jobs for a Better Gulf

>

>~~ To Ensure America's Future:

>    Building a National Opportunity System for Adults

>

>~~ Student Success in State Colleges and Universities:

>    A Matter of Culture and Leadership

>

>~~ Advancing High School Reform in the States: Policies and

>    Programs that Restructure the Comprehensive High School

>

>~~ The Governance Divide: A Report on a Four-State Study on

>    Improving College Readiness and Success

>

>~~ Pathways to College Access and Success

>

>~~ Screening Tools to Help Families Access Public Benefits

>

>~~ Tool Kit for Communications and Advocacy

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>1. Fate of the American Dream:

>    Strengthening Our Education and Skills Pipeline

>~~~~~~~~~~

>In September 2005, top corporate, education, and workforce

>policymakers came together to address the failure to prepare the

>nation for the demands of the knowledge-based global economy

>of the 21st century. The two-day event, called THE FATE OF THE

>AMERICAN DREAM: A NATIONAL FORUM ON STRENGTHENING OUR

>EDUCATION AND SKILLS PIPELINE, was hosted by JFF and sponsored

>by a number of corporations also committed to improving the

>education and skills pipeline.

>

>JUST POSTED on the JFF Web site are two new items related to

>THE FATE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM:

>

>OPENING ADDRESS BY WILLIAM H. DONALDSON

>27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

>Drawing on 40 years at the highest levels of business,

>government, and academia, Donaldson opened the forum by

>declaring that "the skills pipeline is leaking badly, and at great and

>growing cost to individuals in our labor force and, of course, to the

>business and government institutions of our economy. It is

>ultimately, in my view, an unacceptable cost for our entire society."

>

>KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY PATTY STONESIFER

>President and CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

>Stonesifer, who leads the foundation's mission to improve access

>to advances in global health and learning for all people, addressed

>its reliance on "partnerships to prepare every child in America for

>college work and citizenship. . . . In our efforts together to create

>an education system that prepares every child in America for

>college and work, we have to make the most of all of our

>strengths."

>

>Previously released and also available on the JFF Web site are:

>

>~~ Education and Skills for the 21st Century:

>      An Agenda for Action

>

>~~ Making a Difference Awards

>

>~~ The Right Jobs: Opportunities for Low-Skilled Workers

>

>~~ From the Entry Level to Licensed Practical Nurse

>

>All FORUM RESOURCES are  available at:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/econopp/showcase/AmDreamForum.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>2. Breaking Through:

>     Funding to 16 Community Colleges

>~~~~~~~~~~

>At "Creating Pathways for Success," the fall 2005 conference of

>the National Council for Workforce Education, NCWE, JFF, and

>the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation announced the selection of

>16 community colleges to participate in BREAKING THROUGH:

>HELPING LOW-SKILLED ADULTS ENTER AND SUCCEED IN

>COLLEGE AND CAREERS. With generous support from the C.S.

>Mott Foundation, this multi-year national initiative seeks to

>increase the number low-skilled adults who enter and complete

>occupational and technical degree programs in community and

>technical colleges.

>

>BREAKING THROUGH is managed by NCWE and JFF. The C.S.

>Mott Foundation made a $751,000 grant to JFF this year in

>support of the initiative, which is designed to use community

>colleges as a vehicle to help low-income people advance in the

>labor market and to enhance their income.

>

>One goal of BREAKING THROUGH is to provide a forum for peer

>learning and a source of innovative ideas for colleges interested in

>reaching out to and helping to advance adults whose skills fall well

>below college level. Four conference sessions addressed that

>goal: Making College Work for Low-Wage Workers, Time Is the

>Enemy, Pathways to Economic Opportunities for Second-

>Language Learners in Community Colleges, and Creating Labor

>Market Connections for Adult Students.

>

>To read about BREAKING THROUGH and the 16 community

>colleges selected to participate in it, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/econopp/showcase/build_effective_pathways.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>3. News of Early College High Schools

>~~~~~~~~~~

>~~ "IT'S KIND OF DIFFERENT": STUDENT EXPERIENCES

>     IN TWO EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS

>The early college high school movement promises to make higher

>education more accessible and more affordable for

>underrepresented students. Drawing on the preliminary results of

>a long-term study, IT'S KIND OF DIFFERENT focuses on Wallis

>Annenberg High School in Los Angeles, CA, and Dayton Early

>College Academy in Dayton, OH. This booklet captures student,

>teacher, administrator, and parent perspectives on early college

>high school.

