"Improving the Odds is a blend of previously unpublished research, literature reviews on training for groups ranging from welfare recipients to incumbent workers, and prescriptions for improving training policies and programs written by some of the leading researchers in the field. The authors offer policymakers, administrators and researchers alike timely, practical insights on ways to improve the success of training programs at all levels in the context of rapidly changing global markets. The policy implications and recommendations contained in this volume carry well beyond the programs now being implemented under the Workforce Investment and the Carl D. Perkins Acts. This is an excellent collection that anyone with an interest in the workforce enterprise should have on his or her desk."

—Ray Marshall, Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, U.S. Secretary of Labor, 1977-1981

"This is an incredibly well-timed book. A new federal law for employment and training programs was just passed and is being implemented right now. Barnow and King are two of the nation's leading experts on the subject, and they have included chapters by respected colleagues—which makes this an essential book for everyone who works in the field of job training"

—Richard P. Nathan, Director, Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, SUNY Albany

"One of the most difficult questions in the world of public policy is what can be done to help the workforce left behind by the recent economic prosperity. Improving the Odds offers solid conclusions about what works-and what doesn't work-in government training programs."

—Peter Cappelli, Director, Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

"Improving the Odds provides a valuable series of papers summarizing the vast literature on publicly-funded training and recommending improvements in short-term training programs, including those for welfare recipients, disadvantaged and dislocated workers, out-of-school youth, and incumbent workers. The breadth and completeness of these contributions make them fitting commentaries on almost forty years of experimentation."

—W. Norton Grubb, David Gardner Chair in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley

"Improving the Odds should be an extremely valuable resource to both policy makers and practitioners interested in knowing what government-funded training programs have achieved and how they can be made more effective. The authors bring both a wealth of knowledge on these issues and an up-to-date understanding of how the environment has changed as the result of welfare reform and the Workforce Investment Act."

—Isabel V. Sawhill, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

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