This blog was co-authored by Whitney Smith, a Program Manager at The Joyce Foundation.
As the election of 2010 fades, all leaders should turn their attention to the overriding question facing the nation: how do we get more Americans back to work? And not just back to work, but back to work in jobs that pay family sustaining wages and are needed to build the next chapter in our national economic story.
The creation of new higher skill, higher paid jobs is dependent on having the skilled workers to perform in them. Even in today's economy, there are many businesses -- large and small -- that cannot fill or create new jobs because they can't find qualified applicants. Yet, there are millions of underemployed and under skilled workers, who with an education upgrade, could be key to the economic solution.
On paper the equation seems simple: train under-skilled workers for open jobs that require specific skills. But, in reality, making this equation work requires deep partnerships between education and industry. And for workers who lack fundamental basic reading and math skills to compete for skilled jobs, making that equation work is even more difficult.
In the past, traditional adult education and workforce preparation programs have often been criticized for being out of sync with the needs of the labor market. It has been a case of educators and employers talking past each other rather than to each other. But, this practice appears to be changing in a positive way.
During the past couple of years, we have met dozens of education and business leaders in local communities who are designing a new strategy to helping low-skilled adults access the education they need to qualify for better jobs in their regional labor markets. This new approach -- most frequently referred to as "bridge programs" -- teaches workers basic, foundational skills and occupational skills at the same time. The competencies that are taught have been identified by local employers as being in demand. Plus, the programs are designed to lead to further, college-level workforce certification or degree programs.
We were seeing it with our own eyes, but there was no evidence that these new programs constituted a trend. So we decided to collaborate to learn what was happening across the country by conducting the first national survey of bridge programs.
We found good news. More than 500 organizations from 47 states plus the District of Columbia responded, providing evidence of a sea change taking place in "bridge" education. The programs are serving veterans, dislocated workers, welfare recipients; people with disabilities, and low-wage workers. They are working with employers in health care services, administrative/office technologies, construction, manufacturing, energy, transportation, and more. On their own accord, bridge program administrators are collecting data on education and employment outcomes. The programs appear to being making a significant impact, but a third party, rigorous evaluation is needed to learn more.
Something is clearly happening. While the programs by themselves will not solve our economic woes, they are a crucial piece in constructing a positive economic path forward. More importantly, the results of this survey don't represent vague or idealistic ideas, they represent real workers, real programs, and, most of all, real progress.
Bridge programs are not glamorous, but the foundations of strong growth have never needed a red carpet to succeed.