Publications

Winning the Global Talent Showdown

Winning the Global Talent Showdown: How Businesses & Communities Can Partner to Rebuild the Jobs Pipeline.
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler

• Exposes the root causes of the coming talent crisis facing the Americas, Asia, and Europe
• Shows how we can prevent the crisis by reinventing the education-to-employment system
• Includes dozens of examples of how this is already being done across America and around the world

See Winning the Global Talent Showdown excerpts on Amazon

Winning the Global Talent Showdown surveys the sorry state of the world talent pipeline. Demographic trends in America, Europe, Russia, and Japan are reducing the pool of new workers. As the global need for talent grows, China and India's educational systems won't be able to produce enough qualified graduates for themselves, let alone the rest of the world. But the heart of the problem is that education-to-employment system worldwide is badly outmoded. We're not producing graduates with the kinds of technical, communications, and thinking skills needed in the 21st century.

But this is fundamentally a book about solutions. It argues that we need to completely reinvent our talent-creation system — and some pioneering efforts are already underway. It describes dozens of "gateways to the future", innovative partnerships in which local governments, schools, businesses, labor unions, parents, training organizations, community activists, and others are collaborating to develop completely new approaches to education. Gordon himself is actively involved in some of these initiatives. 

Reviews of Winning the Global Talent Showdown:

"Winning the Global Talent Showdown is recommended for business, education, and community leaders interested in growing a workforce to fit the business world's changing needs."

—ForeWord

"I highly recommend the prophetic, yet highly practical Winning the Global Talent Showdown  . . . to anyone seeking to understand the real underlying causes of the global talent shortage. Cutting through the myths, half baked populist slogans, and misinformation, the author not only describes the problems, but also offers cooperative, workable, and effective solutions."   For complete review, click here

—Wayne Hurlbert
Blog Business World

"How can learning professionals engage in efforts to rebuild the jobs pipeline? Gordon provides answers to these questions in examining the current state and potential future of the global talent pool. . . . He includes inspirational stories from programs around the world that are creating sustainable talent pools."

—T&D
American Society for
Training & Development

"Effectively highlights the different challenges of North America, Asia, and Europe . . . pinpointing the causes of the 'global talent crunch'.  Winning the Global Talent Showdown . . . is definitely engaging. . . and reading it will give you a better understanding on how to recreate the talent system."

—Human Resources (Singapore)

"Winning the Global Talent Showdown offers prescient and futuristic information and thinking about education, work and employment, and careers. [It is] powerful, erudite, purposeful, inspiring! "

  —Pat Nellor Wickwire, Ph.D. President
                     American Association for Career Education

                 
"This 188 page thought-provoking book should be read by anyone interested in helping state organizations or their local community and its education system system to be successful. Read it; share it with others; discuss its content with your colleagues. I agree with the author when he says the time to act is now."

---Peter Gamache
HR Exchange (New Hampshire)

"Gordon gives well supported evidence for the upcoming global worker shortage and practical solutions for alleviating the problem."

---Office Pro

"Gordon provides a compelling road map for the future."

---Engineering News-Record

"Immensely readable."

—Jana Kemp
Idaho Press Tribune

Read economist Morris Bechloss's comments on the relevance of Winning the Global Talent Showdown to the current U.S. employment situation.

For Morris Bechloss's comments, click here

Comments on Winning the Global Talent Showdown:

"Winning the Global Talent Showdown goes way beyond a mere brace of suggestions. Ed Gordon's insightful analyses of the continuing and projected workforce skill deficits are complemented by many practical and common-sense solutions."

—Kevin Hollenbeck,
Assistant Executive Director and Senior Economist
Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

"After taking us on a global tour of talent formation strategies, Ed Gordon encourages us to commit to realistic action steps for leveraging our community's talent resources into a clear and coherent working network. Each community's talent formation is an imperative and an opportunity for all to participate."

—Peggy Luce,
Vice President
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

"A remarkable survey of worldwide efforts to get an efficient workforce. It is probably the only one of its kind on the talent marketplace.

