Book Description
Tough Choices or Tough Times calls for first redesign of the American education system in a century. This report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce shows how the dynamics of the global economy will lead to a steady decline in the American standard of living if this country does not undertake the first thorough overhaul of its education system in a century. It shows how our country can graduate 95% of our students (not two-thirds, as it does now) after 12 years and the majority after only 10 years of grade school. It reveals how billions of dollars can be saved by changing the way students progress through the grades and how the money saved could be used to build high quality early childhood education systems, attract the best and brightest teachers, and provide the resources for even the most disadvantaged students to reach world class standards. This hard-hitting analysis describes the kind of economy needed to sustain our current standard of living and kinds of skills and knowledge that American workers need to make that economy work. It also details the dramatic changes in governance, finance, organization, and management of the American education and training systems that are needed.
Tough Choices or Tough Times was written for anyone concerned with the future of this country and the state of our schools and our job training systems. It provides a well-researched analysis of the issues and a compelling set of proposals for changing our system of education.
National Center in Education and the Economy (NCEE) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing young people with the world-class skills that will allow them to succeed in a global economy. The 26-member commission includes former Cabinet secretaries of labor and education, Senators, Members of Congress, school superintendents, CEOs of major firms, union leaders, and governors.
Customer Reviews:
Releiance on Objective Tests.......2007-02-20
This is an interesting and important document from a group who have had considerable influence on education policy. My largest disagreement is the emphasis on external testing rather than classroom assessment. Good art and music teachers both teach and assess creativty. There is no external test for this ability; whose importance is emphasized in the report.
A well-written wake-up call........2007-02-04
This book by the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce is well written in clear terms with summaries and simple graphics. It is a must read for anyone interested in the future of the US economy. The Commission points out the risks of our poor pre-university education to the US economy. India and China are now competing with the US in the high skilled labor market (not just low skilled) and at lower wages. With the Internet, many jobs can be done anywhere, and companies will hire the best at the lowest cost (Indian engineers make $7500 annually with the same qualifications as US engineers who make $45,000).
The Commission describes how US universities continue to be the best in the world, but grade schools and high schools have fallen behind. In the 20th century the US pioneered universal education, and received an influx of talent, from scientists fleeing Germany before World War II to a more recent influx of Asian students, who stayed and worked here. But now, other countries have passed us in pre-university education and many foreign students are going back to their own countries after graduating.
"A Nation at Risk" came out in 1983, saying "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre education performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." The Tough Choices Commission points out that since then we've had a more than doubling of spending on education (inflation adjusted) with only modest improvement. The Commission concludes that the main improvement, standards testing, turns out to be misguided because it is multiple choice, not essay, and thus doesn't teach the creative, out of the box thinking needed for the US to maintain its lead. Multiple choice tests are by definition "in the box" tests.
"A Nation at Risk" proposals in 1983 for merit pay for teachers were resisted, and teachers continue to come from the bottom 1/3 of University graduates. The Commission proposes merit pay for new teachers, with an opt-in choice for existing teachers, combined with higher salaries made possible by eliminating pensions and using 401Ks instead, like other professions. Other proposals include universal pre-school, school choice with funding following students, less bureaucracy and more independence for individual schools, adult education coordinated with the business community, and inter-city schools and supporting social services being coordinated under one person, such as the mayor. Finally, partial funding can be found by reducing the number of students in the last 2 years of high school by allowing board testing at the 10th grade, with those passing going to community college then a university, directly to trade school, or directly to work.
I have separately read that having funding follow the student to encourage competition among schools has been implemented successfully at the city level in San Francisco. The Commission shows that if pensions and vacation time are included, current teacher salaries are actually somewhat competitive. But talented young people prefer money now, and don't know that they would stay in teaching long enough to earn a pension. Thus, pension money could be moved to up front salary and portable 401Ks, with existing teachers having the option of opting in or staying with their pensions.
The proposal to coordinate social services with schooling to help the disadvantaged, such as by putting all under a mayor has been done in New York recently, with great success. By providing programs for kids until 5 PM, and help to their families, the disadvantages of a poor home situation can be addressed. The US economy is healthy because of the waves of immigration it has had over the past 15 years, and we can't afford not to train those immigrants so our business have a talented labor pool to draw on.
The board exams proposed at the end of the 10th grade will provide badly needed motivation to students, since they can get out of school earlier if they work harder, rather than marking time.
