The past years have witnessed a growing trend in applied research in Vocational Education and Training (VET), which refers to investigative activities and services conducted by VET organisations which have a strong practical focus on solving real-life problems. Insights from applied research can be used to develop or improve products and services,…

Developments in five priority areas for VET, agreed in 2015 by the EU-28, Iceland, Norway, candidate countries, the European Commission and EU social partners, are at the centre of this report. Work in 2015-19 shows continuity with earlier national strategies and initiatives. It confirms the recent focus on apprenticeships and other forms of…

Since 2001 there has been a renewed government focus on skills development and its relationship with combating unemployment in Ghana. Technical and vocational education and training (hereinafter; TVET), delivered through public and private schools, vocational training institutes and informal apprenticeship training, continues to be seen as an…

Moss presents his reaction to Henry David's report on the Vocational Education Study (Journal of Vocational Education Research, Winter 1980) in the form of four questions about the interpretation, synthesis, and utilization of the study's findings. (SK)

The Perkins Act greatly expands the tasks of state councils on vocational education. Their duties encompass three policy objectives: achieving public involvement in vocational education, providing independent assessment of vocational programs, and improving vocational education policies and the policymaking process. (SK)

The Perkins Act charges the National Council on Vocational Education with advising the president, Congress, and the secretary of education on the implementation of the Perkins and the Job Training Partnership Acts, strategies for business cooperation with vocational education, effective ways of providing labor market information, special needs…

The purpose of this article is to analyze and critique a sample of major documents which are being used in the development of policy positions by groups outside of vocational education but which have implications for vocational education. Four such documents have been selected for review. (Author)

The guide, based upon Vocational Education of Handicapped Students: A Guide for Policy Development by S. Davis and M. Ward, is intended to help local education agency (LEA) administrators and supervisors conduct evaluation and needs assessment of vocational education programs, policies, and procedures related to handicapped students. Each of eight…

Reviewing the many possible outcomes (intended and unintended) of vocational education programs, the author posits four tests for evaluation criteria: appropriateness, importance, feasibility, and usefulness. He discusses policy implications of the lack of consensus over the particular outcomes for which vocational education should be accountable.…

This evaluation of European Community and Union vocational training programs looks at programs implemented before and after the 1994 European Union treaty. It concludes that the political and legal framework has allowed only modest successes and the third generation of programs must take this into account. (SK)

The author lists some 20 principles as restated by state-level decision makers, presents definite ideas on how policy should be stated, and calls on states to review not only their policy statements but also their rules and regulations. (Editor/HD)

This paper focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education, broadly considered. It addresses the following questions: (1) What models or programs of transition exist? (2) On what basis can we say one transition program is more effective than another? In other words, how is successful transition defined? (3) How are…

Suggests a possible agenda for data collection for the Data on Vocational Education (DOVE) system over the next 5 to 10 years, examining two major categories of information: program outcomes, including student achievement and participation in further education and the labor force; and program characteristics, including attributes of programs and…

This publication on reviewing existing vocational education programs is the third in the Self-Help series of five booklets designed for Alaska administrators and teachers to improve vocational services provided to handicapped pupils. It begins with a checklist of implications for administrators and teachers. Reasons for program review and some…

The linkage of planning and evaluation in vocational education is a conceptual as well as an operational phenomenon. In an ideal situation, planning and evaluation are not two distinct sets of activities but rather interrelated aspects of a dynamic and inquiring system with the overall mission of reconciling policy design and policy action.…