---Hans A. Schiser, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
International Workforce Training & Education
DePaul University, Chicago

"In the best analysis of its kind, Ed Gordon cogently defines the demographic and econmic forces presenting us with unprecedented challenges in creating the workforce we need. He proposes clear, workable solutions for addressing the education, training, and community development systems we require."

—Henry J. Lindborg,
Professor, Marian University

"Technology has exploded our need for talents to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. We must educate to meet that need. Winning shows us how."

—Paul Miller, Partner
Sonnenshein, Nath & Rosenthal

"Gordon's passion for his subject, command of the literature, expert integration of complex issues, and informal style of communicating lure the reader chapter by chapter through a thorough exposition of global workforce conditions, prescriptions for change, and a report on organizations productively preparing for their future."

—Paul Hettich, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, DePaul University

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The 2010 Meltdown

Featured in the Sunday New York Times!
The 2010 Meltdown:
Solving the Impending
Jobs Crisis.
Publisher: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood

To see or download a Podcast of an Ed Gordon interview on jobs and careers from Penn State Public Broadcasting, click here.

The 2010 Meltdown issues a wake-up call to overcome the twin economic shocks of baby-boomer retirements and too few younger well-educated people. It details how these trends are creating a labor vacuum in a rising tide of high-skill, technology-related jobs.

• Offers companies outsourcing alternatives
• Spells out solutions to filling high-tech jobs
• Provides answers for finding tomorrow's high-wage careers

 

The 2010 Meltdown marshals vast amounts of data to illustrate the potentially disastrous consequences of these issues for economic competitiveness and individual opportunity.

The 2010 Meltdown reveals that while parents and students are obsessed with technology, millions of high-paying jobs in engineering, computing, and health care are going unfilled.

The 2010 Meltdown challenges Wall Street's cultural obsession with short-term returns that results in cost-cutting rather than long-term training and education.

The 2010 Meltdown details solutions in community development, training, and education from around the world as models for positive action.

See The 2010 Meltdown excerpts on Amazon

Reviews:

"Gordon, business and education consultant, challenges policy makers to address the anticipated shortage of highly educated and technically trained workers.... He describes a cultural lag that has led to "techno-peasants" who drop out of high school, have outdated career skills, and seem destined for low-paying jobs, and a business environment that focuses too much on short-term profits, outsourcing, and importing temporary workers. To produce a more educated and technically skilled workforce, he recommends a cultural change in which parents are more involved in their children's education. He also discusses how community involvement in education can be enhanced with the development of NGOs that involve businesses in local community organizations such as chambers of commerce and service clubs to guide students to new careers... The 2010 Meltdown is especially useful for business professionals, policy makers, and educators. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections."

—Choice, March 2006

"Ed Gordon, a business author whose books are filled with examples, illustrations, and explanations that flow from extensive research, has done it again. In this thought-provoking book, Gordon lays out the critical situation employers will face - do face - in finding and holding employees who have the education and training to get the job done.... You can open this book to practically any page and be instantly drawn into the story.... Gordon brings this issue to life. Recommended for business leaders, educators, human resource professionals, politicians, and enlightened citizens who are dedicated to making a difference for the generations that will follow us."   

 — Library Bookwatch/Midwest Book Review

"You can benefit from reading The 2010 Meltdown by Edward Gordon if you:
Recruit and manage employees.
Care about your child's career preparation.
Are an educator or policy-maker concerned about our country's economic future.
Want to counter the growing divide between the haves and the have-nots.

... "Despite some of the bleak findings and comments, Gordon's book is hopeful. He calls for action to avoid a major meltdown in our work force and describes model programs involving partnerships between educators, employers and community organizations that pave the way for others who want to work for change." (See complete Review)

—Margo Frey
Milwaukee Sentinel

"Ed Gordon's latest book, The 2010 Meltdown, builds off his earlier success, Skill Wars, and makes a convincing case that organizations failing to be proactive to help create a skilled labor pool may very well face their own demise in the long term."

—Richard Melson
Chambridge Forecast Group

"Whether you work in a business, service sector, non-profit organization, governmental agency, or school setting, Gordon's book prompts critical thinking about where we are headed and what we need to be both discussing and taking action upon in order to prevent a 2010 meltdown of our workforce and our economy.

