The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) places a strong emphasis on the alignment of Career Technical Education (CTE) programs of study with state, regional and local economies. Specifically, the legislation requires Perkins-funded programs to prepare students for "high-skill, high-wage, or…

Workforce development and career and technical education (CTE) have long provided reliable pathways to middle skill jobs and a gateway to the middle class. Given recent changes in middle skills jobs, the education landscape, and federal policy priorities, the role of CTE in the U.S. educational landscape is evolving more rapidly, encompassing a…

Current definitions of STEM skills are inconsistent and not specific enough to inform education and skill policies and initiatives, potentially leading to a number of unsubstantiated and uncoordinated responses. There is a danger of generating a domestic oversupply of graduates in science, mathematics, engineering and technology while ignoring the…

Level descriptors are essential elements of national qualifications frameworks being established across Europe. They define what is meant by learning outcomes, describing what an individual is expected to know, be able to do and understand, having acquired a qualification at a particular level. This Cedefop working paper shows that most of the 36…

Collective bargaining is a technology and not a philosophy or set of moral values. There seems to be an almost irresistible urge among authors of educational bargaining statutes to adopt the basic tenets of private-sector labor law. However, employment and collective bargaining are different in the public sector than in the private sector, and one…

This book provides an introduction to earnings capacity (EC), a measurement of human capital, and its application to a research study of potential earned annual income over a 25-year period. Focus is on qualitative aspects of EC such as race, age, gender and education and its utilization. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 reviews existing…

These training materials consist of a pretest, eight instructional units, and a posttest designed for a workshop to train counselors in using labor market information to help students improve their career decisions. Covered in the instructional units are the following topics: career decision making and the role of labor market information,…

This document, which is intended as the companion to a two-volume study of European trends in the development of occupations and qualifications, contains reference materials to assist policymakers and practitioners in accessing research findings and formulations on key issues of training and development. The document begins with an overview of the…

In Australia and elsewhere, four approaches have been used to determine whether stocks of vocational education and training (VET) skills are adequate to meet industry needs. The four methods are as follows: (1) the manpower requirements approach; (2) the international, national, and industry comparisons approach; (3) the labor market analysis…

This policy paper defines apprenticeship in terms of eight essential components, explains what apprenticeship is not, and recommends how the term should be used. As defined by the eight components, apprenticeship is: (1) a training strategy that combines supervised, structured, on-the-job training with related instruction and that is sponsored by…

Examines the perspectives of needs assessment described in performance technology and human resource development literature. Perspectives embodied in definitions and conceptualizations of the terms need, needs assessment, needs analysis, front end analysis, and performance analysis are examined, and different views about where the needs assessment…

These national standards are designed to aid contractors, labor, and joint committees in setting up, conducting, and improving apprenticeship programs for individuals seeking to become skilled in the sheet metal industry. Covered in the individual sections are the following topics: the provisions of the apprenticeship standards (definitions,…

These revised national standards are designed to assist local unions in establishing local apprenticeship and training programs for drafters. Covered in the individual sections are the following topics: provisions of the apprenticeship standards for drafters (definitions, qualifications for application, the selection of applicants, credit for…

The Comptroller General of the United States testified before Congress regarding the General Accounting Office's (GAO's) framework for building the information technology (IT) work force to achieve results. The following were among the key points of his testimony: (1) the federal government is facing pervasive human capital challenges that are…

This report presents innovative vocational training (VT) initiatives to improve integration of low-skilled workers into lifelong learning and the labor market. Chapter 1 describes study structure and methodology. Chapter 2 addresses the theoretical basis for observing innovations. It analyzes the definition and significance of innovation in system…