This article describes how public, nonprofit, and private partners in Detroit are working to improve and expand adult foundational skills development opportunities and connect them to workforce training as the city begins to make an economic comeback. It outlines the adult foundational skills challenge in Detroit, chronicles the work of a strategy…

Includes "Skill Upgrading in Public and Private Organizations"; "Developing the Wealth of the Nation" (O'Toole, Simmons); "Dumbing down America" (Shanker); "Career Preparation"; "What Work Requires of Schools: The SCANS Report"; "Industry-Education Collaboration in Canada" (Clark); and…

"Schools and Businesses Need to Work together to Close the 'Job Skills Gap'" (Cortina) discusses Los Angeles efforts to implement recommendations of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. "Employer-Sponsored Education Is a Win-Win Situation for Both Businesses and Employees" (Lipshutz) describes a…

The Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act established provisions whereby youth may receive academic credit for skills acquired through work experience, but many educational institutions have not sanctioned these provisions. This problem was explored in a study of credit availability, type of credit, and the relationship between credit…

The Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce warns that the United States can remain competitive only if productivity increases because of a high-skill, high-performance work force. They propose a flexible matrix of learning opportunities to prepare students to be adaptable and productive on the job. (SK)

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report challenged schools, parents, and businesses to help all students develop competencies in the basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities required for work in the current and future workplace. In response to this challenge, vocational-technical programs were…

In June 1993, a workforce development symposium was held at LaGuardia Community College, in New York, involving 119 business leaders and training and employment executives from the borough of Queens. The purpose of the meeting was to determine the critical training needs of the area's business community. Symposium participants were divided into…

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report lists competencies generic for all students. They include using resources, using information, interpersonal abilities, using systems, and technology. A final report is being prepared pointing out the conflicting messages in the America 2000 plan (stressing academics) and the…

The Food Processors Skills Building project was undertaken by four Oregon community colleges, with funds from the Oregon Economic Development Department and 11 local food processing companies, to address basic skills needs in the food processing industry through the development and implementation of an industry-specific curriculum. Based on…

The Champaign County (Ohio) Board of Education asked four companies to participate in a workplace literacy project: Hall Company, Grimes Aerospace, LewiSystems, and Comdyne. Companies supplied training facilities and paid release time for employee participants. Seventeen classes were completed; 13 were attended by recruited participants, 4 by…

A study examined the affiliations between adult basic education programs and business, industry, and unions in the 50 States and the District of Columbia. Of the 47 state directors of adult education who returned the mail questionnaire, 31 reported formal affiliations and 5 reported informal affiliations with businesses and/or unions in their…

This report describes a meeting of Canadian partners who had experience in workplace literacy and represented different sectors that was convened to develop two lists of priorities for possible projects--those of interest to all sectors and of interest to each sector. Participants identified six clusters of priorities across Canada:…

At-risk program participants, those students who are in danger of not making a successful transition from school or preemployment training programs to productive lives, usually remain on the fringes of the economy. Instruction in school-to-work curricula is designed to help students obtain jobs, but seldom addresses the issues of the ongoing use…

A study of business and labor was conducted to define the performance skills expected of those entering the workplace in the 1990s and beyond. Survey respondents were 1,120 business people and 26 labor representatives in Illinois of whom 90 participated in follow-up roundtable discussions. Respondents identified and rank ordered nine basic skills:…

The findings of an education training survey of human resource managers regarding the employment and training needs of New England companies and organizations are presented. Five sections present the following: an introduction (survey's purpose and a profile of the human resource managers surveyed); general education and training problems of New…