Schools and Workplaces

The nation's well-being depends on its ability to create and sustain well-paying jobs and improve the performance of U.S. business in an increasingly complex world economy. For more than a decade, Americans have been concerned that the nation is not doing all that is needed to meet these challenges. In particular, they have raised concerns about the quality of education provided by elementary and secondary schools--especially those attended by disadvantaged students--and about the productivity and performance of workers and their employers. This report summarizes research findings on what has and has not been successful in schools and workplaces.

GAO found that: (1) successful schools and businesses have well-defined missions and have organized their work environment, human resource practices, curriculum and instruction, and management processes in ways that will support their mission; (2) school missions focus on student learning, as well as providing safe and orderly sites, encouraging parents' involvement and collaboration among staff, fostering leadership for instructional improvement, and authorizing school-level problem solving; and (3) successful businesses develop a set of core organizational values, adopt human resource policies that minimize job disruption, and provide educational and training programs for employees, as well as profit-sharing and gain-sharing plans, and a reward structure that is fair and understandable to employees.