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Chetty et al. (2022) say county density of cross-class friendships (referred to here as "adult-bridging capital") has causal impacts on social mobility within the United States. We instead find that social mobility rates are a function of county density of family capital (higher marriage rates and two-person households), community capital (community organizations, religious congregations, and volunteering), and mean student achievement in grades 3-8. Our models use similar multiple regression equations and the same variables employed by Chetty et al. but also include state fixed effects, student achievement, and family, community, schoolbridging (cross-class high school friendships), and political (participation and institutional trust) capital. School-bridging capital is weakly correlated with mobility if adult-bridging is excluded from the model. R-squared barely changes when adult-bridging is incorporated into the model. When it is included, mobility continues to be significantly correlated with the achievement, family, and community variables but not with school-bridging and political ones. We infer that county mobility rates are largely shaped by parental presence, community life, and student achievement. To enhance mobility, public policy needs to enhance the lives of disadvantaged people at home, in school, and in communities, not just the social class of their friendships.

Most research about how to improve the teacher workforce has focused on interventions designed to improve incumbent teachers, far less attention has been directed toward teacher hiring processes and whether districts can make better hiring decisions. Using data from Spokane Public Schools and Washington state, we describe the findings from a study analyzing measures of the predictive validity of teacher applicant quality measures obtained from professional references. We find that professional reference ratings of prospective teachers are significantly predictive of teacher quality as measured by inservice performance evaluations and teacher value added in math. These findings are driven by applicants with at least some teaching experience and vary by rater type (e.g., principal or university supervisor); the magnitude of the relationship between the ratings of applicants and teacher performance is much smaller and not statistically significant for applicants that do not have teaching experience. Overall, the evidence suggests that obtaining explicit ratings of teacher applicants from professional references is a low-cost way to contribute to the applicant information available to hiring officials and has potential for improving hiring outcomes.

Created by LatCrit scholars in the mid-2000s, Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) is an antideficit framework for understanding educational inequality. Since its publication, Yosso's (2005) seminal paper on the topic has been cited thousands of times by scholars in fields as distinct as engineering, K-12 education, and public health. This paper reviews the recent scholarship on college students' experiences and outcomes that uses CCW as a guiding framework. Although the intended audience for this review is career services professionals in colleges and universities, my hope is it can also be helpful for scholars of career development who want to brush up on the CCW literature and consider future research questions the framework presents. The existing literature offers insights on the college-to-career transition. It reveals the centrality of familial capital in shaping students' career pathways, the function of resistant capital in forming students' career interests, the utility of students' existing social capital in the job search process, and the role of counterspaces in activating CCW for career success. However, CCW scholarship typically focuses on college students' matriculation, persistence, sources of support, and wellbeing, not on their career development--including the psychological, spiritual, sociocultural, political and economic factors influencing students' career interests and the knowledge, relationships, and environmental contexts shaping their career choices (Duffy & Dik, 2009). This gap presents opportunities for researchers and career services professionals to partner in creating and evaluating programming with CCW in mind. There are also opportunities to increase the methodological diversity of CCW scholarship, to consider the ways in which students mix CCW with "dominant" forms of capital for career success, to collect data from employers, faculty, and other gatekeepers, and to account for the role of institutional context.

Professional societies (ProSs) are instrumental in shaping science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) cultural norms. Existing legacy structures designed to serve majority groups and constructed in service of dominant norms and values present a clear obstacle to attracting, retaining, and serving minoritized STEM professionals, such as women, particularly women with additional intersecting marginalized statuses (Solebello et al., 2016). In this perspective article, we in the Amplifying the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Success project, known as ACCESS+, explain our development of an adapted diversity, equity, and inclusion assessment tool. ACCESS+ is an NSF ADVANCE Partnership that is adapting a pre-existing tool known as the Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework, which was developed in the United Kingdom jointly by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Science Council (2021). As with the original version, the purpose of the U.S. adaptation--the Equity Environmental Scanning Tool, or EEST--is to provide STEM ProSs with a way to benchmark their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, discern areas of organizational strength, and identify foci for organizational remediation. In this piece, we share background information for EEST refinement, including content adaptations and structural changes.