To cut bureaucracy, the commission proposed principals be given free reign on how to spend the money they get (which is based on the number of students). Also, school boards would not run schools, but would contract with others (such as private companies, groups of teachers, etc.). The school boards would then become performance contract managers.
Finally, the report proposes training of people in the workforce, since these people will be the largest part of our workforce for some time, and will need more advanced and creative skills.
Finally, a comprehensive strategy forward.......2007-02-03
Citing Winston Churchill, who said America always did the right thing after it had exhausted all the alternatives, the New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce calls for a complete overhaul of American education.
Unlike the Commission Report in 1990, which recommended that we improve our high technology skills and accept as inevitable the movement of low-skill jobs to global competitors, the current Commission draws our attention to the fact that we are losing high-skill jobs to global competitors as well. Such losses are projected to grow geometrically if we fail to act with an integrated whole system response.
The Commission recommends a major overhaul of American education to include how we define needs, develop curriculum, attract and retain world class teachers, focus scarce resources, assess stakeholders, and finance public education. All familiar words, I know, but the devil or angel, if you will, is in the details. Let's look at some of the most important.
Noting the poor scores made by U.S. students on international tests and the prospect that we will lose our leadership position in fields that require exemplary abilities in mathematical reasoning; scientific concepts; writing; creativity and innovation; self-discipline and organization; and teamwork, the Commission calls for regional economic development authorities. These authorities would be responsible for coordinating with existing institutions to develop goals and strategies that would serve as guides for local decisions and channel resources where initiatives contributed to the achievement of such goals and strategies.
The Commission calls for significant changes in school governance. School boards and districts would find their role focused on policy making, facilitation of educational networks, operation of support service centers, reporting, and writing performance contracts with those who operate the schools. Schools would be operated by independent contractors and would have complete discretion to determine spending, staffing, calendar, organization and management ---- all subject to the same safety, curriculum, and testing standards as other schools. States would recruit and train teachers; build standard curriculum and assessment agencies; investigate, review and approve networks; contract for special services; and develop statewide schools to serve gifted children.
Teachers would be employed and licensed by the state. Their compensation would shift from current practices, which are back-loaded to emphasize pensions and defined health care benefits, to one which is front-loaded to emphasize cash compensation. Under a front-loaded approach, pay for beginning teachers would be $45,000. Competent academic-year teachers could receive $95,000 and competent calendar-year teachers as high as $110,000. In addition, incentive pay would be paid to teachers willing to teach in remote areas, tough urban areas, and in fields with labor shortages like math, science, language, and special education. The objective of all these changes is to recruit, develop, and retain individuals who had graduated from the top third of their high school graduation classes.
To discover where much of the money is coming from to pay for these changes, you have to examine their recommendation in the area of assessment. Essentially, the Commission wants to shift American education from a system that is time-based to one that is based on merit, using Board Examinations to control progression. They would allow high school students to sit for the initial board examinations at the end of their sophomore year. If they score well enough, they will be allowed to begin a two-year technical training program or to enter a four-year degree program. Those who scored less well would remain to prepare for the second board examination which, when passed, would allow them to attend a state college or university. Neither progression would permit remediation at the next highest level. In short, no one would be allowed to progress unless they are ready and no one would be held back based on a scheme that honors time more than it does competence. The Commission expects this progression scheme to save $67 billion.
In addition to teacher compensation, the Commission would spend part of the savings on high-quality, universal early childhood education for three and four year olds. Supplemental funding would be made available to help schools with high concentrations of disadvantaged students, e.g. screening and diagnosis, tutoring; community involvement, etc. School financing would be a state, rather than a local matter. And the state would use a uniform funding formula that emphasizes equity over equality. New Federal money would be sought to fund interest-bearing Personal Competitiveness Accounts. These accounts would be funded by the Federal government with a $500 deposit at birth and annual contributions made to age 16. The fund would accept tax-free contributions from employers, states, and individuals. From these funds, individuals could draw to improve their education and skills as adults.
Reactions from the educational establishment have been mixed. Predictably, all favor high-quality universal education for three and four year olds and for injections of more money into the educational system. No one, however, wants to support recommendations that would require substantial changes for their membership. The National Education Association (NEA) doesn't want to support the shift in compensation because their current membership favors back-loaded systems. Neither the NEA nor the National School Boards Association wants to give up local funding and operation of schools. Finally, the National Association for College Admission Counseling cautions against using Board Examinations if they are built on the foundation of European models.
