The Workshop on the Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education documents changes seen in the postsecondary education system. In her report Lisa Hudson focuses on who is participating in postsecondary education; Tom Bailey concentrates on community colleges as the most responsive institutions to employer needs; Carol Twigg surveys the ways that four-year institutions are attempting to modify their curricular offerings and pedagogy to adapt those that will be more useful; and Brian Pusser emphasizes the public's broader interests in higher education and challenges the acceptance of the primacy of job preparation for the individual and of "market" metaphors as an appropriate descriptor of American higher education. An example of a for-profit company providing necessary instruction for workers is also examined. Richard Murnane, Nancy Sharkey, and Frank Levy investigate the experience of Cisco high school and community college students need to testify to their information technology skills to earn certificates. Finally, John Bransford, Nancy Vye, and Helen Bateman address the ways learning occurs and how these can be encouraged, particularly in cyberspace.

If you think it’s getting harder to both make a living and make a life, economist and former secretary of labor Robert Reich agrees with you. Americans may be earning more than ever before, but we’re paying a steep price: we’re working longer, seeing our families less, and our communities are fragmenting. With the clarity and insight that are his hallmarks, Reich delineates what success has come to mean in our time. He demonstrates that although we have more choices as consumers, and investors, the choices themselves are undermining the rest of our lives. It is getting harder for people to be confident of what they will be earning next year, or even next month. At the same time, our society is splitting into socially stratified enclaves--the wealthier walled off and gated, the poorer isolated and ignored. Although the trends he discusses are powerful, they are not irreversible, and Reich makes provocative suggestions for how we might create a more balanced society and more satisfying lives. Some of his ideas may surprise you; all should spark a healthy–and essential–national debate.

This study uses data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study and its 1994 followup to examine the educational and employment attainment of 1988 eighth graders who dropped out of high school. About half of them ultimately completed high school. By 1994, 16% had completed a high school diploma, 29% had completed a General Educational Development (GED) or equivalency certificate, and 24% were working on a diploma or GED. The remaining one-third of dropouts had no credential and were not pursuing any further education. High school completion among dropouts was associated with socioeconomic status. Dropouts who had demonstrated academic ability, although not necessarily academic performance, were most likely to complete high school. By 1994, 2 years after most of the"cohort" had completed high school, high school completion among dropouts was associated with some educational, but few employment, characteristics. In 1994, most dropouts were either working, looking for work, or at home. About the same proportion of dropouts as 1988 eighth graders who had never dropped out reported working full time or part time in 1994, but those who had never dropped out were more likely to be taking academic courses. More than half of those who had never dropped out were enrolled in 2-year or 4-year postsecondary institutions. About one in four dropouts had enrolled in a postsecondary institution by 1994. One appendix is a glossary, and the other contains technical notes and remarks on methodology. (Contains 19 tables, 7 figures, and 12 references.) (SLD)