Connecting School and Work

This project (1996-2002) -- under the joint sponsorship of CPRE and the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI) -- was conducted with the National Center for the Educational Quality of the Workforce. It focused on how the policy environment and the marketplace signal students about the importance of learning. Do employers' views of schools and student preparation vary according to state reform context? Do adults' own workplace experiences affect their beliefs about the importance of learning, both in and out of school?

The project designed and analyzed three major national surveys:

• The National Employer Survey (NES-II), which asked employers detailed questions about their workforce's education and training;
• The National Employee Survey, which assembled a sample of workers drawn from establishments participating in the NES-II; and
• The National Survey of Heads of Households Aged 35-55, which included the experiences of postsecondary education's parents in NCPI's and CPRE's respective research agendas.