Center for Workforce Education: “Less Education Can be Worth More”

That title can’t be right, can it?  That must be what you’re thinking.  It’s what I thought when I read it from the recently published, Five Rules of the College and Career Game, published from the Center for Workforce Education, at Georgetown University.  I encourage you to take a look at Rule #4: Less Education Can be Worth More, and see for yourself the evidence for this rule.  

This kind of information - as it is presented in the graph - would make a great resource for teaching adult learners about both educational decision-making, and reading and interpreting graphs.  Try it, and share what your experience is using this data with your learners.  Were they as surprised as you are about this rule?  Does it change their thinking about what their educational goals are for themselves?

Mike Cruse  

Career Pathways Moderator  

michaelcruse74@gmail.com

 

 

 

Comments

Thank you Michael for sharing this brochure. It is very interesting and colorful. I am sharing this with all of my staff to use in teaching graphs and charts and to spur some very interesting conversations.

Hi, Ella, 

Thank you, for sharing this resource with your teachers!  I hope that some of them will use the graphic with their classes, and report back to us on how it went, and what their learners have to say about these findings.

Best,  

Mike Cruse

 Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com

Here is another, current set of graphics that will likely ‘speak’ to many learners in adult education classrooms.  The Annie E Casey Foundation recently published Work, Income and the American Family.  The following excerpt from this data is accompanied by graphic illustrations of the Foundation’s research., which is freely available on their website.  

Three years ago, the unemployment rate among U.S. parents hit a post-recession low of 4%, and this statistic has held steady ever since. At the same time, the median income of families with children has inched upward in households across America.

Despite these two very positive trends, there’s room for improvement. For instance:

  • More than 14 million kids — 19% of all children nationwide — are still living in poverty.
  • The median income for an African-American family with kids falls 55% short of what their white counterparts are earning.

Across the nation, parental unemployment rates vary widely. This statistic dips to a low of 2% in Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wisconsin. It peaks — at 8% — in Alaska.

 Is this current data on social issues valuable to you as an ABE, ESL, or other adult educator?  Let me know, and I will keep sharing these resources as I find them.  If it’s not valuable, that’s good to know too.

Best,

Mike Cruse

Career Pathways Moderator

michaelcruse74@gmail.com