Christina L. Smith Foundations of Career and Workforce Education EVT 7066 October 20, 2008

1. Why do many youth in America have such a difficult time transitioning into careers with a future? Christina L. Smith Foundations of Career and Workforce Education EVT 7066 October 20, 2008

2. YOUTHS RANGE FROM 16-21 Youths transitioning into work can have several factors that may make that transition difficult. DROP OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION and SKILLS DISABILITIES ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY DRUG ADDICTION RELEASED JUVINELLE OFFENDERS UNEMPLOYEMENT

3. HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUTS Students face many decisions in their life and they sometimes choose to drop out of school for many reasons. As a result high school drop outs will have a difficult time transitioning into a career with a future. • Why drop out? • just stopped going because no one objected • problems with school, teachers, disliked school, or low grades • disabilities • have children at an early age • were incarcerated • use illicit drugs, tobacco, or both • Dropping out of school can lead to? • • face unemployment • • live in poverty • • be incarcerated • • earn half as much annual income as a high school graduate • • have children at an early age • • use illicit drugs, tobacco, or both • • be overweight (NASET’s Special Educator e-Journal – November 2006 7 of 46 )

4. Source: Childstats.gov 12% of students in 2006 dropped out of school. Each reason for making the decision to drop out of school will make it difficult to transition to a future career.

5. EDUCATION Even those who do graduate, “many leave high school without developing the skills they need to succeed in the workplace or in postsecondary education. Helping these young adults improve their basic literacy and acquire the work and technical skills they needed to qualify for higher-quality jobs, which are the ticket to rising wages and career advancement, is emerging as one of the nation’s major challenges in the decades ahead.” (MDRC, 2008) The United States lags globally in critical levels of science literacy. If students drop out without the skills and student in school do not learn the skills, all students will have a difficult time transitioning into the workplace.

6. TRENDS IN READING FOR AGE 17 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education Low consistent reading scores for youths in school make it difficult for them to transition into the workforce. A basic educational skill that is needed in most jobs. Long term trend shows a decrease in reading abilities. “Literacy skills have a significant impact on economic success.” (PISA, 2003, pg. 36) The data for reading literacy skills showed that Finland, Korea, Hong Kong-China, and Canada had the most proficient levels of reading literacy. The United States ranked 16th in the World (The 2005 Skill Gap Report).

7. TRENDS IN MATHEMATICS FOR AGE 17 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education No improvement with math scores for youths in school can make it difficult for them to transition into the 21 Century workforce. An educational skill that is needed more and more everyday, especially with the increase in technology and the need to gain those skills to compete in our global economy. The data for mathematics literacy skills showed that Hong Kong-China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand had the most proficient in levels of mathematical literacy. The United States ranked 20th in the World (The 2005 Skill Gap Report).

8. EDUCATION PAYS There is a demand for education to meet the needs of the workforce and without the right education youths will have a hard time transitioning into careers or furthering their education of their future. As we know these skills are consistent with jobs and higher wages. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR STATISTICS-2007

9. DISABILITIES For those youths that have disabilities that can and want to work may have a difficult time transitioning into future careers. (Anee Stanford, 2000)

10. Youths finding compatible work can be dependent on the disabilities you have. • Acquired Disabilities • Types of acquired disabilities include, butare not limited to: • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) • Spinal Cord Injury • Multiple Sclerosis, a slowly progressive central nervous system disorder characterized by gradual weakness and deterioration of muscle function, • Alzheimer's Disease (frequently called "dementia"), a degenerative process resulting in a large loss of brain cells with the resulting progressive loss of memory (Anee Stanford, 2000). • Physical Disabilities • Types of acquired disabilities include, but are not limited to: • Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) • Spinal Cord Injury • Multiple Sclerosis, a slowly progressive central nervous system disorder characterized by gradual weakness and deterioration of muscle function, • Alzheimer's Disease (frequently called "dementia"), a degenerative process resulting in a large loss of brain cells with the resulting progressive loss of memory (Anee Stanford, 2000). • Developmental Disabilities • Types of developmental disabilities include, but are not limited to: • Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) • Dyslexia • Down's Syndrome or Mental Retardation (see above.) • Learning Disorder, difficulties noted along a continuum of cognitive abilities including adaptive, fine motor, perceptual-motor, social, and language skills. • Learning Disability, which assumes normal cognitive abilities and refers specifically to problems in reading, arithmetic, and written expression (Anee Stanford, 2000).

11. ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED Source: National Center For Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data, 2005-06 School Year “On average, children in low-income households fare worse than children in higher-income households on a host of indicators. Low-income children are more likely than higher-income children to live in stressful home environments and with parents reporting symptoms of poor mental health. Among school-age children and adolescents, those living in low-income families are less likely to be highly engaged in school activities and more likely to exhibit high levels of emotional and behavioral problems” (The Urban Institute, 2005)

12. SOURCE: NATIONAL TANF DATAFILE AS OF 4/12/2007 Bottom line, if unemployment is up in our community and new jobs are not being created at a good rate, then we are likely to have more children living in poverty. Research shows that children who grow up in low-income homes are less likely to get the education and other opportunities necessary to succeed throughout their lives (Children in Poverty). Poverty doesn’t provide the educational opportunities for our youth and it creates a difficulty in transitioning to a future career.

13. ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY Young adolescents giving birth and the ability to support their child causes great difficulty many times to young women who want to attend school. This additional financial stress and child care issues may lead young women to finding it difficult in transitioning to a future career.

14. DRUG USE AMOUNG YOUTHS CAN LEAD TO DRUG ADDICTION and it can be a cause that makes it difficult for youths to transition in a career for their future. Source: The National Center on Drug Abuse • “Nearly 75 percent of all adult illicit drug users are employed, as are most binge and heavy alcohol users.1 Studies show that when compared with non–substance abusers, substance-abusing employees are more likely to • change jobs frequently • be late to or absent from work • be less productive employees • be involved in a workplace accident • file a workers’ compensation claim” • (The National Center on Drug Abuse) Illegal drug use can lead youth to being incarcerated.

15. RELEASED JUVENILLE OFFENDERS Release of Juvenile Offenders provides youth a difficult transitioning to future careers. Many jobs require you to report crimes you have committed and some jobs cannot hire you depending on the crime you committed. While in prison youths are not accessible to all education benefits and without job opportunities are more likely to commit a crime again. Sadly, research shows that many of these kids return to the same challenging circumstances that put them at risk prior to incarceration (National Conference of State Legislatures).

16. Youths with difficulties or not find that it is difficult to transition into the workforce when there is no work available. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics In July 2005, 2.7 million youths aged 16 to 24 years old were unemployed—not working but actively looking for work and available to take a job (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

17. The youth of America is what holds the key to our future of America. The future of America is guided by the choice of careers that are needed now and in future years to come. Youths have many obstacles to overcome that will make it difficult transitioning in careers for the future. CAMPAIGN FOR YOUTH OUR YOUTH, OUR ECONOMY, OUR FUTURE The implications of this phenomenon are staggering—more than 540,000 students dropping out of high school each year. The statistics are astonishing: •The United States is 17th among developed nations in terms of the percentage of youth who graduate high school. U.S. dropouts’ literacy skills are lower than those of most industrialized nations, performing comparably only to dropouts from Chile, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia. This does not bode well for our economic competitiveness. • In an analysis of 2003‐04 teen employment statistics, the Center for Labor Market Studies determined that teen employment was at its lowest level in 57 years. It is predicted to drop again in 2007 (pg 2)

18. • The situation is particularly dire in minority communities. For example, as few as 20 percent of black teens are employed at any time. At any given time, about 50 percent of young black men ages 16 to 24 who are not enrolled in school are unemployed, and approximately one‐third of all young black men are involved with the criminal justice system. • • Three‐fourths of state prison inmates are high school dropouts, as are 59 percent of inmates in the federal system. At any point in time, approximately 16 percent of all young men ages 18 to 24 without a high school degree or GED are either incarcerated or on parole. • • The earnings gap widens with years of schooling and formal training. In 2003, high school graduates earned 50 percent more than dropouts, and college graduates earned three times as much as dropouts. Also, male dropouts’ earnings fell compared to earlier years. • • If just one‐third of dropouts were to earn a high school diploma, savings on food stamps, housing assistance, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) would amount to $10.8 billion—more than enough to cover the cost of investing in these young peoples’ education (pg 2).

19. Current school reform efforts, while much needed and long overdue, most likely will not touch this group of youth who are no longer on the school rolls, are too old for traditional school settings, lack academic skills and credits, and are in need of much different kinds of support (Campaign for Youth, pg. 3) Today’s youth in America will have a difficult time transitioning into careers with a future. The factors presented about our youths affects the future decline of our economy and labor markets.

20. References Campaign for Youth. 2008. CAMPAIGN FOR YOUTH OUR YOUTH, OUR ECONOMY, OUR FUTURE. Retrieved 20 October 2008 from, http://clasp.org/publications/cfy_full.pdf Childstats. 2006. Completing High School. Retrieved 19 October 2008 from, http://childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables.asp Childstats. 2006. FAM6 Adolescent births: Birth rates by mother's age, and race and Hispanic origina, 1980–2006. US Adolescent Births By Age. Retrieved 15 October 2008 from, http://childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables.asp The Manufacturing Institute (2005), “2005 Skills Gap Report – A Survey of the American Manufacturing Workforce”,http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_mfg_talent_management_121405(1).pdf Retrieved 14 September 2008 NASET’s Special Educator e-Journal – November 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2008 from, http://www.naset.org/fileadmin/user_upload/November_2006_NASET_e_Journal.pdf The National Association of Manufacturing-Public Policy, (2008), “HRP-01 Education and the Workforce”, http://www.nam.org/policypositions/ Retrieved 16 September 2008 National Center for Education Statistics. 2004. Long-Term Trend Reading Age 17.Retrieved 15 October 2008 from http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/lttnde/viewresults.asp The National Center on Drug Abuse. 2007. Monitoring the Future Study: Trends in Prevalence of Various Drugs for 8th-Graders, 10th-Graders, and 12th-Graders. Retrieved 20 September 2008 from, http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html The National Center on Drug Abuse. 2008. NIDA InfoFacts: Workplace Resources Retrieved 20 September 2008 from, http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/workplace.html National Conference of State Legislatures. 2008. The Forum for America’s Ideas, Youths at Risk. Retrieved 17 October 2008 from, http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/youthatrisk.htm

21. References