Glenn Smith, APPA's Vice President for Professional Development, had the honor of introducing the closing panel discussion at APPA's annual conference in Boston last July--a discussion centered on the theme "Inventing Our Future." Previous general plenary sessions and related breakout sessions had explored the challenges people face in these…

Discusses the importance of maintaining a skilled, competent, aggressive work force that can position an organization for long-term stability and growth. Points out that responsibility for the development of this resource is falling more frequently upon the shoulders of managers at all organizational levels. (JOW)

William A. Brock, a member of President Bush's Advisory Committee on Education and chairman of the Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCAN), criticizes American society's lack of attention and support for public education. Principals must examine and evaluate the enterprise system, talk to its participants, and learn about helpful new…

Addresses issues related to the evaluation of community colleges' economic development efforts, describing the context for evaluation in terms of the external environment and college management/governance; practical realities guiding evaluation; steps in designing an evaluation programs; and the application of results to decision making. (DMM)

The heritage and history of the United States have influenced its consistent tendency toward voluntary adoption of standards achieved by consensus and toward guidelines rather than regulations. Major initiatives have continued to move toward a systematic, if not a centralized or standardized, approach. Over the past 20 years, varying degrees of…

A useful, values-oriented human resource development (HRD) program evaluation approach is one that is empirical with its orientation derived from a social/technical perspective. The optimum mix between the technical skills of evaluation and the required social skills of evaluation delivery is crucial for the quality assurance process. The core to…

Two periods in British higher education are compared for the approaches taken to widening educational access. It is concluded that government policy in the postwar period emphasized expansion for the purposes of labor force development, whereas more recent expansion policy reflects a government commitment to greater accountability and social…

This paper makes recommendations for developing the next generation of state accountability systems for postsecondary vocational education (PVE). It focuses on the need to improve the core indicators for PVE; reduce the burden and improve the value of Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 (Perkins III)…

The U.S. General Accounting Office studied the characteristics of individual participants in training provided by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), the kinds and intensity of services they received, and the occupations in which they were employed after leaving the program. Visits to 63 randomly selected service delivery areas provided…

In Fiscal Year 1997, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has an estimated budget of $34.4 billion and is authorized 16,614 full-time-equivalent staff-years. DOL's many programs fall into two major categories: enhancing workers' skills through job training and ensuring worker protection. The DOL's work force development mission is being challenged…

Increased international competition, rapid technological innovation, and profound demographic changes have all created an urgent need for a skilled and capable work force. The work force development system that has been assembled over the years in the United States is extensive; however, the goals and services provided by a wide range of public…

This paper summarizes issues and perspectives that form the basis of current educational debate. The paper contends that early in the 21st century, Hispanics and other minorities will constitute the majority of the work force in major markets across the nation. The lack of preparedness of over half the potential pool of minority workers will have…

Work requirements in welfare reform proposed by the George W. Bush administration would impose much tougher work requirements on welfare recipients. Seventy percent of all adults would be required to work 40 hours per week, versus the 50 percent who are required to work 30 hours per week currently. In addition, states would be given little leeway…

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority was established to develop a consistent approach to the recognition of academic and vocational qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework was designed following surveys of a number of sectors: universities, colleges of education, polytechnics, private training firms, schools, businesses, unions,…

This document is intended to generate discussion about the plans of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for developing a National Qualifications Framework. The document begins with an explanation of the qualifications framework in Maori and in English. A guide to reading the document points out its organization and the inclusion of diagrams…