With the series "Advancement for Low-Wage Workers," Jobs for the Future seeks to elevate discussion of this critical issue within and outside the workforce field. These occasional papers address public policy and on-the-ground practice. "The Next Challenge," the series introduction, argues for placing not just employment, but also advancement at…

This handbook is designed to help community-based organizations that provide adult education improve their program quality in order to better achieve results that matter. The target audience for this handbook includes administrators and other members of program improvement teams in community-based organizations that want to use Equipped for the…

This innovative session provides a vehicle for facilitating dialogue and practical application of effective tools for linking human resource development (HRD) strategies with business/organizational strategies. The primary goal is to provide an increased understanding of and skill using practical, research-based approaches and techniques to build…

MDRC's Opening Doors to Earning Credentials Project and its early reports found that community colleges are the local educational institutions with the greatest potential for helping low-wage workers earn skills and credentials that lead to educational and career advancement. Opening Doors also identified serious obstacles to realizing that…

This 2002 volume of Leadership Abstracts contains issue numbers 1-12. Articles include: (1) "Skills Certification and Workforce Development: Partnering with Industry and Ourselves," by Jeffrey A. Cantor; (2) "Starting Again: The Brookhaven Success College," by Alice W. Villadsen; (3) "From Digital Divide to Digital Democracy," by Gerardo E. de los…

This report focuses on the use of nationally recognized, industry-based skill standards and occupational certifications that promote certificate portability, skill transferability, worker mobility, and education and training consistency within and across states and nationwide. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 define what is meant by skill standards and…

This report offers an economic overview of Washington's information technology (IT) industry, stating that between 1990 and 1997 the state added 36,000 IT jobs and moved the state from 21st to 16th nationally in high-tech employment rankings. Washington also took the lead in high technology salaries, with an average wage of $81,000 in 1997.…

This colloquium was held with the purposes of promoting cooperation and collaboration among engineering education institutions in the Mekong subregion and establishing the linkage with engineering institutions in France; to promote university-industry collaboration in the field of engineering and technology education; to establish a network of…

This policy brief explores the role of community colleges in addressing the national shortage of K-12 teachers. It provides a summary of recent studies that highlight the prominent contributions of community colleges to the preparation of teachers (Boggs and Bragg estimate that 40% of the nation's teachers have completed at least a portion of…

Using a hierarchical legislative framework (federal, state, and local), this paper unfolds the chronologically circuitous path of policy development and its impact on organizational structures, funding streams, and timelines that are included in the workforce development system in California. The document provides a summary discussion of the…

Only one-third of America's workforce has any post-secondary education, yet 60% of new jobs in the 21st century require higher education. The President has set a new national goal to ensure that every high school student graduates and is ready for the workplace or college. While No Child Left Behind will prepare a new generation of students with…

This paper provides an analysis of revenue for and expenditure on Australian education institutions. It includes a review of funding from public and private sources and from overseas. Analyses are made for education as a whole and for the major sectors: schools, vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. Estimates are considered…

The mid-1990s saw the initial establishment of one-stop delivery systems, a collaboration of work force development entities in which a facility serves as a single-point-of-access, a place where individuals seeking employment and employers seeking employees may receive needed assistance. Some community colleges, because of their comprehensive…

The majority of learning that occurs in the workplace is informal, however, little is known about how such learning is best supported and nurtured. A qualitative case study was recently conducted to explore the contextual factors that may shape informal workplace learning. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted and constant comparative…

The abstracts in this series provide brief discussions of issues related to leadership, administration, professional development, technology, and education in community colleges. Volume 10 for 1997 contains the following 12 abstracts: (1) "On Community College Renewal" (Nathan L. Hodges and Mark D. Milliron); (2) "The Community College Niche in a…