This handbook leads the reader through planning and conducting the collaborative evaluation of a workplace development initiative. A glossary is followed by an introduction that addresses the rationale for collaborative evaluation, values and characteristics, using the handbook in one's own situation, and optimum conditions for collaborative…

Reviews approaches taken by Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina, and California to incorporate community college systems into statewide economic development strategies. Approaches focus on small business assistance; anticipation of community needs; incentives for innovation; technology transfer; comprehensive…

Provides an annotated bibliography of ERIC materials on the role of community colleges in economic development, including general articles, services to businesses, state economic development activities, and local economic development. (DMM)

Designed to help community colleges create and operate a business center to serve local employers, this booklet provides information, illustrations, models, and insights to encourage the establishment of new outreach programs into the business community. Section I offers guidance on planning a business center for economic development and job…

Examines trends in work force training needs and innovative approaches to meeting those needs (e.g., business incubators, small business development centers, 2+2 programs, and cooperative education programs). Suggests ways in which community colleges can become more involved in work force development. (DMM)

Identifies the characteristics of collaborative programs focusing on community development, institutional development, and business development. Points to factors which determine the effectiveness of these programs; i.e., organizational mission, the level of leadership responsible for the project, and the depth of institutional involvement. (DMM)

This guide presents the steps necessary to create and pursue a strategic perspective on improving the education system. The emphasis is on generating change in the classroom, and the guide focuses on districtwide school/business initiatives with the goal of basic reform. The guide is organized in six sections that cover the following: (1) the…

Five issues facing vocational education are becoming sufficiently visible to suggest an agenda for community college action. First, the Job Training and Partnership Act, which seeks to address the continued dislocation of the American economy and to rectify problems of structural unemployment, will require greater cooperation and coordination…

Collaboration has become a pervasive strategy for systemic change in human services, education, government, and community agencies. Collaborative partnerships require a change in thinking and in operating. Such changes can be intimidating or threatening. In addition, other barriers must be overcome to make partnerships work. Examples of successful…

This paper begins by presenting tips on developing technical training partnerships from the perspective of the local director of the Ohio Industrial Training Program. This section indicates that every linkage needs a catalyst and that the role of the Ohio Industrial Training Program is to be such a catalyst. The issues and concerns of which the…

Intended as a forum for the discussion of customized workforce training at community colleges, this book addresses the practical considerations, programs, and strategies that come into play when colleges engage in customized contract training for fully-employed learners. The 10 chapters are as follows: (1) "Training for Customized Training:…

Ben Hill-Irwin Technical Institute and the Georgia Interconnect Association designed and developed jointly a project to provide basic knowledge and practical application skills training. The curriculum included all necessary competencies for a student to graduate as a communications network technician. To compensate for the added expense of…

The Workplace Education Initiative was created in Massachusetts to provide workers with the opportunity to develop basic literacy skills, to increase employer and union awareness of the extent of functional illiteracy among workers as well as its cost, to develop a number of partnership models that link the acquisition of basic education skills…

This document consists of three closely related reports, dealing with "State Governments", "Regional Councils", and "Local Econcomic Development Agencies", respectively, together with a fourth document, a preceding overview. These documents draw from results of a project to identify successful approaches to coordinating economic development and…

This publication is designed to help service providers deliver high-quality workplace development services cost effectively to small and medium-sized businesses. The guide looks at five service delivery strategies: learning consortia, walk-in centers, distance learning, computer-based training, and trained volunteers. These five strategies offer a…