Building Better Students ─ Preparation for the Workforce

Led by a team of experts, Building Better Students: Preparation for the Workforce discusses a variety of issues surrounding workforce readiness in the 21st century by presenting the latest research, practice, and policy on what is continually emerging as a febrile field. By featuring such topics as how to define and measure workforce readiness; how to prepare students for the workforce; and bridging the gap between college and workforce readiness, this volume is a necessary contribution to today's "skills gap" literature as society works to not only secure our own economic futures, but our children's futures, as well.

In this volume, world-class contributors from a variety of backgrounds (including industrial/organizational psychology, personality psychology, and educational assessment) all come together to share their unique perspective on the larger issues at hand. In addition to showcasing cutting-edge research, Building Better Students offers insightful commentary and provides readers with the opportunity to not only reflect on these issues, but how to move the needle further for this generation and beyond.

JEREMY BURRUS is a Principal Research Scientist in ProExam's Center for Innovative Assessments. Before coming to ProExam, he was a Principal Research Scientist at ACT, and prior to that a Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service. He graduated with a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2006, and was a post-doctoral research scholar at Columbia Business School in New York City from 2006-2008.

KRISTA D. MATTERN is a Director of the Statistical and Applied Research Department at ACT. Previously, she was a Principal Research Scientist, and prior to that a Research Scientist at College Board. See graduated with a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Her research focuses on validity and fairness issues in the context of higher education.

BOBBY NAEMI is a Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Rice University in 2008. His main research interests are personality and psychometrics and his current work at ETS involves applying existing noncognitive measures to predict workforce and educational outcomes, as well as developing and validating new fake-resistant noncognitive measures.

RICHARD D. ROBERTS is Chief Scientist at ProExam's Center for Innovative Assessments, developing noncognitive assessment products. Prior to this position, he was a Principal Research Scientist at the Educational Testing Service, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and a National Research Council Fellow at Brooks Air Force Base. He is widely published in his field with about a dozen books, nearly 200 peer-review articles (or book chapters), and over 400 presentations around the globe.