>

>To download "IT'S KIND OF DIFFERENT," go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0264

>

>~~ EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL: BY THE NUMBERS

>Twenty new early college high schools opened their doors this

>school year, including the Academy of the Redwoods in Eureka,

>CA; Early College High School for the New Schools at Carver in

>Dalton, GA; Hollis F. Price Early College High School in Memphis,

>TN; Utah County Academy of Science in Orem, UT; and Queens

>School of Inquiry in New York City.

>

>For a complete list of early college high schools and data about

>each school, see EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE:

>BY THE NUMBERS.

>http://www.earlycolleges.org/Library.html#ECHSIByNumbers

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>4. Connected by 25:

>     Improving Outcomes for Struggling Students

>~~~~~~~~~~

>For as many as 30 percent of our young people, the road to a

>productive adulthood is interrupted well before they secure the

>postsecondary skills and credentials that are essential for

>citizenship, economic security, and productivity. Among African-

>American and Hispanic students, the numbers hover around 50

>percent, and in hundreds of large city high schools around the

>country more than half of the young people are not on track to

>graduation. JFF's CONNECTED BY 25 initiative is directed at

>improving the options and outcomes for this large group of young

>people.

>

>Addressing the growing drop-out crisis stands as a major

>component of JFF's work to improve youth transitions to higher

>education and careers and to seal the "leaks" in the educational

>pipeline. CONNECTED BY 25 focuses on creating the systemic

>and policy changes necessary to develop and support effective

>models that prepare students who are not on track to graduation

>to complete high school and advance along pathways to

>postsecondary credentials.

>

>To read about CONNECTED BY 25 and to download related

>resources, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/youthtrans/showcase/ConnectedBy25.html

>

>EXPANDING THE HIGH SCHOOL REFORM AGENDA: As part of

>CONNECTED BY 25, JFF and Achieve are collaborating in this

>policy initiative. Selected from Achieve's American Diploma

>Project and the National Governors Association Honors States

>competition, three states will enhance their capacity to collect

>leading indicators of dropping out and to use those indicators to

>assess the value of their investments. The work will result in

>frameworks and tools for other states and districts to use in

>engaging with this agenda and enacting a policy development

>process that is rooted in the practice.

>

>To read about EXPANDING THE HIGH SCHOOL REFORM

>AGENDA, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/youthtrans/showcase/ExpandingHSAgenda.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>~~~~~~~~~~

>5. News from Achieving the Dream:

>    Community Colleges Count

>~~~~~~~~~~

>JFF produces a quarterly newsletter designed to help colleges,

>partners, state-level stakeholders, and other interested individuals

>stay abreast of developments in ACHIEVING THE DREAM:

>COMMUNITY COLLEGES COUNT. Issue #2, published in

>August, features a framework for identifying and setting state

>policy priorities, an update on a state data system project,

>resources on developmental education policy, and more.

>

>To download the STATE POLICY NEWSLETTER, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0257

>

>To receive the Achieving the Dream STATE POLICY

>NEWSLETTER by email, contact Debora Sutherland,

>dsutherland at jff.org

>

>ACHIEVING THE DREAM is a national initiative that promotes

>change to improve student success at community colleges. The

>initiative works on multiple fronts-including efforts at community

>colleges and in research, public engagement, and public policy-

>and emphasizes the use of data to drive change. ACHIEVING

>THE DREAM is funded by Lumina Foundation for Education. JFF,

>one of ten national partners, coordinates the initiative's effort to

>improve state policies in Connecticut, Florida, New Mexico, North

>Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.

>

>To read about JFF's role in ACHIEVING THE DREAM, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/econopp/showcase/Achieving_the_Dream.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>6. News from SkillWorks:

>    Partners for a Productive Workforce

>~~~~~~~~~~

>SkillWorks has announced its second round of Workforce

>Partnership Grants. SkillWorks, the single largest public/private

>investment in workforce development in Boston's history, seeks to

>change the way employers hire and promote entry-level workers

>from the city's neighborhoods. Workforce Partnerships, the

>operational approach to achieving this dual goal, are industry-

>sector or occupationally based workforce intermediaries. JFF is

>consultant and technical advisor to the initiative.

