Previous research indicates that postsecondary educational experience (PSE) predicts successful employment outcomes for transition-aged youth with disabilities. Using data on supported employment services from the Rehabilitative Services Administration, this study compared employment rates and outcomes for young adults with Autism Spectrum…

This paper describes the functionality, scalability, and cost of implementing and maintaining a suite of open source technologies, which have supported hundreds of thousands of learners in the past year, on an information technology infrastructure budget of less than US$10,000 per year. In addition, it reviews pedagogical opportunities offered by…

Investing in education and training for all is a key priority for the European Union (EU). The importance of education and training, in order to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, is recognised in the Europe 2020 strategy, with two of its headline targets focusing specifically on education and training. The European Pillar of Social…

This study examined the vocational outcomes achieved by 9,432 transition-age (17-26 years old) supported employees with intellectual disability served by state-federal vocational rehabilitation programs throughout the United States in 2015. It found that individuals who had completed at least some postsecondary education were more likely to be…

The Minnesota Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (MSTED) is testing the effectiveness of subsidized employment for individuals enrolled in the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), Minnesota's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, who were unable to find employment after participating in the state's existing…

Technology-facilitated interventions following high school graduation have shown promise for increasing the likelihood of college matriculation, but we know little about how to fine-tune these tools. I conducted an experiment in which college-intending Tennessee high school graduates received informational messages in distinct behavioral frames:…

Developmental summer bridge programs are designed to reduce the need for developmental education in college by providing students with accelerated instruction in areas where additional knowledge and skills are needed to help them succeed in higher education. The WWC identified one study of developmental summer bridge programs that meets WWC…

Career and technical education (CTE) is increasingly seen as a major potential contributor to the recovery of the U.S. economy. However, the effectiveness and impact of the current Carl D. Perkins Act (otherwise known as Perkins IV) that governs CTE are unclear. Is the federal investment in CTE paying off? To answer this, we need to establish the…

In recent work, the author has estimated the rate of return for several workforce development programs in the State of Washington, including secondary and postsecondary career and technical education (CTE; Hollenbeck, 2008). The returns are based on estimates of the net impact of CTE on individuals' labor market experiences and government income…

Presents a cost-effectiveness/benefit analysis model as a conceptual framework that is usable to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit of postsecondary occupational programs. (Author/IRT)

A survey of 491 Ohio employers of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) terminees conducted in November 1989 received 346 responses. Employers were queried on attitudes toward JTPA terminees, wage subsidies, employee productivity, wages paid, benefits given, and retention, among other questions. Employees who had completed JTPA programs and were…

Because the underlying assumptions of cost-benefit analysis of rehabilitation programs are untested and the model is extremely sensitive to these assumptions, cost-benefit analysis should not be used to set priorities for federal or state funding of research and development projects. (CTM)

This benefit-cost analysis of occupational-vocational training offered at five selected junior colleges in Illinois compares the economic benefits of occupational-vocational training (primarily income) to the economic costs of such training. Both the view of the private individual and the view of society are taken. The results indicate that…

A review was conducted to identify improvements in the public postsecondary vocational education system in Florida that could save the state money. The study found that 37 percent of adult vocational education programs were poor performers in fiscal year 1992-93, costing the state approximately $13.1 million while either producing few completers…

A study in Georgia evaluated the pre-program to post-program changes in employment, earnings, and welfare dependency for the 6,693 Title II-A adults that occurred between application and participant follow-up 13 weeks after leaving the state's Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program during the 1989-90 program year. Findings revealed…