Creating Paths For Successful Adulthood

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A report from the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard's Graduate School of Education argues that US education is too narrowly focused on an academic, classroom-based approach with only incremental gains in achievement, while other countries have outpaced us.

We have called success one path -- attending and graduating from a four-year college. Yet, only 30 percent of our students attain this goal. School reform with multiple pathways to successfully move from adolescence to adulthood is advocated.

Forty-seven million jobs must be created in the 10-year period ending in 2018, only a third of which will require a bachelor's or higher degree. Given this reality, the report urges greater emphasis on career counseling and career education, apprenticeship programs and community colleges.

It's recommended that employers play a greater role in helping young adults with work-based learning in jobs related to their programs of study. The report urges a new social compact, promising by their mid-20s, every young American will be equipped with the education and experience to lead a successful life as an adult.

Reported By Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio