The authors report on their informal survey of several companies to determine industry methods of selecting participants for inservice training. Of the approaches described, the assessment center method seems to offer the greatest potential for use in teacher education as a student development tool. (MF)

Corporations have become a significant part of the nation's educational system, the author states, and regard their education and training activities as necessary business functions. Employer-sponsored education, both in-house and at outside institutions, trains new employees, but most programs are for upgrading present personnel. (MF)

Characteristics of education and training provided by corporations, and the role of corporations as providers of education and as collaborators, competitors, and supporters of traditional institutions are examined. In addition, the history of corporate-based education and training is traced, and internal and external factors that determine what…

Job Instruction Training (JIT) is a step-by-step, relatively simple technique used to train employees on the job. It is especially suitable for teaching manual skills or procedures; the trainer is usually an employee's supervisor but can be a co-worker. The JIT technique consists of a series of steps that a supervisor or other instructor follows…

The Manufacturers' Alliance for Productivity and Innovation surveyed the members of its two Human Resources Councils to obtain feedback on the training employers provide their employees. The survey inquired about features of company training initiatives, special training programs that arose from a specific training need that had been instituted,…

A study examined training and staff development initiatives in Australian industrial and commercial organizations. It was carried out using a questionnaire and structured interview technique with 24 organizations. Larger organizations had their own facilities and trained in-house whereas smaller organizations made more use of Technical and Further…

Some of the few U.S. studies on the link between training and productivity have used a subjective measure of productivity or a measure of the productivity of the most recently hired worker relative to a fully trained worker, rather than output, labor productivity, total factor productivity, or value-added measures. Administered by the U.S. Bureau…

The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce's National Employer Survey represents a unique source of information on how employers recruit workers, organize work, invest in physical capital, and use education and training in the workplace. The U.S. Bureau of the Census administered it as a telephone survey to a nationally…

Use of ethnographic methods to assess learning and staff development needs for workplace adult education programs is discussed, focusing on the teacher's role as ethnographic researcher. Four stages of ethnographic research are identified: (1) open-ended, inductive study; (2) structured observation; (3) analysis; and (4) speculation and sharing of…

German legislation contains provisions on both initial and further vocational training. Three types of continuing training are distinguished: retraining, updating training, and upgrading training. Industries contribute the largest share of funding and participants to continuing training. In-company continuing training differs greatly according to…

This paper, on the returns on investment (ROI) in training, introduces some practical examples for enterprises or organizations wanting to find out whether the money they have spent or intend to spend on training is necessary. It provides strategies for researchers who would like to undertake research in this area. The paper begins by examining…

This paper describes and analyzes general issues and examples of good practice in work-based learning relative to higher education in the United States, and applies them to comparable situations in the United Kingdom. Higher education has re-evaluated work-based learning to respond to changing socioeconomic conditions, such as the needs to…

Current types of industry-sponsored educational programs, training facilities, and teaching and evaluation methods are described. The history of education and training within the corporate world and the roles of government and unions are traced. Factors that have limited college and industrial cooperation in employee education are also identified.…

These three documents (final performance report, evaluation report, methodology guide) are products of a project through which the Career Advancement Center provided workplace literacy services to two industries in Greenville, South Carolina. The final performance report discusses achievement of objectives, specifically employee assessment,…

Changing employer-based training represents one strategy that U.S. firms are adopting to confront recent transformations in the global economy. The new competitive conditions place new and different demands on workers, more of whom are being called upon to use technical, conceptual, and communications skills. Approaches to training in particular…