The curriculum developed by the Fairfax County (Virginia) Department of Manpower Services in Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) program is a response to the needs of Southeast Asian refugees for language and cross-cultural skills and to employers' needs for support services. The core curriculum, emphasizing fluency and listening…

To establish high employability in the United States, higher education, other educational providers, workers, employers, unions, state and federal governments must create partnerships. Coalition must have a shared agenda and concrete programs to advance it. The value of college credentials may diminish, but the value of teaching expertise will…

A number of studies consistently identify the importance of communication skills, both oral and written, as vital to employability. Speech communication departments, however, have been slow either in responding to industry's needs or in informing students of the high correlation between communication skills and employability. Some of the possible…

The employability of secondary-level youth is considered by a youth employment company official in testimony to the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Attention is directed to ways in which young people, and particularly the economically disadvantaged, can acquire the necessary reading, writing, and math skills for on-the-job success.…

This document consists of the woodyard skills handbook and an employee handbook for woodyard employees of Boise Cascade. The handbooks are products of a National Workplace Literacy project conducted by Alabama Southern Community College. The woodyard skills handbook contains information needed by employees to improve math, measurement, vocabulary,…

This issue examines successful partnerships in the Northwest that have emerged from strategic alliances between business and education. Some models are described briefly. These partnerships are then described: Private Initiatives in Public Education (PIPE), the adopt-a-school conduit; Business Youth Exchange, a structure for work-study; Business…

The numbers of women with low literacy levels, the increased labor force participation of women, and increasing literacy requirements on the job make the case for the inclusion of a literacy component in employment programs for women. Such programs should strive to be comprehensive, learner-centered, flexible, standards-based, and linked to…

Examines reasons for high demand for higher education in Cyprus. Research confirms conventional assumptions about forces affecting demand, but includes students' motivations as a significant factor. Suggestions for matching higher education policy with market demands include better labor market information for secondary school students; promotion…

This training program is a model for recruiting and training counselors to address the career development and educational planning needs of current employees. Section A is directed to the instructor who will train counselors to provide career development assistance to employees of an organization. It describes the program concept and discusses…

This paper proposes a model for a neighborhood program to help enough low-income individuals improve their employment and financial standing so that the impacts are meaningful at a neighborhood scale. Section I describes the project. Section II explains why neighborhood-focused employment programs are an important part of the solution for…

SCANS (the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) provides definitions of the knowledge students and workers need for workplace success and methods for applying these principles in communities throughout the United States. This document contains six articles that give education and training practitioners practical suggestions for…

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) examined the demands of the workplace and whether young people were capable of meeting those demands. Specifically, SCANS determined the level of skills required to enter employment. Fundamental changes in the nature of work were identified; these changes were found to hold…

This report from the 91st session of the International Labor Organization (ILO) conference examines recent legislation, policies, and practices reflecting new approaches to learning and training. The document was intended to foster discussion regarding a revision of the ILO standard on human resources training and development. Chapter I examines…

Successful employer engagement requires that colleges in the United Kingdom secure employers' involvement in the design, development, management, and delivery of post-16 learning so that the skill needs of employers and the workforce will be met and the increased productivity, competitiveness, and efficiency of individual organizations and the…

An analysis was conducted of the results of a formative evaluation of the LiteracyLink "Workplace Essential Skills" (WES) learning system conducted in the fall of 1998. (The WES learning system is a multimedia learning system integrating text, sound, graphics, animation, video, and images in a computer system and includes a videotape series, a…