—Jana Kemp
Idaho Press-Tribune

Comments on The 2010 Meltdown:

"A realistic and optimistic view of the demand for/supply of talent....This book is loaded with facts and insights."

Yvette Borcia & Gerry Sterns
Sterns & Associates 

"Ed Gordon's latest book, The 2010 Meltdown, builds off his earlier success, Skill Wars, in giving the smart reader a 'nine-one-one' emergency wake-up call to the widening gap between unfilled 'Help Wanted' jobs and a workforce unfit for hire.

In his latest book, the author goes beyond the tsunami-like workplace crisis building at the 2010 threshold and spotlights promising solutions. Gordon makes it clear that the 'knowledge worker' will be in demand. The question is, 'Will there be enough knowledge workers to meet the demand?'

The 2010 Meltdown is a must read for community leaders looking to understand this paradigm shift. The author makes a convincing case that those organizations failing in the foresight and fight necessary to make the shift will begin to disappear along with low-skilled jobs."

Michael Metzler
President/CEO
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce

"Read it and spread its call. The data is devastating; the problem clear. We simply aren't educating or training for today's world. Unless we wake up and begin to act now, our economy will inevitably slide and, over time, even our democratic system may be threatened. The solution? Ed Gordon tell us that it does not lie with government-national or local-alone, or business alone, or community action alone, or family alone. It requires what he sees as a change of culture: we must mobilize the energies of all of these elements to stop and reverse the meltdown. We can. But will we?"

Paul J. Miller
Senior Partner
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal

"The 2010 Meltdown strikes a much needed chord for a culture change in schools and the way we value young people. Schools must become responsive to the real world. There is time to accomplish change, but is there the political will?"

Joan M. Klaus
Chairman
Illinois College Access Network

"Thoroughly researched. Tightly written. This painfully realistic view of tomorrow's global workforce is provocative, instructive, and hopefully stimulating. An urgent must-read for senior executives, human resource professionals, political leaders, and progressive educators. Learn, be challenged, be inspired. It's all here!"

Roger E. Herman
CEO, The Herman Group
Author of Impending Crisis

"As always, you are right on the money. There is much to learn from every page."

Robert B. Zettler
Vice President
Workforce & Community Development
North Central State College
Mansfield, Ohio

"The 2010 Meltdown predicts that a major business culture shift is underway to balance short-term profit taking with long-term human capital development. Gordon suggests how to measure ROI on human capital investments and why employee training, development and education at all levels will be essential for business innovation and, therefore, business survival."

Peggy Luce
Vice President
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

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Skill Wars

National Best Seller!
Skill Wars, Winning the Battle
for Productivity and Profit.
Publisher: Butterworth/Heinemann

Skill Wars clearly explains  the interrelationship between investing in technology and investing in people. It shows how to increase productivity and profit through human capital development.
Skill Wars shows how to accurately measure training's ROI (Return-on-Investment) by introducing a Nine-Step ROI Worksheet.
(Click here for the Worksheet.)
This title provides business case studies that show how quality training can deliver better skills and foster the development of employee critical competencies. From across America and the world Skill Wars gathers examples of realistic career-education programs based on business-education cooperation that are preparing the next generation of workers.

See Skill Wars excerpts on Amazon.

What The Critics Are Saying About Skill Wars!

"Gordon has done an excellent job of putting the problems together.... Unlike many books ... that just identify problems, this one goes further by giving examples of ... what systems worked." 

-Robert Howell
Journal of Industrial Teacher Education

"A vital book for our times....You will bob your head up and down in agreement as you read this book. You'll also shake your head in disbelief and amazement as you realize how far behind we are - how much remains to be done. Gordon cites the numbers, concentrating on the ROI: the Return-on-Investment in building skills and capacity....The pages are packed with information....More people need to read this book. Now."

-Roger Herman, author
Impending Crisis, (2003)

"If you are a member of upper management, we predict you will find Ed's insight and precise methodology enormously enlightening."

