This article is an introduction to how the Finnish Labor Administration has tried to minimize unemployment in Finland by vocational training, mainly in vocational course centers. (CT)

The author discusses major forces for change and their impact on two-year postsecondary industrial education. He offers suggestions in several areas, including (1) broadened offerings, (2) older students, (3) marketing, (4) intake procedures, (5) instructional improvement, (6) declining and emerging occupations, and (7) employment placement. (CH)

A study examined and evaluated both public and private efforts to assist dislocated farmers, with particular emphasis on employment and training programs. The study found that about 46,000 farmers are currently leaving farming each year, and the rate probably will continue for the next several years. Since the majority of the farmers who leave…

Many postsecondary technical education programs are facing obsolescence and need more than another course or piece of equipment to be effective. Educational institutions must restructure their programs, redesign their laboratories, and retrain their faculty. The business and industrial community is the direct beneficiary of a strong vocational…

The ratio of rehabilitant earnings to the mean earnings of those persons in the general population with similar demographic characteristics has been proposed as a meaningful criterion of rehabilitant placement suitability. The Cooper-Rubin index was developed to generate a relative placement suitability score for each rehabilitant. (Author)

This document records the oral and written testimony given by witnesses at a series of three Congressional hearings conducted in 1993 to review federal retraining programs for dislocated workers. Witnesses included representatives of federal and state agencies, and Private Industry Councils. Witnesses testified about their programs and what has…

The Carnation-ILWU (International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union) Project attempted to find employment for a group of unskilled and semiskilled manufacturing workers displaced by the closing of the Carnation Company of Oakland, California. Although more than 2,000 employers were contacted in Alameda County in the year following the…

The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program is designed to help the more than 1 million workers per year who lose their jobs because of permanent layoffs or plant closures, due in part because of imports. Studies show, however, that the TAA program fails to meet the seven goals of a successful reemployment assistance program: (1) TAA benefits…

This document contains the text and a section-by-section analysis of the proposed Reemployment Act of 1994, along with President Clinton's message in transmitting the act to Congress. The document reports that job seekers today have a difficult time getting information about jobs and training. The underlying problem is the lack of a coherent…

These 10 papers focus on the key to excellence in vocational education in light of teacher assessment and effective assessment systems, challenges to testing students and teachers and the legal implications, basic and employability skills, and the need for vocational teacher technological update strategies. "Introduction and Colloquium…

This article presents a perspective on the relationship between adult education and human resource development of the past two decades and the subsequent emergence of workforce development. The lesson taken from the article should be more than simply a recounting of events related to these fields of study. Instead, the more general lesson may be…

An important first step in addressing the issue of obtaining a better fit between unemployment insurance (UI) and retraining was taken in 1970 when the federal government enacted a provision permitting workers to enroll in training without denial of benefits due to application of the work test. Little was done, however, to pursue state compliance…

This document reports the results of work in identifying promising approaches to the provision of technological update to vocational/technical teachers and barriers as well as facilitators to the use of those approaches. (Technological update refers to the technical, as opposed to pedagogical, knowledge and skills needed by vocational teachers to…

A study was conducted in 1987 to: (1) assess the impact of the farm financial crisis in Washington State; (2) identify at-risk populations; and (3) suggest appropriate programs and agency responses. Particular emphasis was placed on making recommendations for training and development programs to aid in reemployment of dislocated agricultural…

This document reports the oral and written testimony of witnesses at a Congressional hearing held to examine H.R. 3266, the Workforce 2000 Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Amendments of 1989. The bill is aimed at reforming JTPA targeting and training efforts. It focuses on critical support services and targeting issues and includes provisions…