This report was written at the request of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio, to inform the discussion of state-level policy makers and other stakeholders on how to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of services provided to Ohio's students with special needs. It is critical for Ohio to find…

Performance-based accountability systems (PBASs), which link incentives to measured performance as a means of improving services to the public, have gained popularity. While PBASs can vary widely across sectors, they share three main components: goals, incentives, and measures. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little…

This report describes the Promoting Success in Zero to Three Services Project, which focused on community-wide efforts in six communities to build systems to provide services for families with infants and toddlers. Part 1 analyzes issues confronted by community stakeholders in their 5-year effort to establish, improve, expand, or maintain services…

This collection of five articles presents the viewpoints of experts on various aspects of the field of instructional technology (IT). Wesley C. Meierhenry traces the history of IT from its original emphasis on audiovisual media to its current concern with instructional design and the use of systems and systematic approaches. Henry T. Ingle…

This study examined processes and strategies utilized by states to implement transition policies designed to facilitate coordination of the state-level service delivery systems of special education, vocational education, and vocational rehabilitation. The study used a model involving four policy instruments: mandates, inducements, capacity…

Postsecondary instructional dynamics is a complex process in which inputs (student characteristics and expectations, resources, and faculty characteristics and preparation) are converted through the educational process (instruction strategies, models, and techniques as well as supportive services) into outputs (outcomes and benefits of instruction…

This collection of essays, which is arranged in four sections, concerns flexibility in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems of Europe. The first section, "Introduction," includes the following chapter: "Shaping Conditions for a Flexible VET" (Nieuwenhuis et al.). The second section, "Institutional and…

This document examines selected issues related to collaboration between the welfare and work force development systems under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Welfare-to-Work grant program, and Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). The document begins with a brief overview of how recent policy developments have created…

This Congressional report contains the testimony presented at a hearing to examine the extent to which Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work services are being provided through the one-stop career centers established through the Workforce Investment Act and to determine how such linkages are impacting program participants. The oral…

Progress in integration of state-level welfare and work force development systems in the Midwest was examined through case studies of 10 communities in 7 states. The case studies focused on local-level coordination and/or integration between the welfare and work force development systems. Despite legislative mechanisms to encourage collaboration,…

The passage of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 (Perkins III) and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) marked a new era in the performance accountability partnership among the states, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Evaluation of vocational education…

Since the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) was enacted in 1998, considerable efforts have been expended at the federal, state, and local levels to effect the transition to the new system mandated by WIA. Several states phased into the new system in July 1999, and all other states followed in mid-2000. Active participation by partner agencies has…

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) was the first significant attempt to retool the nation's workforce development programs since the early 1980s. Titles I-V of the WIA do the following things: (1) establish the purposes, goals and operational framework of a workforce development system designed to increase participants' employment,…

In 2000 and 2001, the Team Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board (Team PA WIB) and its partners worked jointly to address Pennsylvania's workforce needs and respond to the need of its customers through new initiatives, new partnerships, and new strategies. The Team PA WIB and its partners continued implementation of the state's vision to create…

The education-to-labor market transitions experienced by young people in England and in eastern and western Germany were compared. The eastern German portion of the study was based on a 1996 study that included a survey of 100 trainers and 1,000 apprentices in 12 companies; in-depth interviews with 18 trainers, career advisers, and others; and…