Global competition and new technologies are radically changing the workplace. Skill requirements are increasing. The demand for unskilled workers is dimishing. Increasingly, high school graduates flounder in the workforce until their mid-twenties, meeting with unemployment and diminishing wages.
Strategies Create a national framework within which all states can create statewide systems.
Create a universal system that enables youths to identify and navigate paths to productive and progressively more rewarding roles in the workplace. Promote local partnerships to link school and work among secondary and postsecondary schools. Form business-education partnerships as an investment in workplace productivity and competitiveness. Increase opportunities for students to pursue further education, including education in a four-year college or university. Integrate academic and occupational learning.