-Joseph H. Boyett & Jimmie T. Boyett, co-authors
The Guru Guide,

"This is the book every employee would love to have his/her employer read. Just as important, virtually every worker, regardless of profession, would love to see concepts from this tome implemented at the workplace....A powerful, surprisingly easy-to-read book that's simply a must for anyone in business today."

Harvey Star

"Hailed by business leaders and forward-looking educators alike, this provocative new book addresses the disparity between available jobs and trained workers -- concluding that our college-at all costs mentality gravely threatens our economy and cheats our students. The solution? Redoubled emphasis on career and technical education, curriculum integration, computer literacy and teacher technology education."

-Association for Career & Technical Education

"Whatever our product or service, a trained workforce is the key to victory. If you need convincing, read Ed Gordon's Skill Wars. If you're already convinced, read it for the new tools it gives you to measure the impact of your training efforts on the bottom line."

-Paul J. Miller, Senior Partner
Sonnenschein, Nath, & Rosenthal

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FutureWork, the Revolution Reshaping American Business

by Edward E. Gordon, Judith A. Ponticell, & Ronald R. Morgan
Publisher: Praeger/Greenwood

The authors offer proven skills, training, and educational applications that develop individual employee thinking for total quality management, ISO 9000, or other quality-team business programs. FutureWork develops the great potential of using cognitive-based learning to empower people for quality and workplace leadership systems that move beyond traditional behavior-based training techniques. The authors explain what can and cannot be done to increase "creative thinking," insight, and adult intelligence. They provide bottom-line measures for assessing the effectiveness of training procedures and show how a commitment to substantive life-long employee education can build a stronger business and corporate presence in the marketplace of the future.

Reviews:

"The book FutureWork is a terrific example of how research can be complied so that training and development practitioners can put it to use immediately."

-Training & Development

"What separates this book from others that promote management and employee training efforts is that it is well-informed, well-written, well-researched, clearly illustrated, and chock-full of case studies and examples. Several features of this book are particularly outstanding. First is the authors' genuine understanding of the deep educational needs of American workers, Second, the authors emphasize a cognitive information process over behavioral approaches to worker training and education. Finally, unlike many "how-to" books, this book actually tells one "how to." I recommend this book to those involved in adult business education."

-Personnel Psychology

"This thoughtful and provocative presentation of the role of business in preparing its human resources for the 21st century is written to enable trainers to increase the power and scope of educational programs for the workforce. It is equally relevant to the academic community in structuring business curricula to prepare students to think critically and creatively, to solve problems, to exercise judgment, and to learn new skill and knowledge throughout a lifetime.... Each chapter is well researched and clearly written, and contains an extensive list of references. Pertinent to business faculties as well as to those responsible for continuing education programs."

-Choice

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Literacy in America: Historic Journey and Contemporary Solutions

by Edward E. Gordon and Elaine H. Gordon. Foreword by Gerald Gutek.
Publisher: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood

This book is the first comprehensive history of how the American people achieved varying degrees of literacy from early colonial times to the modern era. The authors demonstrate that literacy education is not synonymous with schooling. By focusing on people rather than statistics, including literacy among women and minority groups, they explore the literacy agents, methods, and materials used at different times and places throughout the history of the country.

Reviews:

Edward and Elaine Gordon are back with a highly readable monograph/textbook hybrid...[H]ow the Gordons illuminate specifics, and how they compare and contrast places and trends, gives their text an edge in reader–friendliness without sacrificing scholarly rigor. The index and standard bibliography are both thorough... The Gordons really know how to tell stories. Readers will appreciate how they reconstruct the lives of teachers over two centuries, largely in settings outside formal schooling. Scholars and students of the roles of women in the history of education will find a wonderful archive of material.... In their areas of emphasis, and in the book's readability, scholarship, and ease of use as a reference tool, the Gordons succeeded admirably."

–History of Education Quarterly

"A major contribution to the history of literacy with appeal well beyond the scholarly audience. Every teacher of literacy would be enriched by reading it. A strength of the book is its careful attention to regional differences. Throughout, the authors detail how literacy experiences were mediated by geography, religion, race and ethnicity, social class and gender.... The book is rich in gripping anecdotes."

