A major proposition is that dual training arrangements alone do not necessarily solve quality problems in the delivery of vocational education and training (VET) nor improve VET links to the labor market. An essential strategy for Australia should be to further develop holistic training courses linked to apprenticeship models and embed both into a…

The vocational education (VE) system in China has been reformed and redeveloped over the past 20 years and now has a rational structure and stages from junior to senior levels that match the industrial sectors and link to regular secondary education. The reform and development of the Chinese VE system was carried out in three stages. The senior…

Expanded resource sharing will be a feature of twenty-first century libraries. Discusses and illustrates, with reference to OhioLINK, steps to expanding resource sharing: joining a consortium, integrating intellectual access (catalogs and circulation), providing for physical and electronic delivery of materials, and integrating the collection…

Discussion of managed health care looks at its evolution and characteristics, implications for medical education, and the competencies needed by physicians in this new environment, including epidemiological thinking, understanding of human and organizational behavior, familiarity with information technology, quality control skills, knowledge of…

Discusses five obstacles to the development of a continuum of child welfare services; the effects of these obstacles on minority children; and steps that policymakers and voluntary agencies might take to improve the continuum of care of minority children. (BG)

Discusses current trends and issues impacting educators and the populations they serve, presenting perspectives on major societal changes occurring from a mental health and family systems framework. Implications for approaching these ecological issues and creating new delivery systems promoting collaboration are discussed, noting the important…

Reviews common financing strategies for school-linked services, and suggests that the fiscal strategy for building integrated school-linked services involves supplementing new core program funding with redirected existing sources and increasing use of Medicaid funds. There is no single approach to financing these services. (SLD)

Identifies health risks and other factors that determine the need for health care services among children and adolescents. Recommendations are made to develop reforms through a coordinated care program rather than through competing systems of services. Models for community-based health care monitoring and coordination exist in other industrialized…

Reviews evidence about health care resources currently available to children and pregnant women in the United States. Evidence suggests that the maldistribution of resources remains a serious threat to health care access for women and children at greatest risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and child morbidity and mortality. (SLD)

Describes the coordination of health and human services from sites within schools. Discusses funding trends and the following proposed strategies: (1) case management; (2) networking; (3) "one-stop" services; and (4) administrative consolidation. Discusses steps for advocacy, leadership, participation, and funding at the policy and local…

Introduces a special issue on educational program adequacy--the cost of raising poor children's outcomes to functional levels through improved systems of finance, governance, organization, implementation, and educational practice. Essays raise numerous problems, including a weak knowledge base, low educational productivity, political resistance,…

Focuses on rural service delivery issues common to special education, school psychology, and mental health and outlines training-related solutions. Cautions against simplistic dichotomy of rural versus urban service delivery and professional isolationism. Recommends five skill categories for rural training: generalist training, personal and…

Reviews the association between material deprivation and child abuse and considers the implications of this association for preventive strategies. It is concluded that communitywide strategies aimed at supporting all care providers are more likely to succeed than those based on at-risk groups. (SLD)

Racial bias and inadequate financial supports place the children of the urban poor at risk. Implications of urban conditions for research, policy, and practice are discussed, with emphasis on delivery of social welfare services. (SLD)

This examination of the needs of families with students who have emotional/behavioral disorders proposes that schools provide services in the areas of (1) community programs; (2) information services; (3) advocacy and resource use; (4) home and community parent/family training programs; and (5) parent/family support and counseling. (DB)