Scholars recognize that K-12 teachers' social interactions, particularly within teaching focused relationships, are important to professional development. This is true whether discussions take place in formal or informal settings. Few studies, however, seek to link the teaching-focused relationships of "college faculty" directly to their instructional practice, nor to explore perceptions of what these relationships entail and how they influence teaching at the college level. Using surveys (n=868), interviews (n=83), and a social capital theoretical framework, this mixed-methods social network analysis explores associations between teaching focused "personal networks"--compilations of relationships surrounding individual faculty-- and the use of evidence-based instructional methods. We also explore faculty perceptions of how network interactions shape their teaching. Quantitative results indicate that the size, range, and strength of faculty teaching-focused personal networks positively correlate with the use of evidence-based instructional methods, while qualitative results point to the ways faculty see different kinds of network ties, relational mechanisms and objects, and returns influencing teaching practice.

This paper was written in 2018 by NCWD/Youth [National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth] to inform the development of the Guideposts for Success 2.0, an update to the original Guideposts for Success published in 2005. Since it was created in 2005, the Guideposts for Success has become nationally recognized as a valuable research-based framework to inform policies and practices designed to prepare and support youth in transition to adulthood. In 2012, NCWD/Youth began an in-depth process aimed at updating the Guideposts for Success to reflect the latest research studies and current professional standards of practice for supporting youth in transition to adulthood across multiple service systems and sectors. The process included reviewing literature related to youth transition from multiple disciplines.

With the increasing price tag of college and rising student debt, the employability of graduates is a dominant narrative shaping postsecondary policy and practice. Yet, completion and the acquisition of a credential alone does not guarantee employment, and research on hiring reveals its subjective aspects, particularly when cultural signals of applicants are matched to those of organizations. In this qualitative study of 42 manufacturing firms, the prevalence of hiring for cultural fit is examined using thematic and social network methods to analyze the interviews that were conducted. Results indicate that 74% of employers hire for cultural fit, but, contrary to prior research, this matching process is not simply a matter of fitting applicant personalities to monolithic "organizational cultures" or interviewer preferences. Instead, employers match diverse applicant "dispositions" (e.g., personality, attitude) and "competencies" (e.g., cognitive, interpersonal, intrapersonal) to the personalities of existing staff as well as to industry-specific norms that are dominant within specific departments. The paper discusses implications of these findings for college students, faculty, and career advisors, especially in light of the potential for discriminatory practices during the job search and hiring process.

Existing research on the effectiveness of college career services centers (CSCs) has primarily focused on students' rates of utilization and their satisfaction with the programs and services offered. Based on survey (n = 372) and focus group data (n = 35) from undergraduate business students, we found that participants were most satisfied with the CSC's provision of practical tools that enhanced employability and were least satisfied with the CSC's integration of students' backgrounds and interests during advising. Our qualitative analysis yielded three categories of contributors (i.e., sociocultural factors, independent activities, and institutional factors) to student career outcomes, which were psychological characteristics, career decisions, and social capital. Sociocultural factors were most prominently featured in students' narratives of their experiences, in that they shaped how students leveraged institutional resources and how they engaged in independent activities as part of their career trajectories. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Research indicates that teamwork, communication, self-directed learning, and problem-solving skills are strongly linked to individual academic and professional success, yet little is known regarding how college educators and employer trainers learn to better teach or train others in these valuable skills in postsecondary and employment STEM contexts. This pilot study uses social network analysis--a research perspective studying relationships or "social ties" to better understand the ways interactions influence behavior--to explore the dimensions of educator and trainer discussions regarding methods for helping students or employees acquire important skills. The study also examines whether educators and employers believe such discussions influence their instruction. A descriptive analysis of data from online surveys collected from educators (n=192) and employers (n=70) in technology and manufacturing fields in southern Wisconsin and western New York indicates respondents frequently engage in such teaching- and training-focused discussions with people inside and outside their colleges and businesses. Though more college educators are involved in such conversations than employers, employer trainers who engage in such conversations do so with individuals affiliated with more diverse organizations. Results also indicate that educators and employers who have these discussions do so at a similar frequency. Finally, most educators and employers with teaching- and training-focused social networks perceive them to be beneficial to their teamwork, communication, self-directed learning, and problem-solving instruction. In light of these findings, leaders hoping to further develop teaching- and training-focused social networks in education and employment fields may find more success in openly promoting the importance of such social ties as well as providing more opportunities for intra- and interorganizational professional development in instruction.

