To improve the employment rates and earnings of Americans workers, we need to create more-coherent and more-effective education and workforce development systems, focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on disadvantaged youth and adults, and with education and training more clearly targeted towards firms and sectors that provide good-paying…

Cedefop's report "Learning while working: success stories on workplace learning in Europe" presents an overview of key trends in adult learning in the workplace. It takes stock of previous research carried out by Cedefop between 2003 and 2010 on key topics for adult learning: governance and the learning regions; social partner roles in…

Explains how to design training programs in which the trainer and the work group collaborate on designing a program that produces agreed-upon behavioral changes in employee performance. The modified critical incident technique is a diagnostic tool which provides information concerning the cost effectiveness of education and training programs. (CT)

The author states that the real purpose for a training department's existence should be to help determine if training might be the best solution to a problem or a key contribution to an opportunity. How to cut training costs is explored. (CT)

Describes a self-instructional system called PACT (Programmed Audio Cassette Training) adapted by the U.S. Civil Service Commission for relatively low-cost training of large numbers of employees or trainees. Included are a chart of PACT's benefits for both learners and management, with a detailed cost comparison methods study. (MF)

This article develops a production frontier model for the Employment Service and assesses the relative efficiency of the 51 State Employment Security Agencies in attaining program outcomes close to that frontier. This approach stands in contrast to such established practices as comparing programs to their own previous performance. (Author/CT)

Designing a training course to be more efficient will simultaneously reduce the amount of trainee time as well as increase its impact on job performance. (Available from American Management Associations, Subscription Services, Box 319, Saranac Lake, NY 12983; $3.25 single copy.) (MLF)

Whether an organization has its own facilities and programs to teach people to perform the jobs necessary to accomplish its purpose, or sends its prospective employees to schools outside its own confines to receive that training, occupational education and training is big business. One problem with occupational training programs is that such…

This document reports the results of a study on the feasibility of training smog check mechanics in California via hands-on verification of mechanics' ability to inspect and repair vehicles. The reviews of the research literature that compare the learning effectiveness of different delivery media tend to support the position that in learning, the…

Describes several corporations' in-house produced interactive multimedia training methods that use video and CD-ROMs to simulate work activities. Reviews each training method's design, computer equipment, costs, benefits, and lessons learned. Lists 10 checkpoints for charting a successful interactive course and a sidebar presents a cost benefit…

Prepared as part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum's efforts to explore issues related to economic development and technology training, the three essays in this collection describe industrial training efforts at community colleges, focusing on partnerships with the private sector, programs targeted at women, and the use of…

A study was conducted to refine and coordinate occupational analysis, job performance aids, and elements of the instructional systems development process for task specific Air Force maintenance training. Techniques for task identification and analysis (TI & A) and data gathering techniques for occupational analysis were related. While TI &…

Conducted as part of a major effort to test and evaluate Job Performance Aids (JPA) and their integration with Navy personnel and training systems, this study systematically reviewed and organized existing JPA techniques, related research data, and various applicable principles and concepts. One hundred and one JPA systems and techniques were…

Following an introduction ("Return on Investment in Training" by Andrew Smith) that provides an overview and a synopsis of research findings, the following five chapters of this book present the results of five research projects funded by the National Research and Evaluation Committee in Australia in 1999-2000. The first four of these…

This book presents empirical evaluations of the effects of different types of training programs in East Germany. Chapter 1 presents an overview of labor, the study objectives and results, and discussion of causality and the identification problem in evaluation studies. Chapter 2 examines point estimates of the effects of two types of continuous…