>

>To read about SkillWorks grantees and to download a new

>brochure on the initiative, go to: http://www.skill-works.org/

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>7. From Our Friends

>~~~~~~~~~~

>~~ NEW START NEW ORLEANS:

>    GOOD JOBS FOR A BETTER GULF

>Hilary Pennington, JFF's co-founder, senior advisor on education,

>and vice chair, is also a senior fellow at the Center for American

>Progress. For the center, she has written about the aftermath of

>hurricanes Katrina and Rita and "the importance of rebuilding in a

>way that addresses the chronic poverty of the people in affected

>areas of the Gulf Coast." According to Pennington, "The most

>effective approach will recognize that both government and the

>private sector are needed, in new public/private partnerships that

>will help hundreds of thousands of people rebuild their lives and

>communities with dignity and enter jobs that will pay enough to

>support them and their families."

>http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=1103705

>

>~~ TO ENSURE AMERICA'S FUTURE:

>    BUILDING A NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY SYSTEM FOR ADULTS

>This report from the Council for the Advancement of Adult Literacy

>is an in-depth study of adult education and community colleges-

>and the need to strengthen links between the two. It urges

>education leaders and government policymakers to accept the

>challenge "as a chance for strategic, forward-looking statecraft."

>http://www.caalusa.org/commcollproject.html#anchor681610

>

>~~ STUDENT SUCCESS IN STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES:

>    A MATTER OF CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP

>Educators and policymakers are paying increasing attention not

>only to student "access" but to student "success" in obtaining a

>degree. This report from the American Association of State

>Colleges and Universities identifies 12 institutions that have

>maintained high graduation rates for a long period or shown

>significant improvement in their rates.

>http://www.aascu.org/GRO/docs.htm

>

>~~ ADVANCING HIGH SCHOOL REFORM IN THE STATES:

>    POLICIES AND PROGRAMS THAT RESTRUCTURE

>    THE COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL

>An assortment of working programs and promising practices are

>building the capacity of high schools in a significant number of

>states. This report produced by the National Association of

>Secondary School Principals and KnowledgeWorks Foundation

>highlights high school reform policies and programs in various

>states.

>http://www.principals.org/s_nassp/sec.asp?CID=29&DID;=29

>

>~~ THE GOVERNANCE DIVIDE: A REPORT ON A FOUR-STATE

>    STUDY ON IMPROVING COLLEGE READINESS AND SUCCESS

> From the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education,

>this report identifies and examines four policy levers available to

>states that are interested in creating sustained K-16 reform:

>finance, assessments and curricula, accountability, and data

>systems. In addition, the report examines the importance of other

>factors-such as leadership and state history and culture-in

>initiating and sustaining K-16 reform.

>http://www.highereducation.org/reports/governance_divide/index.shtml

>

>~~ PATHWAYS TO COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS

>The final report from the Accelerating Student Success project

>provides summary findings across the case study sites. The

>findings are highlighted around four key features: student

>recruitment and selection processes, curriculum, support services,

>and data collection. The report concludes with recommendations

>for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.

>http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/

>

>~~ SCREENING TOOLS TO HELP FAMILIES ACCESS PUBLIC BENEFITS

>This tool from the National League of Cities provides municipal

>officials with approaches, considerations, and specific technology

>options for using screening tools to connect eligible residents to

>key state and federal benefits. It highlights several local, state,

>and nationally franchised electronic screening tools utilized by city

>governments.

>http://www.nlc.org/IYEF/program_areas/family_economic_success/4972.cfm

>

>~~ TOOL KIT FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND ADVOCACY

>This Web site offers information and resources designed to help

>people who care about building an economy that works for all

>Americans-one that provides profit to business owners and

>stable jobs with adequate pay and benefits to employees. Among

>the resources are a two-part tool kit for low-wage communicators

>and advocates.

>http://www.economythatworks.org/

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

>How can NEWSWIRE serve you? We welcome your thoughts.

>

>Contact: Carmon Cunningham, V.P. for Technology and

>Communications, ccunningham at jff.org.

>

>For more information, consult our Web site:

>http://www.jff.org

>

>Please forward NEWSWIRE to your colleagues. To add your

>name to the subscription list, send a message to newswire at jff.org

>with subject "subscribe".

>

>Jobs for the Future believes that all young people should have a

>quality high school and postsecondary education and that all

>adults should have the skills needed to hold jobs that pay enough

>to support a family. As a non-profit research, consulting, and

>advocacy organization, JFF works to strengthen our society by

>creating educational and economic opportunity for those who

>need it most.

>

>----------------------------------------

>

>Our postal address is

>88 Broad St

>8th Floor

>Boston, Massachusetts 02110

>United States