This final report of the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) describes how the United States can prepare young people as well as workers already on the job for productive work in the 21st century. Following an executive summary, Part I, Learning a Living, describes the economic choices facing the United States, defines the…

The geo-demographic, economic, and infrastructural makeup of 12 African countries (Botswana. Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) were compared to determine the potential benefits to them of a Commonwealth of Learning (COL) distance education initiative. Data were collected on…

In commemorating the 25-year history of Iowa's community college system, this report describes the colleges' programs and services, presents a vision for the future, and provides historical and descriptive profiles of the system's 15 colleges. An introductory section reviews the missions of Iowa's community colleges, focusing on educational…

This Total Quality Management (TQM) course was designed to introduce students to the principles and tools of TQM in a full-semester course in high schools or community colleges. The course includes all the competencies found in TQM and is intended to be taught with an interactive method in which students are involved in the learning process. This…

Transforming the welfare system presents governors with unique opportunities, hard choices, and creative challenges. Change will require continued commitment to welfare, educational reform, and economic development. Governors can improve the status of private citizens and private businesses. The Family Support Act of 1988 signaled major changes in…

This kit provides materials about South Africa for activists and educators and the Canadian public. The materials provide ideas for communicating the information and moving people to action. They include a user's guide with a kit overview and suggestions for its use; an educator's handbook on South Africa, which applies a popular education…

This monograph identifies the five broad areas in which the author believes disabled people are especially likely to find employment in the years ahead. It answers, as far as can be foreseen, the question, "Where are the jobs?" The book is organized into six chapters. In the first chapter, the author examines social science research on the job…

A study was conducted to develop strategies to increase placement rates in secondary and postsecondary vocational programs. During the study, researchers identified factors relating to job placement, provided descriptions of the educational and community processes appearing to influence job placement, and generated hypotheses concerning variables…

A paper by the American Council on Rural Special Education formally requests that the National Commission on Excellence in Education recognize the differences between rural and non-rural schools and provide appropriately different strategies for implementing Commission recommendations. Factors of rural schools which should be considered by…

This document contains executive summaries that report on short-term projects undertaken as part of the U.S. Department of Labor's Apprenticeship 2000 initiative, the purpose of which is to determine the future role of apprenticeship in meeting needs for a skilled work force. The 13 studies are on the following subjects: (1) issues relating to…

Technological advances necessitate the continuous retraining of the work force. Three technologies are having greatest impact on the labor force: (1) the scope and depth of computer skills required by most jobs continue to expand; (2) robotics in manufacturing means that certain new jobs are more technical and require postsecondary education; and…

The issue of combining careers and child rearing has come into public consciousness because so many more women with children now work. This means that there are many more families where both parents work. Women are voicing a growing sense of disillusionment regarding earnings, occupational segregation, child care difficulties, and performing two…

This report documents the proceedings of a symposium on education and care of young children from birth to 10 years of age. Participants included state policymakers, key educators, and public and private service providers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The report contains the symposium agenda, edited remarks of three…

Since September 1988, the Prince George's County (Maryland) Board of Education and the area's Private Industry Council have worked together to provide literacy-enhancing classes at worksites for persons in the county whose jobs represent 15 different employers. These employers have recognized the problems of workers with poor literacy and…

This handbook capsulizes the many steps in developing, implementing, and evaluating a workplace literacy program, and is written from the perspectives of both the educator and the employer. The handbook has been written for business leaders and for adult basic education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) educators. While the suggestions in the…