In today's labor market, students increasingly need greater levels of postsecondary education and training to enter or advance in many industries. Meanwhile, employers are calling for the education system to better align with industry needs, as their demands for a skilled workforce continue to rise. In response to the increasing emphasis for…

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 Total Quality Management (TQM) course was designed to introduce students to the principles and tools of TQM in a full-semester course in high schools or community colleges. The course includes all the competencies found in TQM and is intended to be taught with an interactive method in which students are involved in the learning process. This…

This four-part package is designed to assist Australian workshop leaders running 2-day workshops on skills analysis, skills audit, and training needs analysis. Part A contains information on how to use the package and a list of workshop aims. Parts B, C, and D consist, respectively, of the workshop leader's guide; overhead transparency sheets and…

This manual is the curriculum guide used by Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) to run its 10-week pre-apprenticeship training program that is designed to help women who are interested in the skilled trades prepare for the mental, physical, and psychological demands of this work. Information on the training sequence includes material on recruitment and…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students covers the topics of benchmarking and the continuous improvement process. It includes the following components: (1) a narrative summary of the topics; (2) a discussion of benchmarking; (3) a benchmarking exercise (the "numbered ball"…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students contains a brief overview of the definition of processes, a section on process flow diagrams, and a section on process management as well as a description of process variation. Examples are used throughout the module to make processes…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students contains a brief overview of problem solving and offers a practical approach along with some of the tools that can be used. The following components are included: (1) narrative of the problem-solving process; (2) the problem-solving…

This module for a Total Quality Management (TQM) course was designed to give students a broad background in TQM and its influence on the business world in the United States. It can be used in a U.S. history class, an economics class, an English class, or as part of a TQM course for high school or community college students. The module covers the…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students covers the topics of empowerment and teamwork. It includes the following components: (1) a narrative summary of the topics; (2) a discussion of employee empowerment; (3) a discussion of teamwork and self-directed teams; (4) a discussion…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students discusses the concepts of customer satisfaction, customer surveys, and quality functional deployment. The concept of customer satisfaction begins with identifying the customer. Surveys are suggested as one way that students can learn…

A project involving educators and business leaders in southwestern Connecticut was undertaken to develop an intensive, competency-based business course to provide high school students with the skills to fill entry-level administrative support positions. The project was designed to: (1) recruit and motivate students with high potential for success…

This publication provides a model curriculum with a focus on welfare-to-work, school-to-work, and first-time employees. It emphasizes the basic competencies most valued by employers for the current and future domestic and global work force. Section 1 presents an overview of LifeWork, a performance-based transitional program that uses the…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students gives a brief introduction to some statistical tools. It includes a section on process variation that is intended to familiarize students with the causes of variation such as common and special causes. Statistical definitions are given…

This module for a 1-semester Total Quality Management (TQM) course for high school or community college students provides a classroom model to meet the needs of students learning TQM skills as well as other workplace skills. These workplace skills, sometimes called "SCANS competencies and skills," are a set of skills identified by the Secretary of…