A former MDTA and CETA project coordinator describes the goals and frustrations accrued during several years' field experience with funded programs. He recommends a redirection of CETA back toward a vocational and occupational training emphasis. This would serve to enlarge the skills and competencies of those covered by the program. (CT)

This document is a committee report on H.R. 5087, a bill to improve veterans' education assistance programs, which the committee recommended unanimously to approve as amended. Some of the major provisions of the bill are the following: (1) change the requirements that military personnel complete high school equivalency degree requirements before…

The most serious problem with the current work force preparation system is that many employment and training programs operate today to serve roughly the same people. Instead, these programs should be coordinated better to lower costs in the face of lowered funding. The General Accounting Office reports that about 125 federal programs do…

Discusses the growth in Social Security Administration (SSA) disability programs and suggests that one means of assisting SSA beneficiaries to reduce dependence is for the SSA to directly or indirectly fund competitive employment initiatives focusing on vocational rehabilitation for individuals who are currently served in nonremunerative day…

The aim of this paper is to indicate how Project Follow Through can contribute to a better-integrated and rationalized federal programming strategy. The first section identifies areas in which federal programs have consistently succeeded or failed and presents reasons why those outcomes are probably the inevitable results of the policy tools that…

The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program (JOBS) is an ambitious federal effort at welfare reform but the federal government has given local operators little direction on how to run it. JOBS can be improved using existing evaluations and analyses of administrative data. Reform depends mostly on capable local administration. (JOW)

In response to a provision of the Education Amendments of 1978 concerning evaluation practices and procedures, this report examines four aspects of evaluation in education which focus on how funds allocated to evaluation can be spent more effectively and yield more useful results. On this basis, groups of recommendations are made to both Congress…

Vocational education programs cannot and should not serve all the population groups targeted by the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). Rather, they should and must collaborate and cooperate with the manpower community. In order to do that five major policy issues need to be dealt with: getting agreements to collaborate, prime…

The major issue of educational quality is linked to the potential of national and state assessment programs. It is suggested that changes in assessment design, analysis, and reporting can significantly contribute to improvement in the policy development process. The California Assessment Program illustrates how state assessment information may be…

Describes proposals intended to strengthen the American family, specifically initiatives to improve child immunization programs, expand Project Head Start, advance the Family Preservation and Support initiative, reform welfare programs, and adopt a national health care program. (MDM)

This paper reviews the sections of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) that provide for using competencies gained by youth as evaluation tools. The paper discusses the types of competencies that youths should gain by such programs and how they should be measured, as an alternative to traditional program-based evaluation. The paper is organized…

This document contains two congressional hearings on the present apprenticeship programs to determine whether they are effective in producing the needed skilled craftspersons. The hearings also focus on how the apprenticeship training systems may be improved to meet the ever-changing needs of industry. Testimony includes statements, prepared…

The concept of collaboration, which underlies the design and structure of the Teacher Center Policy Board, has been widely accepted as an effective mechanism, but this acceptance is to a large degree without sound basis. A number of assertions can be supported about the ineffectiveness of collaboration: (1) collaboration in teacher education is…

Recommends that the Department of Health and Human Services ensure that every Head Start program can strive for excellence; expand the number of children served and the scope of services provided; and encourage community and school partnerships to ensure continuity of services, facilitate state and local collaboration, and link Head Start with…

This position paper examines the current Head Start training and technical assistance (TTA) system and proposes specific improvements. These include the creation of regional TTA offices, the use of satellite and interactive communications technology, and a reevaluation of the role of teaching centers, national training contracts, and Head Start…