–Journal of American History

 Gordons and Gordon's deft use of documentation, thorough and exhaustive research, skillful prose, and sense of purpose ensure that all readers, regardless of their familiarity with the topic, will come away with some new knowledge and insight. Literacy in America is a pleasurable, informative account of literacy's historic journey.

–The Social Science Journal

"This well–researched history of literacy in the US extends from Colonial New England to the 21st century.... Scholarly historical treatment of a critically important and contemporary topic. Highly recommended. All levels."

–Choice

"The strength of this book is in its variety of first person sources.... These stories and others of approaches to literacy education add color and credibility to more standard histories of education in the United States."

–American Historical Review

"As a wonderful collection of stories from 300 years' worth of American social and educational history it is a compelling and readable 'historic journey'."

–Paedagogica Historica

 

"Literacy in America provides a well–documented account of the variety of ways people learned to read and write throughout America's history.... By emphasizing the particular experiences of readers and teachers over more comprehensive discussions of literacy levels, the Gordons stress the various 'journeys' to literacy traversed in different periods of American history and the ways in which these were reinforced by the support of family, religious groups, and the workplace, as well as in the schoolroom. The models they find in the historical patterns of individualized instruction and the responsibility for literacy education shared by many social groups offer intriguing models for addressing the pressing need for more sophisticated and widespread literacy in today's population."

–Anthropology & Education Quarterly

 

"An extensive, meticulously researched, and superbly organized and presented historical survey of literacy in America.... No definite Education History or American History reference collection can be considered complete without the inclusion of Literacy in America."

–Midwest Book Review

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The Tutoring Revolution: Applying Research for Best Practices, Policy Implications, and Student Achievement

by Edward E. Gordon, Ronald R. Morgan, Charles J. O'Malley, & Judith Ponticell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006

The Tutoring Revolution presents a comprehensive research–driven perspective on what we know and don't know about tutoring. The authors link theories, research, and practice together in a coherent, consistent manner to form a new foundation of specific recommendations and strategies to help improve tutoring across America. The book includes practical guidelines for selecting a tutor and proposes ethical and regulatory tutoring standards for use by tutors and state agencies. It will be useful to educators, researchers, and parents. If a true tutoring revolution is to benefit American education, their participation will be essential to further research on effective tutoring and improve consumer safeguards.

The Tutoring Revolution includes:

• Research based best practices for better student achievement
• Consumer guidelines to identify highly qualified tutors
• Ethical standards and regulatory guidelines for tutoring programs
• Concepts drawn from educational psychology that better support and inform the tutoring process

 

About the Authors

E. Gordon, R.Morgan & J. Ponticell

Edward E. Gordon, Ph.D. is an international expert on tutoring, individualized education, and literacy issues. He is the author of Centuries of Tutoring (1990), Tutor Quest (2002), and Peer Tutoring (2005). Gordon is the founder and principal of the research firm Imperial Consulting Corporation in Chicago and previously taught at DePaul, Loyola, and Northwestern universities in Chicago.

Ronald R. Morgan, Ph.D. is an expert in the psychology of learning and instruction. He is a professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Psychology at Loyola University, Chicago.

Judith Ponticell, Ph.D. is associate vice president for academic affairs and professor of educational leadership at the University of South Florida, Lakeland. She previously worked as an accreditation, program, and grant evaluator in Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, and Florida. She served as a consultant to schools, school districts, state departments, and businesses at local, state, and national levels.

Charles J. O'Malley, Ph.D. is an independent education consultant specializing in public policy–related issues and provides policy development assistance to national, state and local organizations. He has served as executive assistant for Private Education to three U.S. secretaries of education (Ted Bell, Bill Bennett, and Lauro Cavazos), and recently returned to the U.S. Department of Education as a policy consultant to the deputy secretary of education.

Reviews:

"This is critical information . . . outlining key components that support high-quality tutoring. . . . [T]hese research-driven perspectives are necessary to make specific recommendations for the best use of NCLB funding. Summing Up: Recommended. Research and professional collections."