Understanding the return on investment (ROI) in VET provides governments with information on the performance of the system and justification for public expenditure. It can help enterprises and individuals to measure productivity improvement in firms or to determine increases in the employability of individuals following training investment. However, the measurement of ROI is not straightforward. This report introduces a conceptual framework for defining what is involved in the ROI calculation and provides a guide to what type of information and data are required to calculate the returns to training for government, employers and individuals.

The call for more expansive access to bilingual education is grounded in a comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the benefits of bilingual education, bilingualism, and biliteracy for students and the larger social fabric. Many studies find that access to bilingual education programs has a medium to large positive impact on students' academic achievement, while also supporting a higher likelihood of being reclassified out of English learners (EL) status to fluent English proficient. Importantly, the benefits of bilingual education and bilingualism go beyond academic and English language outcomes, with benefits for students' home language development, cognitive functioning, social-emotional and sociocultural outcomes, and students' future employment and earnings. This paper looks at the next 25 years of education and policy making regarding students classified as EL. Given the strong research evidence on the benefits of bilingual education and need to address barriers to opportunity experienced by English learners, this paper strengthens the case for federal, state and local education policy and action that looks toward the implementation of bilingual education as the standard service--rather than exception--for EL-classified students. [For the executive summary, see ED628814.]

As they adopt and adapt emerging approaches, K-12 leaders have a tremendous opportunity to activate the latent social capital within families to improve students' experiences and outcomes. Whether they succeed depends on where and how schools activate family networks, and for what purposes. This paper details five emerging opportunities for leaders to explore: (1) leveraging technology tools to foster connections and build trust with families can dramatically improve the quality of partnership between families and schools; (2) designing family engagement efforts that support families alongside students can deliver long-term social capital gains for students; (3) enlisting families as partners within students' learning ecosystems can open up access to extracurricular, postsecondary, and career pathways that can be difficult to achieve otherwise, particularly for under-resourced students; (4) connecting families to one another can create more accessible; and affordable, and flexible options for scaling student support; and (5) integrating metrics to gauge the quality of family-school interactions within existing data dashboards can be a game-changer for driving student success. The innovative tools and models highlighted in this paper reflect the fact that it's networks--not just grades and degrees--that are needed to ensure students' wellbeing, academic growth, and expanded career options. As part of these networks, families are an inherent and requisite resource for schools committed to meeting the complex needs of present and future generations in a rapidly changing world.

In the past decade, public sentiment has shifted increasingly to question the value of a college education. These concerns have diverse causes, including the rising cost and questions about the return on investment of higher education, the growing precariousness and insecurity of middle-class households regarding paying for higher education, and changes to the supply of and demand for highly educated workers. Recognizing that non-economic outcomes can be challenging to quantify, the authors have launched the Next Generation Undergraduate Success Measurement Project, which uses diverse forms of data (including surveys, performance assessments, administrative records, learning management system data, and experiential sampling) alongside information on students' longitudinal trajectories to define near- and long-term measures of the multifaceted benefits students derive from college attendance. In this paper, ways of conceptualizing and measuring the value of college education through longitudinal observation of undergraduate student experiences, attitudes, and behaviors are articulated. The paper begins by briefly reviewing prior work measuring higher education learning outcomes that informs the project's efforts. The sections that follow go on to discuss how to attempt to measure aspects of undergraduate student growth and development, which can provide a framework for identifying the value of attending postsecondary institutions in a manner aligned with the achievement of later life course success. The paper focuses on: (1) measuring cognitive ability and intellectual dispositions; (2) development of identity and adaptive life-course agency; (3) self-regulation skills; (4) social capital; (5) civic engagement; and (6) mental health and psychological flourishing. The paper concludes with reflections on the challenges and opportunities surrounding efforts to define and measure the value of higher education.

Pathways to economic opportunity are broken in the United States, disproportionately affecting Black, Latinx, and Indigenous individuals and those from low-income backgrounds. Disrupting long-standing occupational segregation and improving outcomes for all will require a system of career navigation that gives all individuals economic agency and opportunity. Unlocking Economic Prosperity: Career Navigation in a Time of Rapid Change dissects the evidence and practice of career navigation and sets an agenda for a more equitable career navigation ecosystem. Based on an extensive literature review and consultation with experts and frontline workers, we identify the drivers of career navigation success and lay out core design principles and recommendations for the future. At a time of rapid technological transformation, policymakers, employers, educators, intermediaries, and philanthropies must collaborate to build a system of supports and pathways that provide all individuals with the information, skills, social capital, resources, and social structures they need to advance. [This paper was produced by the Harvard Kennedy School's Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, the Harvard Business School Managing the Future of Work Project, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education as part of the Project on Workforce at Harvard.]

