New legislation should ensure the development of an information system to identify priorities in vocational education related to occupational forecasts. Information on employment needs is essential to good educational planning. (JOW)

Local textile firms have worked with the Chester County Career Center in South Carolina to attract students to textile training, modernize equipment, and develop effective, industry-based training. (SK)

Discusses how the development of microelectronics will bring about changes in society. Examines the effect microelectronics will have on the exchange of information, tomorrow's jobs and workers, research and development, and global interdependence. (CT)

Opportunities Industrialization Centers are community-based organizations that provide employment and training programs to poor and unskilled people. Essential features of their programs are attention to attitudinal and behavior changes, skills training, and work readiness. (SK)

Among the advantages of private trade and technical schools is their market orientation, a sensitivity to employers' current needs. Teachers recruited from industry, accelerated pace, flexible scheduling, and emphasis on job placement are other benefits found in proprietary schools. (SK)

A case study of the Lowell, Massachusetts, labor market illustrates the need to monitor changes in the occupational mix of an economy, the shift of training, and short- and long-term economic conditions in order to determine labor market needs and their implications for education and training. (SK)

The Orange County Technology Exchange Center brokers information county-wide between eight community colleges and four regional occupational training programs and technologically oriented programs. The Center has four main goals: (1) act as a clearinghouse to develop needed training programs, (2) promote and coordinate training resources, (3)…

A postsecondary training program in various aspects of coal mining has been established in western Maryland through community college credit and noncredit courses leading to a certificate or associate degree for mine employees and others. Maryland's industrial training program includes state aid to industry to provide needed job skills training.…

The growing shortage of skilled workers in industrial maintenance, the growing complexity of equipment, and the automation of production processes call for improved and increased employee training and retraining. A General Motors training supervisor notes how education and industry can cooperate to provide this education and training. (MF)

The Boston Compact is a written agreement between the school system and the business community under which businesses agree to hire high school graduates in permanent jobs, provided that the schools prepare students through a program of career education, job readiness, and employability skills. (SK)

Describes development of a coal mining training curriculum in West Virginia for adults and high school students, as well as programs to retrain people in new equipment repair and in the emergency medical services required by state law. (MF)