Working Knowledge

As the assumption that most students will attend college has increasingly become the norm for high schools, parents, and students themselves, standards and educational offerings for all students have grown to reflect that assumption. With the days of "vocational education" waning, where can students learn job skills, and how can students who do not intend to follow a college track be motivated to learn in preparation for something in which they will not participate?
Based on over five years of research on work-based learning in high school and community college programs across the country, Working Knowledge examines these questions and explores the potential for using work-based learning as part of a broad education reform strategy. Bailey, Hughes, and Moore synthesize a historical overview of work-based learning and its place in policy-making with the experiences of teachers and students, resulting in a dynamic account of the state of work-based learning and its significance for the field of education.

Thomas R. Bailey is the George and Abby O'Neill Professor of Economics and Education, Department of International and Transcultural Studies, and the Director, Institute on Education and the Economy, and Community College Research Center, at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Katherine L. Hughes is the Assistant Director for Work and Education Reform Research, Institute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University.
David Thornton Moore is Associate Professor, Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University.