This publication, presented in pocket guide format, contains data from 2007 vocational education and training (VET) statistics collections. It includes key data on students and courses, apprentices and trainees training activity, graduates, the financial operations of the VET system, and employers' use and views of the VET system. Among the…

The Careers Project is a study of the preparation all students in public middle and high schools receive to explore career options and the relationship between that preparation and California's state and regional economies. The California Research Bureau (CRB) undertook this research at the request of a bipartisan group of members of the…

This report uses data from the 1995-96 to 2001 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study to examine three questions concerning students pursuing postsecondary certificates or associate's degrees in career related fields (referred to here as occupational students): (1) who enters postsecondary occupational education? (2) to what extent do…

This document examines the connections between vocational education and training (VET) systems and industry. It was found that any system of entry-level training, which aims to help students make a successful transition from school to work, must have support mechanisms and frameworks in place to enable accurate assessment of industry and labour…

Max Weber attributed the higher economic prosperity of Protestant regions to a Protestant work ethic. We provide an alternative theory, where Protestant economies prospered because instruction in reading the Bible generated the human capital crucial to economic prosperity. County-level data from late 19th-century Prussia reveal that Protestantism…

Many high school and two-year college vocational programs are exploring new ways to help students develop and document skills valued in the labor market. Over the past decade, some efforts to improve vocational programs have focused on reorganizing curricula around skill standards and assessments formulated by employers. One recent example of this…

This support document accompanies the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) report "From School to Work: The Role of Traineeships" (ED493902). It contains a comprehensive review of the literature referred to in that report and detailed descriptions and results of the econometric modeling upon which the findings are…

Postsecondary education is a major enterprise in California. The state provides $12 billion annually in funding to the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges. A major concern is how well the output of degrees, certificates, and other qualifications from these three public segments meets the…

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 is a survey of 9,964 young men and women who were ages 14-22 when first interviewed in 1979 and ages 35-43 when interviewed most recently in 2000. (Respondents were born in 1957-64, the later years of the "baby boom.") Findings indicate the average person held nearly 10 jobs from ages 18-36; more than…

Labor force issues do not take place in a vacuum. Most individuals base labor force decisions on a multitude of cultural and social factors, such as the environment in which they were reared, family obligations and responsibilities, divorce or the death of a spouse, or because of governmental policies. Sections in this document on demographics,…

As part of an effort to identify ways in which Midland College (Texas) and local businesses can respond to the economic needs of the community, these three papers by the Midland's Business and Economic Development Center offer various perspectives on the economic climate and labor market of the Permian Basis. The first report, "Midland's…

A study was undertaken to determine the economic value of receiving a vocational certificate or associate degree from the California Community Colleges (CCCs). The study examined state Unemployment Insurance Wage Record (WR) data for a cohort of 841,952 leavers and completers from the CCCs during 1991-92, comparing educational attainment by…

Lifelong learning is increasingly being recognized as a primary factor for knowledge diffusion and productivity growth. However, little economic evidence exists on the economic value of lifelong learning for the individual, especially in developing countries. This paper contributes to remedy this shortfall. It investigates one aspect of lifelong…

The East San Gabriel Valley (California) School to Career Partnership encompassing the eastern sections of Los Angeles County and serving an ethnically diverse population, uses design-based learning (DBL) to teach academic and career skills to at-risk students in small groups. Key features of DBL classroom activities include the following: (1)…

This report builds upon the "State of the South, 1996" report by concentrating on how various segments of the region's population are faring, with special attention to gender, ethnicity, and education. States included in the regional analysis are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,…