Existing research evidence on the ability of several kinds of public policy used to increase labor force attachment among the disadvantaged indicates that (1) policies for reform of the U.S. welfare system do not substantially help the problem; (2) increasing child support payments would have essentially no effects on the work effort and earnings…

Britain has attempted over the past decade to develop German-style youth apprenticeships through its Youth Training Scheme (YTS). YTS has the basic attributes considered essential to bridging school and work. The greatest achievement of YTS is that large numbers of employers were persuaded to provide work experience positions on short notice, and…

Two studies tested the feasibility of a national school-to-work transition venture. One study involved focus groups of employers in eight cities to identify incentives encouraging employers to take part in youth work-based learning programs. The second involved a telephone survey of employers in seven cities who had participated in local…

Contextual learning--also known as "learning by doing, experiential learning, real-world education, or active learning"--has long been advocated for students. In practice, however, schools often offer the opposite: individual learning, independent of tools, dependent upon symbols, and theoretical. Today the school-to-work movement has…

A review of the literature on the use of the workplace as a learning site in vocational education identified alternative models used to combine workplace learning with school-based programs and identified a framework and criteria for evaluating programs using the workplace as part of their instructional process. Although there is some evidence…

Selections from materials developed for a National Institute of Education two-day workshop to examine workplace perspectives on education and training policy are presented. Participants included employer and trade union representatives, education and training specialists, policy analysts, and government officials. Part I on national perspectives…

Provides a detailed examination of the "Dual System" of vocational education--a system combining compulsory part-time education with on-the-job training. Spells out the system's strong points and main problems and discusses issues such as labor supply and demand, educational/vocational discrimination against girls and women, and problem…

The importance of a skilled and highly educated workforce to economic well-being is widely recognized, and the relationship between skills and income is becoming stronger over time. Largely as a result of growing demand for skilled workers, state-level training programs are becoming increasingly important as complements to federal programs.…

As a source of trained workers, postsecondary schools need to develop a curriculum that encourages critical thinking and provide an environment that helps students to understand the changing economy. The curriculum should be based on the student's experiences and interests and should prepare one for life situations. In the business curriculum,…

This report describes apprenticeship system development in Australia and provides a quantitative macro-level analysis of apprenticeship, traineeship, and new apprenticeship trends. Following an introduction (chapter 1), chapters 2-3 trace its European origins and establishment in colonial Australia, development and evolution through the twentieth…

The labor market prospects of out-of-school young adults and options for improving the employment and earnings potential of all young adults were examined. The following issues were among those considered: demographic and social factors affecting young adults' employment prospects; employment trends and labor market problems in the United States…