The purpose of this report is to provide readers with a comparative analysis of the Massachusetts workforce "system" structures and performance reporting processes compared to other states. Though the federal workforce development system is often examined in its entirety and individual state systems are at times examined independently,…

This article reports a benefit-cost evaluation of the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) of the City University of New York (CUNY). ASAP was designed to accelerate associate degree completion within 3 years of degree enrollment at CUNY's community colleges. The program evaluation revealed that the completion rate for the examined…

The Office of Workforce Development (OWD) in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, implemented Career Pathways, an innovative program designed to increase the local talent pool and help lower-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed individuals train for work in growing fields. RAND Corporation researchers evaluated…

This article explores the efficacy and cost effectiveness of New Labour's skills-based policies to help low paid workers adjust to the pressures generated by globalisation, of which the leading example was Train to Gain (T2G). It also analyses the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skills can help…

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…

Introduction: Today there are significant challenges to public health, and effective responses to them will require complex approaches and strategies implemented by a qualified workforce. An adequately prepared workforce requires long-term development; however, local health departments have limited financial and staff resources. Schools and…

In late 2010, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah commissioned a new Agency-wide Education Strategy to ensure that USAID's global education investments would be informed by recent Presidential policy guidance; grounded in the most current evidence-based analysis of educational effectiveness; and aimed at…

Parsons describes benefits and limitations of using financial analysis tools to evaluate human resource development programs, suggesting the additional dimension of values. Brinkerhoff's reaction emphasizes the flaws of impact evaluation, suggesting ways to reframe training evaluation. (SK)

Impact evaluations of manpower programs have had many shortcomings, especially in finding control groups for comparison. Methodological bias and inconsistency between evaluators, along with disinterest by program administrators, have prevented evaluation from reaching its potential in program planning. The use of longitudinal studies to solve…

This article describes two formulae designed to measure the effect of job preparedness programs at six North Carolina community colleges. Increased taxes due to increased earnings "pay back" the program costs in less than two years. And trainees, through increased wages, "earn back" training costs in approximately five months. (NHM)

The report examines the potential of Social Security Administration data for manpower training evaluation. It assesses the utility of SSA data for comparing the economic gains of on-the-job training and institutional trainees before and after training. The methodology developed incorporates multiple correlation analysis, analysis of variance, and…

Intended as a guide for laymen, this book concentrates on basic techniques for evaluating the impact of manpower programs--that is, their success or failure in attaining long-term program goals. Program objectives with clear operational criteria, and certain other typical objectives more difficult to measure, are identified with reference to…

The study focuses on the effectiveness of adult basic education under the Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA). The investigation is a case study of the MDTA adult basic education program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Background material on basic education for adults is provided as well as a short history of the federal government's involvement…

After reviewing the strengths and shortcomings of current programs, the authors conclude that the key to a humane and reasonable system lies in the recognition and exploitation of the interdependence of work and welfare. (Editor)