Skills have long been associated with productivity and economic well-being. A large body of evidence shows the value of academic and technical skills in the workplace. And in recent years, soft skills--skills that make for an effective employee, such as time management and communication--have also become increasingly valued in the workplace.…

This annual newsletter contains updates on the latest CCRC research, new publications and details of upcoming presentations at major conferences. The feature article in this issue, "Addressing the Needs of Underprepared Students," by Thomas Bailey, summarizes the discussion found in the paper "Challenge and Opportunity: Rethinking…

At Columbia College Chicago, the marketing communication department is evaluating and improving internship outcomes based on companion student and employer surveys. (Author)

Describes Fox Valley Technical Institute's instructional audit process, whereby a team of local employers visits the college and assesses the value of its programs in meeting local labor market needs. Considers the benefits of involving employers in the process. (HB)

Johnson County (Kansas) Community College assesses vocational programs in terms of (1) accomplishment of objectives; (2) student opinions of services; (3) appropriate employment; (4) employer satisfaction with student skills; and (5) responsiveness to local labor market and economic development needs. (SK)

The purpose of this manual is to suggest adaptable procedures and materials that can be used by Alaska vocational educators to evaluate their automotive mechanic programs systematically. Section 1 is an introduction to the manual and to the evaluation process. The remaining six sections represent major tasks or activities that should be…

An evaluation study assessed the part-time vocational training courses offered to adults by the Oklahoma State Department of Vocational and Technical Education for training or retraining purposes in order to prepare people for a new occupation. The three objectives were to determine if the present system of gathering followup data is adequate…

Evaluation of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's (AEL) Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) program focused on outcome data pertaining to students, parents, and employers collected at the demonstration site at AEL, and implementation sites located in Bremen, Georgia; Crowley, Louisiana; Ames, Iowa; and Staten Island, Ithaca, and North…

The major purpose of this study was to identify unique effects of cooperative vocational education. This interim report is of results of the analyses of existing data bases. Comparisons of cooperative and non-cooperative vocational programs are made on the following variables: enrollments by age, sex and race, school status, work status,…

After describing the history of Ford Motor Company's relationship with workers from the inception of the assembly line through recent years, the author describes results of the 1979 National Joint Committee on Employee Involvement and 1982 labor negotiations, which resulted in retraining projects, tuition assistance, and career counseling and…

Project ACT aims (1) to improve the class attendance of American Indian students, (2) to make students' school experience more relevant to life and work, (3) to assist Indian students to experience success in school by providing them with assistance relating to their academic programs, and (4) to provide supportive financial assistance to Indian…

This paper describes the instruction and evaluation process of a National Technical Institute for the Deaf course on preparing video resumes, based on views of instructors, students, and employers. Video resumes were found to be a feasible tool in the job search, and the process of preparing the video was a learning experience for students.…

This report on transition services for students with disabilities in Nebraska schools begins with an outline of the development of transition programming as part of special education services, noting federal legislation in this area and the importance of intra-agency and inter-agency cooperative agreements. The role of career education in the…

A third-party evaluation was conducted of the first year of an experience-based career education project (EBCE) in Rhode Island. Three sources of evaluation information were used: evaluator observations, the Community Resource Questionnaire, and the Student Skills and Attitude Inventory. Because the actual project implementation was for just one…

The Secondary Transition Intervention Effectiveness Institute conducts applied research, program evaluations, and evaluation technical assistance in the areas of secondary special education and transitional services for individuals with disabilities. This annual report describes activities carried out during the fourth year of the Institute's…