All stakeholders need to realize that the situation has deteriorated to such a point that anything less than a major transformation of American education risks being characterized as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. As the Commission emphasizes, this is not a set of recommendations to be cherry-picked. Instead, they require a thoughtful, soul searching reflection and authentic dialogue to meet the challenges that are quickly coming into view.
It's Time to Put the Professionalism in Teaching.......2007-01-29
While there are some debatable aspects of the TOUGH CHOICES OR TOUGH TIMES report, the call to elevate teaching to the professional level it deserves is certainly long overdue. One problem the report doesn't explicitly mention is that our education system right now is a two-tiered heirarchy in which educrats--the professional ruling class of policymakers, administrators, and midlevel bureaucrats who don't actually teach--wield far too much power and often earn staggering salaries, while teachers are treated like common day-laborers, underpaid and (often) undermined by the flaky, self-serving policies that educrats impose on them.
The report recommends raising teacher salaries to attract the best and brightest, i.e. those who would otherwise be doctors, lawyers, and other ambitious career professionals, by doing away with current teacher-retirement systems in favor of higher up-front cash rewards and 401(k) packages. Astonishingly, the NEA and other powerful teacher unions are opposed to this. But the fact is our schools are failing us, in part, because teachers are not treated like professionals. Yes, there are plenty of attractive benefits to teaching already, like summers off and seniority-based salary schedules. But the trade-off is that many teachers are willing to give up intellectual authority over their profession and allow themselves to be infantilized by condescending educrats. This is a Faustian bargain, and it's time to break it.
If the commission's compensation plan were implemented, more young and bright professionals would be drawn to the classroom, and they'd (hopefully) stay there rather than hopscotching up to an administrative desk job as soon as they could. They would be unafraid to challenge the bad policies of educrats, and they would serve their constituents (the students and their parents) in far more creative and effective ways, because real professionals do not allow themselves to be bullied. Teachers would finally have intellectual authority over their profession, the same way that doctors, lawyers, and other true professionals do. It may mean sacrificing some comfort and standing up to our own unions, but the long-term results would be well worth it. Independence, as we already know, sometimes comes at a high price.
Creativity and Innovation.......2007-01-24
This report, the result of the second Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce in thirty years, represents "the canary in the mine." It is a warning to law makers, educators, students, parents and business people that we must overhaul the American educational system. Emphasis on creativity and innovation needs to be added to student learning and assessment as well as high levels of critical thinking. Instead of pushing toward analysis, teachers need to devise ways in which students can synthesize their learning; for example, thematically combining the content of a World Civ class with scientific breakthroughs. Creativity and innovation is the only way in which we can claim U.S. superiority in the fast approaching future. Countries like India and Japan are already ahead of us. We need to catch up quickly or lose our standing in the world marketplace.
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Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States (National Bureau of Economic Research--Comparative Labor Markets Series)
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
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ASIN: 0226092836 |
Book Description
This volume, the first in a new series by the National Bureau of Economic Research that compares labor markets in different countries, examines social and labor market policies in Canada and the United States during the 1980s. It shows that subtle differences in unemployment compensation, unionization, immigration policies, and income maintenance programs have significantly affected economic outcomes in the two countries.
For example:
-Canada's social safety net, more generous than the American one, produced markedly lower poverty rates in the 1980s.
-Canada saw a smaller increase in earnings inequality than the United States did, in part because of the strength of Canadian unions, which have twice the participation that U.S. unions do.
-Canada's unemployment figures were much higher than those in the United States, not because the Canadian economy failed to create jobs but because a higher percentage of nonworking time was reported as unemployment.
These disparities have become noteworthy as policy makers cite the experiences of the other country to support or oppose particular initiatives.
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- Another Nazi Myth Bites the Dust
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Hitlers Economy: Nazi Work Creation Programs, 1933-1936
Dan P. Silverman
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
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ASIN: 0674740718 |
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When Hitler assumed the German chancellorship in January 1933, 34 percent of Germany's work force was unemployed. By 1936, before Hitler's rearmament program took hold of the economy, most of the jobless had disappeared from official unemployment statistics. How did the Nazis put Germany back to work? Was the recovery genuine? If so, how and why was it so much more successful than that of other industrialized nations? Hitler's Economy addresses these questions and contributes to our understanding of the internal dynamics and power structure of the Nazi regime in the early years of the Third Reich.