-Choice

"[The] co-authors . . . present a comprehensive reivew of current research about tutoring as it relates to how students learn. . . . The final sections of the book deal with the ethics and future of tutoring. With sample contracts and commentary on what companies typically include in their programs, these sections serve as an important quality-control tool for anyone who is responsible for making the slection of a tutoring program for the school district."

-The School Administrator

 

Comments on The Tutoring Revolution:

"As both government–financed and privately–paid tutoring explode on the periphery of K–12 education this perceptive guidebook is welcome indeed, the more so because it examines what works, not just what's happening."

Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
President, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation

"The Tutoring Revolution provides . . . very useful perspectives on . . . research–based best practices, student achievement outcomes, and policy development. The four authors . . . blended expertise . . . provide an academic treatment of tutoring. The extensive bibliography is especially useful for those who would like to pursue research and teaching in tutoring."

Eunice N. Askov, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor Emerita of Education
Penn State University
Co–Director Emerita
Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy
Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy

"[The Tutoring Revolution was] a text that for me was easy to understand (not a bunch of educationese) and was truly enjoyable to read. I know there are 'how to' tutoring books out there, but this book is a research–based 'how to think about' tutoring book, and I really appreciated the difference. I especially liked the discussions of the education theories that support and inform the tutoring process."

Dianna Baycich
Literacy Projects Coordinator
Ohio Literacy Resource Center
Kent State University

"The Tutoring Revolution presents a fair and unbiased look at he successful world of private tutoring. . . Parents as well as educators in private practice will find the book a useful tool. It is a succinct guide for parents attempting to choose the most appropriate tutor for their child, and it is a masterful piece of research for educators wishing to improve their tutoring practices."

Jim Giovannini, Founder
Academic Tutoring Centers
Park Ridge, Illinois

"The Tutoring Revolution is a great asset. . . The authors explain No Child Left Behind (Supplemental Services) so that people can realize the implications to all tutorials. . . "The Tutoring Revolution can help identify a framework to facilitate good tutoring practice. . . These authors act as an agent to change schools and to revolutionize tutoring."

Mike Zenanko, Director
Instructional Services Unit
Jacksonville State University

"The Tutoring Revolution [indicates] that tutoring done by well–trained professional can have a significant impact on learning outcomes . . . [and] that the nation would be well–served if there were undergraduate and graduate courses on tutoring . . . methods, curriculum, and research methodology."

Daniel F. Bassill, President
Tutor/Mentor Connection
Chicago, Illinois

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Peer Tutoring: A Teacher's Resource Guide

by Edward E. Gordon, Ph.D.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Education

In this era of high stakes testing, teachers across America are struggling with the demands of raising student achievement. Tutoring programs can become important learning strategies that will assist students in learning to solve problems, collaborate with others, and think creatively.

Peer Tutoring: A Teacher's Resource Guide gives teachers specific instructional methods to help students raise their skills and critical thinking abilities. It provides step–by–step guidance on:

• Designing a tutoring program
• Training tutors
• Conducting meaningful assessment and evaluation

This guide offers a wide variety of success stories drawn from published research that describes how ordinary teachers have effectively used peer and cross–age tutoring in a wide variety of elementary, high school, and college applications. Sample forms are also included that teachers can adapt for their needs.

View The High School Reform Strategy Toolkit's "Peer Tutoring Best Practices" pages which cite key points from Peer Tutoring: A Teacher's Guide and encourage teachers to consult it for further guidance.

Reviews:

"With decades of experience, Edward E. Gordon is a reliable source for strategies regarding the design and implementation of peer and cross-age tutoring. In Peer Tutoring: A Teacher's Resource Guide he explores what makes tutoring an effective tool, and which students are likely to benefit. The book features practical approaches for elementary, high school, and college level programs, including tips for training tutors, and sample program assessment forms. He also traces success stories from real research."