This piece of research project has demonstrated that there is a gap in educational achievement between parents' access to social capital and children's educational outcomes in a global context by examining England, United States and China specifically. Through examining educational resources, from in-school factors, such as facilities, teacher quality and teacher to student ratio, to out-of-school factors, such as family structure, socioeconomic status, and community values. This research paper evaluates several theories of social capital in the hopes of providing an explanation for why this achievement gap exists.The literature review outlines an analogy between Diamond's (1999) geographic luck theory and the education system in a global context. The review of the literature also examines the relationship between parents' access to socioeconomic background and academic performance across diverse backgrounds. This paper shows the importance of all kinds of resources to academic achievement and how social capital plays a consequential role in the students' educational outcomes.

Ready, Connected, Supported: A Framework for Youth Workforce Development and the YES Project, a working paper from the Center for Promise--the research arm of America's Promise Alliance--provides an overview of the "Ready, Connected, Supported" framework--the backbone of America's Promise Alliance's YES Project, a national campaign to reduce youth unemployment. This framework represents a shared approach from which everyone from employers and public officials to community leaders and young people themselves is driving action toward increased opportunities for workplace success and development. In a nation built on the promise of opportunity, too many young people struggle to find a solid foothold in the world of work. The youth unemployment crisis is complex, pervasive, and persistent, with wide-reaching consequences for states and communities across the national and global economies. In the U.S., recent annual estimates indicate that 1.8 million young people ages 16-24 are available and actively searching for work, but are unable to secure a job. This working paper begins with an overview of the YES Project's guiding framework--the "Ready, Connected, Supported" framework and is followed by a brief review of existing literature outlining the importance and changing nature of work in the 21st century as well as a portrait of the youth employment crisis in the U.S. today. This background serves as context for the Ready, Connected, Supported framework, situating the three domains that make up the framework within the extant literature and research.

Volunteer participation benefits societies and individuals. The objective of this study was to examine the roles of education and adult literacy in formal volunteering among a nationally representative sample of the U.S. middle-aged and older adults (45-74 years) by race and ethnicity (Whites, Blacks, Hispanics). Using cross-sectional data (n = 3,770) from the 2012/2014/2017 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), structural equation models were used to determine mediation relationships among educational attainment, literacy, and volunteering. The effect of educational attainment on formal volunteering was significantly greater among middle-aged and older Black adults compared to their Hispanic counterparts, as well as among middle-aged and older White adults compared to their Hispanic counterparts. However, literacy was the education-volunteering mediator among White adults only. Suggested policy implications include support for volunteer participation through culturally and socioeconomically sensitive approaches along with human capital development in adult life stages. [This paper was published in "Educational Gerontology" Oct 2022.]

Efforts to invest in students' networks--either to bolster support or expand professional opportunities--should start with a deep understanding of and appreciation for the networks of which they are already members. Recognizing and respecting students' inherent resources and cultural wealth is what this report refers to as an asset-based approach. Luckily, a host of innovative organizations focused on more equitably building and maintaining students' social capital are doing just that. This report describes the profound potential of these organizations' approaches to mapping and mobilizing students' existing social networks, and details emerging strategies and tools that schools should consider. To surface these examples, the authors interviewed and convened program leaders from a variety of schools, nonprofits, and social enterprises. These leaders have all endeavored to help students map out, reflect on, and mobilize their existing networks in some form or fashion. Because deficit-based approaches may be more common among institutions serving low-income students, first-generation students, and students of color, the majority of the programs interviewed explicitly focus on serving students from these backgrounds, with strategies attuned to their students' racial and cultural identities. This paper explores the research behind relationship mapping and the basic tenets of building a relationship map. To illustrate how and when schools can use relationship mapping to serve a variety of short- and long-term goals, it highlights examples of current programs. Finally, it offers recommendations for furthering the vision and unlocking the potential of relationship mapping.