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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1984. High Schools and the Changing Workplace: The Employers' View. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18490.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

iO898i8 PB84-24Oi9i High Schools and the Changing Workplace: The Employers' View (Final rept) National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC. Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. Corp. Source Codes: Oi9O25i56 Report No.: ISBN-O-3O9-O3476 ci9B4 67p Library of Congress catalog card no. 84-6O887. Languages: English NTIS Prices: PC AO4/MF AOi Journal Announcement: GRAI8426 Country of Publication: United States The purpose of the report is to state the views of employers on the education that provides the best foundation for a successful working career for high school graduates who do not intend to go to college. The study does not, by deliberate choice, deal with the problem of drop-outs nor does it offer currlcular advice. The report is divided into three chapters. The first gives the panel's view on the likely occupational patterns and, hence, demand for job skills, that are expected to develop within the next decade. From this analysis, the report offers in the second chapter its outline --a llst^of core competencies -- of the essential education needed by high school graduates if they are to be successful in their working lives. The competencies discussed are: command of the English language, reasoning and problem solving, reading, writing, computation, science and technology, oral communication. interpersonal relationships, social and economic studies, and [personal work habits and attitudes. The final chapter suggests the various responsibilities of different groups -- from employers to school boards to government -- for providing that education. Descriptors: 'Education; *Employment; 'Youths; Performance evaluation; Analysis; Statistical distributions; Motivation; Ethnic groups Identifiers: High school graduates; Career development; NTISNASNRC Section Headings: 51 (Behavioral and Social Sciences--Personnel Selection, Training, and Evaluation); 7OD (Administration and Management --Personnel Management, Labor Relations, and Manpower Studies)

High Schools and n <P,n . . Changing Workplace THE EMPLOYERS' Report of the Panel on Secondary School Education for the Changing Workplace National Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering Institute of Medicine Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy •. i NAS.NAZ MSY 5! /! NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS B R A R Y Washington, D.C. 1984

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418 NOTICE: The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation for the furtherance of science and tech- nology for the general welfare. The terms of its charter require the National Academy of Sciences to advise the federal government upon request within the Academy's fields of competence. Under this corporate charter, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively. The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy is a joint committee of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. It includes members of the councils of all three bodies. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 84-60887. International Standard Book Number 0-309-03476-0. Copyright © 1984 by the National Academy of Sciences. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher. Photographs by UNIPHOTO Picture Agency: Charles Gupton, cover, xiv, 16; Billy E. Barnes, 5; Rick Reinhard, 23; John Kleinman, 28 Printed in the United States of America.

Ill Contents Why Another Education Report? viii Summary x CHAPTER 1 Jobs for High School Graduates l CHAPTER 2 What High School Graduates Need 17 CHAPTER 3 Producing High-Quality Graduates 29 APPENDIX A Education and Employment of U.S. Workers... 35 APPENDIX B Cognitive Skills and Job Performance 37 APPENDIX c Biographies of Panel Members 39 APPENDIX D Summaries of Commissioned Papers 45 APPENDIX E Speakers 48 APPENDIX F Selected Readings 49

IV Panel on Secondary School Education for the Changing Workplace RICHARD E. HECKERT, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer— Dupont Operations, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (Chairman) JOHN T. CASTEEN III, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Virginia LORETTA CORNELIUS, Deputy Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Manage- ment WILLIAM J. DENNIS, JR., Director of Research, National Federation of Independent Business ROSALYN FRANTA, Vice President—Director, Quality and Nutrition, Kel- logg Company RONALD KUTSCHER, Associate Commissioner, Office of Economic Growth and Employment Projects, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Depart- ment of Labor HENRY M. LEVIN, Director, Institute for Research on Educational Fi- nance and Governance, Stanford University AUBREY C. LEWIS, Corporate Vice President, Corporate Liaison, F. W. Woolworth Company SHERMAN McCoY, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Offi- cer, D.C. General Hospital RICHARD H. NEUMANN, Deputy Manager of Personnel, Bechtel Group, Inc. MARGARET A. ROBERTS, Director, Research Planning and Services Office, Research Staff, Ford Motor Company MARKLEY ROBERTS, Economist, Department of Economic Research, AFL- CIO FRED S. RODRIGUEZ, Assistant Group Manager of Human Resources, Hughes Aircraft Company FREDERICK A. ROESCH, Senior Vice President for Personnel, Citibank, N.A.

PANEL MEMBERS G. THOMAS SICILIA, Director, Accession Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics, U.S. Department of Defense WILLIAM P. STEINBERGER, Vice President, Vocational Education Services, Control Data Corporation MARY L. TENOPYR, Division Manager, Human Resources, Employment Research and Development, American Telephone and Telegraph Com- pany DAVID C. THOMAS, Chairman of the Management Committee and Direc- tor of Member Services, Milk Marketing Inc. RITA WALTERS, Los Angeles Board of Education CHARLES WILSON, Superintendent, New York Community School District No. 2 Staff NORMAN METZGER, Study Director AUDREY PENDERGAST, Staff Officer GERRY KASARDA, Administrative Assistant BARBARA MILLER, Secretary Consultants BERYL LIEFF BENDERLY DON I. PHILLIPS

VI Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy GEORGE M. Low, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Chairman) LINDA H. AIKEN, Vice President for Research, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation JACOB BIGELEISEN, Leading Professor, Department of Chemistry, State University of New York, Stony Brook FLOYD E. BLOOM, Director and Member, Division of Pre-Clinical Neuroscience and Endocrinology, Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation EMILIO Q. DADDARIO, Wilkes, Artis, Hedrick, and Lane, Attorneys at Law GARDNER LINDZEY, President and Director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences EDWARD A. MASON, Vice President—Research, Standard Oil Company, Amoco Research Center JOHN L. McLucAS, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Officer, Communications Satellite Corporation ELIZABETH C. MILLER, Van Rensselaer Potter Professor of Oncology, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin GILBERT S. OMENN, Dean, School of Public Health and Community Medi- cine, University of Washington LEON T. SILVER, Professor of Geology, Division of Geological and Planeta- ry Sciences, California Institute of Technology HERBERT A. SIMON, Professor of Computer Science and Psychology, De- partment of Psychology, Carnegie—Mellon University I. M. SINGER, Professor, Mathematics Department, University of Califor- nia, Berkeley F. KARL WILLENBROCK, Cecil H. Green Professor of Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Southern Methodist University

COMMITTEE MEMBERS vii Ex officio members FRANK PRESS, President, National Academy of Sciences ROBERT M. WHITE, President, National Academy of Engineering FREDERICK C. ROBBINS, President, Institute of Medicine Staff ALLAN R. HOFFMAN, Executive Director BARBARA A. CANDLAND, Administrative Assistant RENEE A. LEWIS, Senior Secretary

Vlll Why Another Education Report? RECENT STUDIES OF AMERICAN EDUCATION have given relatively little emphasis to the high school graduate who does not go on to a four-year college—yet these graduates represent the largest segment of the American work force and play a cen- tral and critical role in the nation's economy. This report addresses the needs of these graduates from the perspective of the private businesses and public institutions that will employ them. The report, then, has a narrow purpose: to define the educational competencies that will be needed by the high school graduate for success in the workplace, both at entry level and throughout a 45- to 50-year career in a constantly changing econom- ic environment. The report does not address the serious problem of high school drop- outs, it does not offer specific curricular advice, and it does not concern itself explicitly with educational preparation for effective citizenship and social participation. Its sole objective is to identify, from the employ- ers' perspective, the basic education needed for effective, upwardly mobile, lifelong participation in the American work force. The panel for this study represents many types of public and private sector employers, among them the agricultural, electronics, automotive, chemical, construction, retail, health care, communications, and food industries as well as financial institutions and the federal government, including the military services. Labor unions are represented, as are scholars from leading universities and governmental agencies who have examined the forces that will influence the occupational environment in the years ahead. Finally, the educational community is represented on the panel to contribute professional perspectives at state and local levels.

WHY ANOTHER EDUCATION REPORT? ix The report reflects the diverse experience of panel members and is the result of their study and discussion. The employers on the panel looked separately for answers to questions agreed upon at the panel's first meeting, such as present and future job opportunities for high school graduates and the likely requirements for such jobs. As an example of the process, one panel member provided the results of a review by major financial institutions in his area considering employment needs; another member surveyed five manufacturing plants within his com- pany, each plant representing a different operation. This approach is selective, but the panel believes that the results are representative. During the panel's eight-month tenure, its findings were generally sup- ported by papers it commissioned, by presentations of experts, and by the growing literature on the topic, including several surveys of employer needs. The panel was formed under the auspices of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, a joint committee of the National Acade- my of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. Funds from the Academy-Industry Program and from a consortium of foundations supported the study financially. The consor- tium includes the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Founda- tion, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The Cecil and Ida Green Fund supported the dissemination of this report to over 30,000 policymakers. RICHARD E. HECKERT Panel Chairman