-NEA Today

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Centuries of Tutoring: A History of Alternative Education in American and Europe

by Edward E. Gordon and Elaine H. Gordon. Foreword by Gerald Gutek.
Publisher: University Press of America

The book examines both the development of tutoring as a form of education and its influences on "schooling," early childhood education and women's issues. It offers a review of what past educators wrote on their work, the lives of their students, and the wider socio–cultural ramifications during centuries of tutoring. The role of the tutor and the tutor–governess is reviewed in education at home as well as the corollary use of tutors in the school. The nineteenth century in Europe and America witnessed the widespread use of tutors and the gradual adoption of mandatory tax–supported public schooling. The study concludes with a review of the contemporary uses of tutoring and an analysis of its historical contributions to Western education.

Reviews:

"... a book not likely to duplicate any others on one's shelf, and one that suggests a variety of productive applications in research and teaching."

–History of Education Quarterly

"... a fascinating good read, well–researched and documented, scholarly but hardly dry and never boring or tedious. Moreover, it is an essential and significant addition to feminist history and politics."

–Educational Studies

"Historians of education often observe that there are far more to the history of learning than the history of schooling, and it is to Gordon's credit that he has attempted to document this important point."

–The American Historical Review

"In an attempt to 'investigate tutoring's widespread applications throughout the history of childhood in the Western world,' the Gordons make excellent use of historical insight and primary sources to produce a very readable history and an interesting perspective on the development of schooling in general. The emphasis on the one–to–one nature of early education is enlightening, especially the account of how the act of tutoring others helped shape the educational philosophy of some of history's greatest thinkers.... Well–written text and superb reference material in the appendixes and source list."

–Choice

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Closing the Literacy Gap in American Business

Closing the Literacy Gap in American Business
by Edward E. Gordon, Judith A. Ponticell, & Ronald R. Morgan
Publisher: Quorum/Greenwood

The authors present their perspectives on workplace literacy past, present, and future and describe how twenty-first-century technology produced America's "literacy gap." The book reviews strengths and weaknesses of current literacy programs, and discusses research on difficult employee literacy problems. Actual case studies describe Individualized Instructional Programs (IIP) for hourly workers, support staff, managers, and professionals. It includes a game plan on how to establish company "Work Force Education" policy and offers multi-level, cost justified programs. Finally, international responses to workplace literacy are considered, along with the development of employee literacy into the next century.

Reviews:

"A well-researched book [that]...offers tested strategies and programs to improve worker skills in an increasingly complex labor market. Of compelling general interest is the author's documentation of the current workforce literacy and skill crisis."

-Carol Kleiman
Chicago Tribune

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Enhancing Learning in Training and Adult Education

by Ronald R. Morgan, Judith A. Ponticell, & Edward E. Gordon
Publisher: Praeger/Greenwood

This book picks up where the well-received FutureWork (1994) left off. It builds a strong case for workplace trainers treating their work as research. The nine chapters are designed to prepare readers to become workplace consultants. The authors present their workplace training program of research as well as a mastery learning model. By presenting ideas from instructional psychology, cognitive science, mastery learning, and performance based assessments, and then relating these findings to the workplace, the authors offer a new way to look at learning in the workplace. Considerable focus is given to the need to enhance diversity within workplace settings. Suggested readings are included with each chapter.

Reviews:

"The purpose of this welcome addition to the area of adult education and training, stated in the preface, is 'to build a strong case for the notion that workplace training would be well served if they [trainers] viewed their work as research.' ...A number of common themes are addressed, including outcome-based education, mastery learning techniques, and practitioners' need to take a test-train-test hypothesis approach to work-related issues in designing training programs. Training applications paradigms are presented throughout, and most of the nine chapters end with the sections `Terms to Know, Questions to Consider,' and `Suggested Readings.' Well researched and well written, this book should be of interest to professionals and practitioners in adult education and to advanced graduate students and higher education faculty and researchers."

-Choice

"Presents an approach to workplace training that is anchored in the literature of education psychology. Discusses the benefits of incorporating cognitive science theories into the leading paradigms of instructional psychology. The authors contend that such links will allow the trainer to treat workplace education and training as research laboratories and design programs that minimize learning differences such as attention, cognitive style expectancies, and memory organization."

-Book News, Inc.

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