Dan Silverman focuses on Nazi direct work creation programs, utilizing rich archival sources to trace the development and implementation of these programs at the regional and local level. He rigorously evaluates the validity of Nazi labor market statistics and reassesses the relative importance of road construction, housing, land reclamation, and resettlement in Germany's economic recovery, while providing new insights into how these projects were financed. He illuminates the connection between work creation and Nazi race, agriculture, and resettlement policies. Capping his work is a comparative analysis of economic recovery during the 1930s in Germany, Britain, and the United States.
Silverman concludes that the recovery in Germany between 1933 and 1936 was real, not simply the product of statistical trickery and the stimulus of rearmament, and that Nazi work creation programs played a significant role. However, he argues, it was ultimately the workers themselves, toiling under inhumane conditions in labor camps, who paid the price for this recovery. Nazi propaganda glorifying the "dignity of work" masked the brutal reality of Hitler's "economic miracle."
Customer Reviews:
Another Nazi Myth Bites the Dust.......1998-10-04
According to conventional wisdom, as a result of military expenditures, Hitler's economy went from 34%unemployment when he entered office in early 1933 to virtually full employmenr by 1936. Professor Silverman argues, as a result of impressive research in Nazi archives, that it was work creation programs that account for this "miracle" and it was the 4-year Plan announced in 1936 that represented an emphasis on autarky and arms and a seller's market.It is surprising how conservative Hitler's initial plans were since they relied on the expertise of Hjalmar Schacht, who was replaced by Walther Funk after the announcement of the 4-year plan.by Goebbles. The early years represented continuity with the Bruning policy, particularly the Todt plans for motorization and the famous autobahns, one of the positive legacies of Hitler. Silverman's account of sharp regional differences is also interesting with East Prussia getting back to full employment at an early dater and Aachen lagging. It is natural to compare Hitler's achievements with FDR's New Deal which initially had to deal with only 25% unemployment. Generally speaking, Hitler was the more successful, particularly in view of FDR's attempt to balance the budget in 1937 thereby producing the Roosevelt recession and the rise of unemployment from 14% to 19%. While Currie and Eccles managed to achieve the Keynesian euthanasia of the rentier in the late thirties, Roosevelt was overall a timid Keynesian until Wprld War II and was plagued by double-digit unemployment until 1941.FDR devalued the dollar in 1933 by about the same percentage as Britain in 1931 but Hitler and Schachr ruled out currency devaluation because of fears that it would be inflationary. Policies under Bruning had been brutally deflationary with workers taking a 10% wage cut, but thr 1923 hyperinflation (and Schacht's role in stopping it) was still fresh in policy-makers' minds. Workers in voluntary labor camps which absorbed unemployment were paid very low wages and lost their unemployment compensation which helped maintain price stability. Strangely Silverman hardly mention the USSR as a source of ideas in the Hitler years lthough the 4-year Plan itself was inspired by the Soviet FYP, the second of which was being completed by the time Goebbels began administering the German equivalent. Earlier (February,1935) Soviet-type "work books" necessary for employment were introduced. Ther Russian economy today would seem to have more to learn from the German experience after 7 years of Yeltsin's brutally deflationary monetarist policy than from FRD's fiscal bungling. The non-payment of wage and pension arrears is a historic low in the application of the neo-classical notion that attrbutes recessionary unemployment to exhorbitant wages.
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Nafta Stories: Fears and Hopes in Mexico and the United States
Ann E. Kingsolver
Manufacturer: Lynne Rienner Publishers
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ASIN: 1555879748 |
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Patents in the Knowledge-Based Economy
Committee on Intellectual Property Rights in the Knowledge-Based Economy , and
National Research Council
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ASIN: 0309086361 |
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This digital document is an article from National Institute Economic Review, published by National Institute of Economic and Social Research on July 1, 2005. The length of the article is 6744 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Adjustment and trade in the Euro Area.(THE WORLD ECONOMY)
Author: Ali Al- Eyd
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National Institute Economic Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2005
Publisher: National Institute of Economic and Social Research
Issue: 193
Page: 25(8)
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The aggregate structure of the economy.: An article from: Monthly Labor Review
Norman C. Saunders
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This digital document is an article from Monthly Labor Review, published by Superintendent Of Documents on November 1, 1989. The length of the article is 8186 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
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Title: The aggregate structure of the economy.
Author: Norman C. Saunders
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Monthly Labor Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 1989
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Volume: v112
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