Summary THE LARGEST SEGMENT OF THE AMERICAN work force consists of high school graduates who have not attended college, and the nation's economic well- being depends heavily on their performance (see Appendix A for data on educational attainments of the U.S. work force). However, recent studies have documented the fact that large numbers of young people graduate from high school lacking the basic educational skills that are essential to successful participation in the work force. Additionally, recent surveys of employers indicate wide dissatisfaction with the educational quality of high school graduates and confirm much of the general criticism that has been made of American education.1>2•3 What is Needed This report concentrates solely on the needs of high school graduates entering the labor force from high school and reflects employers' views of what these graduates will need to perform effectively in the workplace in the years ahead of them. The study panel recognizes that many high school graduates will enhance their career prospects eventually with further training in two- or four-year colleges, the military services, technical schools, or vocational programs. Nevertheless, it is high school education that lays the foundation for future success, both academically and in the world of work. The panel approached its task from the viewpoint of necessary skills rather than required courses. How employees obtain skills matters less to employers than whether they possess them. This report, therefore,

SUMMARY xi does not attempt to prescribe how schools should achieve the goal of well-prepared high school graduates. Instead, it describes a set of core competencies—knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits—that the panel believes will equip young people for success in the labor market through- out a working lifetime. These core competencies are described in Chapter 2 of this report and are based in large measure on an examination of the future pattern of job opportunities. That pattern is complex and somewhat unpredictable, but it is a certainty that changes will occur continuously. It is also certain that today's young people will face, during their 45- to 50-year working careers, cumulative technological and organizational changes every bit as great as those that confronted their parents. Young people, therefore, must prepare for a lifetime of change, both in the nature of work and in the working environment. Many of these potential changes are discussed in Chapter 1. The panel's basic findings are that: Findings • The major asset required by employers of high school graduates seeking upwardly mobile careers is the ability to learn and to adapt to changes in the workplace. The continual evolution of work functions will require that workers master new knowledge and new skills throughout their working lives. The ability to learn will be the essen- tial hallmark of the successful employee. • The core competencies described in Chapter 2 of this report can provide the basic understanding and skills needed both to perform entry-level jobs and to continue the learning process. Technical edu- cation, vocational training, and curricula providing specific job skills can enhance a student's employability, but cannot substitute for education in the core competencies. • A positive attitude and sound work habits are of basic importance. Employers place a high value on reliability and cooperation. At the same time, with increased employee participation in decisionmaking, the ability to offer constructive dissent without hindering teamwork will assume greater importance. The panel concludes that the schools' primary responsibility is to provide the core competencies and that other goals, whatever their

xii SUMMARY merit, must come second. Those who enter the work force after earning a high school diploma need virtually the same competencies as those going on to college, but have less opportunity or time to acquire them. There- fore, the core competencies must always come first during the high school years. The assertion that high school graduates who proceed directly to the workplace need very nearly the same education in the core competencies as those going on to college may seem startling, but the panel believes such education to be essential. The panel does emphasize that these competencies are goals, and not minimum standards; not all students will attain them fully, but all must be given the opportunity to try to do so to the best of their abilities. Further, the competencies described in Chapter 2 do not make for a complete education, one preparing young people for thoughtful citizenship and full personal development. Educa- tion has broader goals than training students for jobs. The panel also emphasizes that employers, like all sectors of a demo- cratic society, require people who combine imagination and the capacity to give and take constructive criticism with the ability to adhere to the traditional patterns of work, citizenship, and social life. No one benefits from uncaring and uncritical workers. Many schools may not possess the resources to provide rigorous, com- prehensive education for the world of work. However, other elements of society share the responsibility of preparing our young people for adult life. The panel thus proposes, in Chapter 3, closer cooperation among schools, school boards, government, employers, parents, students, and community groups in developing the career guidance, information, and training that prospective workers and their teachers need. Changing educational processes is slow and hard and, given their crucial mission, school systems by nature must be conservative in chang- ing directions. Mistakes can be costly. However, the panel believes that adoption of its findings will contribute to a better working life for high school graduates; it also realizes that implementation of its findings will require dedication, patience, and very hard work by all concerned. Finally, the panel deplores the tragic waste of talent, energy, and aspirations symbolized by the large numbers of young people who do not finish high school. The panel did not, however, investigate the specific needs of high school dropouts. A high-quality secondary education repre- sents the minimum preparation a young person needs to participate successfully in our economic system. Were every young American to

SUMMARY xiii possess a significant measure of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes described in this report, our national life would be enriched immeasur- ably. 1 Richard Hulsart and Paul Bauman. Report of Results: Colorado Employability Skills Survey. Denver: Colorado Department of Education, November 1983. 2 Basic Skills in the U.S. Work Force. New York: Center for Public Resources, February 1983. 3 Leonard Lund and E. Patrick McGuire. The Role of Business in Precollege Education. New York: The Conference Board, Inc., to be published in 1984.

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