In recent years Norway and Switzerland have introduced local training agencies (TAs), local intermediary organisations consisting of firms involved in apprentice training. In both countries, the starting point for the formation of the TA was roughly similar: enabling more firms to participate in apprentice training. Despite similar tasks, TAs have…

Inter-firm cooperation has emerged as a key element of competitive business strategy. Firms improve mutual understanding of their complementary competencies and combine them in better ways; improve access to new markets and advanced technologies; and learn more fully and quickly from each other. Challenges of work force development (WFD) can be…

Under the skilled supervision of a master carpenter hired to direct this Comprehensive Employment and Training Act project, seven high school students and two beginning workers are learning the varied and complex skills of building maintenance, renewing their city's schools, and bringing home a badly needed paycheck. (LRA)

A cooperative camp program trained three teenagers with developmental delays to be counselors-in-training (CITs) for a children's day camp. Trainees learned about the basic chain of command at camp, first aid and emergency care, child development, and behavior management. The program was deemed successful in increasing job opportunities for…

The Labour Adjustment Initiative was developed in Ontario to provide the ever-increasing number of laid-off workers with remedial basic skills training in order to prepare them for other jobs or further training. The model developed by the Literacy Branch of the Ontario government emphasized a collaborative approach that drew together all of the…

This collection of 16 case studies is intended to illustrate how the public and private sectors have managed to collaborate in helping workers adapt to changing employment circumstances. The case studies are grouped into three categories. The first six case studies are examples of programs that have been developed to assist in training for new…

State skills corporations are public/private ventures designed to increase the supply of skilled workers in a state. Using public funds matched by private dollars, the corporations bring business and educational institutions together to train workers for skilled occupations. One of the principal goals of the corporations is to establish an…

This packet contains 15 lessons developed in a workplace basic skills project for the metal casting industry established jointly by Central Alabama Community College and Robinson Foundry, Inc. The lessons cover the following topics: (1) green sand schedule; (2) the core room; (3) the core room (continued); (4) figuring time; (5) the cleaning room;…

Based on the results of a needs survey, this directory was compiled to provide vocational teachers and administrators with a listing of businesses and industries located in the Mississippi Appalachian Region which have indicated a willingness to assist in the maintenance and upgrading of vocational teacher occupational skills. The directory is…

This document contains a final report, evaluation report, and materials from the Better Educational Skills Training (BEST) workplace literacy program in Vermont. The seven-page final report describes program components: (1) expanding and institutionalizing the workplace literacy program developed through two previous national workplace literacy…

The author discusses partnerships between the private sector and postsecondary institutions and their applicability in different college and workplace environments. He further suggests that both parties employ planning strategies in order to achieve the best results. Partnership patterns discussed include cross training; cooperative work-study;…

Intended for school administrators, educators, and the lay public, this publication describes five innovative and effective vocational education programs developed with support from the U.S. Office of Education in response to a local problem. The programs, each requiring the coordinated effort of community groups and leaders are: (1) Industrial…

This report describes a joint labor-management workplace literacy program called SET (Skills Enhancement Training) that targeted the more than 2,000 unionized employees of food service contractors at U.S. government institutions in Washington, D.C. Nineteen classes were offered and a total of 191 people self-selected themselves into the program.…

For nearly 3 years, the Massachusetts Career Development Institute provided a workplace literacy program for 201 persons employed by the Geriatric Authority of Holyoke, Massachusetts, a major nonprofit nursing home and rehabilitation facility. The literacy program included adult basic education, English as a second language, and high school…

A 3-year workplace literacy project combined the resources and efforts of a junior and a technical college, literacy education providers, and businesses to implement an assessment and education program for textile workers. The program included four components: (1) reading, writing, speaking, listening, and mathematics skills; (2) creative…