Bibliography 3
The National Center On Education And The Economy. Touch Choices OR Touch TimesThe Report Oh The New Commission On The Skills Of The American Workforce. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008. Print.
The new report compiled by The National Center on Education and the Economy focuses mainly on proposing an in depth plan to radically change the education system. The Emphasis of this report shows that our eligible work force starts in education. In the new world wide market we have and are continuing to grow, only individuals with a strong education and creative ability will be desirable at top dollar. Currently many other countries offer not only lower wage workers but better educated ones. The plan also has a section dedicated to the alleviation of the problems in education our poor endure.
This source uses simple language throughout the format. The format and visual lay out of the text itself adds to its credibility. It’s designed rather than simply typed. The extra care shows and ads to its quality. The text, charts, graphs and components are larger for increased readability. The information provided uses a lot of data, but since the language is simpler its incorporated better and is more powerful. The larger print also makes it an easier read. Going through several pages is much easier to endure when the print is larger. 10 pages in 10 minutes rather than 6 hours, and the information is still comparable, it really makes a difference.
Education today is failing. It’s failing the students, the community, and the country. All parts of a community are interconnected, like a spider web when one area breaks down it affects the other. This source talks about the world economy and market of jobs, how workers are already competing with workers from across the globe for their lively hood. America prides itself on being a leader of nations, yet its becoming evident very quickly that America has failed to adapt with times and changes. The old adage – If it’s not broke don’t fix it seems to be the motto of America, and yet it’s proving to be false. We are trapped in the “ford” style of assembly line workers. Change starts with education. The current style of education, and work force is outdated, it squashes the great creativity of our students and inhibits our innovation. Earlier there were concerns about the innovation of other countries being halted, due to a differing style of education. However our Education system is in fact systematically destroying creativity by cutting the arts programs. A massive overhaul of education seems daunting, and it is, but nothing worth achieving come easily. To be a powerful leader of nations America must first heal its inner workings, and be willing to take powerful steps toward change. Great leaders are formed, judged, and remembered for their great decisions.
The information is there, available in texts, online, even broadcast fields so why is change not happening yet? That’s one of the big questions I have for this book, it doesn’t really address who’s not listening. The book itself seems to be communicating to the everyday worker, it’s as though the writers are trying to reach the public more than the senators, or government. As they use a much simpler design, larger print, and a pleasing format. Why do this if its not intended to be read by a student, or perhaps a lower educated worker, rather than a highly educated lawyer or law maker.
Bibliography 2
National Center On Education And The Economy. America’s Choice: high skills or low wages!. New York: The National Center On Education And The Economy,1990. Print.
In June of 1990 The National Center On Education And The Economy compiled and published in depth report. Within this report there’s a section which solely addresses the education system and its impact with employment, and the workforce. The details range from how America spends little funds to help lower income children succeed, the gains schools receive when students drop out, and the views employers have about recent graduates.
The language is a bit jargon-y and there is no praise given to the current education system. Pointing out the gaps and critics of any argument is commendable, but surely there’s something of merit to the opposition. These authors however do not address anything of praise to the system. Their Ethos is created from their use of statistics, data, graphs and multiple contributors of information. The combination of the visual element to the text is very effective. The language use also belies their love of the European graduate. There is strong respect given in undertones to the apprenticeship programs and education level of Europe, though not explicitly stated. There’s also a fair bit of historical information. This is used not only as background info but also as the source of today’s conflict.
I do agree mostly with this source, I see firsthand how income levels effect education. One of the beginning sections states how schools divide children early on into those who will succeed and continue on to college and those who have low ability and will probably be nothing more than a lowly labor worker. This problem stems from two places, Americas history and Americas beliefs. The first is historical and is about the first incredibly successful and cost effective job force related inventions we had in America. The Assembly line. In this style of work, workers didn’t really need any education; they simply knew one aspect of the part of the project they worked on. No front line worker knew the entire extent of the product, and it wasn’t nessecary to. A worker with an 8th grade education could easily do the job well. This style focused on the foremen to watch over the workers. The next is from Americas Beliefs. “More than any other country in the world, the United States believes that natural ability, rather than effort, explains achievement” So in this system the Children who were determined low level education – didn’t really need to be pushed to become a stronger student. The children, who are deemed college- bound and usually came from wealthier classes, were given the most attention and are pushed further. This still happens in America today. Understanding the historical significance and the roots to the problem may be the keys to fixing today’s problems. I still feel there is nothing wrong with providing greater attention to the college bound, but it is clear that the public Education system need to be brought to par. Today its treated as a type of Baby-sitter, a place for children to semi mature while waiting for college, and little more.
This source brings several questions to my mind. I wonder if the European markets are a bit stagnant, and free of creativity. What kind of help is Job corps providing really? Is it a transition step from high school to low paying labor, or is it an opportunity for a real education for the less fortunate. A surprising statement made by this source is that “More than any other country in the world, the United States believes that natural ability, rather than effort, explains achievement” I’m curious as to how they found this bit of information out. This report was written in the 1990’s causing the obvious questions of what’s changed since then, and how. One eerie part of this source is that there’s a very strong prediction made- that if America continues on its path- then there will be lower wages. Now in 2011 This prediction has rung true, we’ve seen out sourcing, people being replaced by automated machines, and now more than ever employers view their workforce as expendable, and so the wages have dropped. The National minimum wage amount may have risen, but this has only created more layoffs and fewer well- paying jobs, with benefits, or pensions. The amount of 8.50 an hour- is not a livable wage even in a full time aspect, and most jobs are part-time.
Bibliography 1
Lake, Ted.” Job Corps as of today”. Arizona Silver Belt, Arizona Silver Belt, Jan. 19th. 2011, E-Edition and Print., Jan. 30th. 2011.
David Rossenwasser and Jill Stephen. Writing Analytically. Place of Publication unknown: Cengage Learning, Jan 2008. Print and PDF.
Ted Lake states that currently the fully federally funded Job Corps program is working with over 100,000 students at 124 centers around the nation. Most of these centers are being operated by private companies. Only a few are operated by the governments. Those who wish to enroll in the program must meet its eligibility standards consisting of Age, income, and life style standards.
While most of the article is general information about the current state and enrollment of the Job Corps program, Mr. Lake also makes an odd connection. He states that the Utah –based Management and Training Corporation is the labor department’s most respected contractor who operates 20 centers based in various states, and also mentions that this same company operates around 20 private correctional prisons.
While applying a “Lens” to a reading one should look for what strikes the reader as “interesting or strange” another good option is to infer questions about the implicit meanings that the author of a piece has given. (Rossenwasser) Using these tools and ideas a question arises. Why mention correctional prisons being operated by the same company? This leads me to believe that he is pointing out an underlying stereotype help by most of middle class America. That- programs like Job – Corps caters to criminals and the less savory class of American society. Of course one can’t print such things in the news so this is mentioned “between the lines”.
While this source unfortunately was incomplete I still see it as a magnificent stepping stone into the realm of Job Corps and the community. The point that there is a link to those who run prisons and those who run Job Corps is tantalizing. Is it a happenstance or is there real correlation? If there’s no real correlation, for instance it’s a coincidence then there must be such social stigma attached with these programs, that its seen as important. Further research is needed to understand the community’s real views on Job Corps. For instance the Job corps in Nampa is placed far from the community and secluded, is this because the community ostracizes them?
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