This research brief examines the challenges and opportunities presented in evaluating whether an intervention achieves defined goals of increasing students' educational attainment, employment, and earnings after high school. The report concludes that evaluations should: (1) Distinguish between gross outcomes (such as how many young people attend…

Contrasts the characteristics of the 16- to 19-year-old population in England and Wales with some foreseeable requirements of industry and the economy in the 1980s. Major skill development programs are evaluated and various policy options are explored. (DB)

This review first examines gender disparities in the general population and then in relationship to students in special education, including overall gender rates by disability groups, gender disparities in education and employment outcomes for special education students, and proposed intervention programs and practices that appear promising. (DB)

Several factors influence learning as it occurs in the workplace and in other settings where learning is undertaken for the expressed purpose of acquiring or improving competencies that will be used in the workplace. Over the past decade, the nature of the workplace has changed, and workers must continually strive to learn in order to keep up with…

This review examines employment and postsecondary education outcomes for youth with disabilities leaving secondary schools, as well as studies of educational practices reporting high-quality outcomes. Practices that appear to improve outcomes for these students are supervised work experiences and functionally oriented curricula that connect…

A study was undertaken to arrive at a broad overview of the Soviet training utilization of foreign area specialists. To gather data for the study, researchers examined European, United States, and Soviet publications and interviewed Soviet emigres and U.S. specialists on the Soviet Union. According to these data sources, specialized training for…

This brochure identifies key figures on vocational education and training (VET) and VET-related topics in Europe using harmonized data from Eurostat. Throughout, figures of candidate countries are compared to those of European Union (EU) member states. Background information on the education and training systems is as follows: increasing numbers…

The economic benefits of the General Educational Development certificate (GED) were examined through a review of four published papers and four unpublished working papers on the GED's benefits. Key findings were as follows: (1) a GED provides economic benefits only to low-skilled dropouts; (2) economic benefits of a GED appear over time--often…

A review of literature on improving women's occupational potential was conducted. Most existing theories of occupational development focus on males. However, the beginnings of several theories of women's occupational development have recently been proposed. These are (1) structural theories, revolving around personality traits and ability patterns…

A party of vocational educators from the United Kingdom (UK) traveled to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to observe current experiments with the first year of apprenticeship training or, as it is called in Germany, the Berufsgrundbildungsjahr (BGJ). During its study, the visiting party focused its attention on the objectives, design,…

A vocational education administrator from the United Kingdom (UK) traveled to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to observe the education and training of young handicapped adults at 14 sites throughout the country. The focus of his investigation was on vocational counseling and vocational education and training for handicapped and disadvantaged…

This book is an international review of the literature on literacy and the new work order. The book begins with an overview examining the following topics: the history of workplace literacy education, the changing nature of work, the problem of illiteracy, and literacy in the context of the workplace. Part 1 presents texts critiquing or supporting…

Eight tech prep consortia located across the United States were studied to assess their tech prep implementation and outcomes. Special attention was paid to the consortia's use of and success with the following tech prep components: formal articulation agreements; core curriculum; rigorous instruction emphasizing integration of academic and…

The role of Ohio's community and technical colleges in educating low-wage workers was examined. Ohio's community and technical colleges were shown to be uniquely positioned to serve as bridges to growth and opportunity by helping the state and its workers make the transition to a knowledge-based economy and help low-wage workers gain the footing…

This document contains 15 papers from a conference on preparing youth for the 21st century that was organized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The following papers are included: "Giving Young People a Good Start: The Experience of OECD Countries" (Norman Bowers,…