Examines differences in the pattern of sheepskin effects (possession of an academic diploma) across a full set of union, nonunion, public, and private labor markets. Sheepskin effects (and resultant screening evidence) are strongest in the private sector, nonunion labor markets and virtually absent in any public sector or unionized labor markets.…

Education can improve productivity only if there are employment opportunities for more productive workers. Without complementary inputs, education cannot fulfill its advocates' promises. Test scores have never shown a strong connection with earnings or productivity. Japanese firms that establish manufacturing plants in the United States produce…

Analyzes the determinants of postimmigration investments in education by adult immigrants, using survey data for Australia and OLS, logit, and multinomial logit analysis. Postimmigrration educational attainment varies negatively with age at arrival and positively with duration in destination and preimmigration schooling and occupational status.…

A key element of any curricular system should be involving students in activities relevant to community and societal needs. Universities must expand their role to address the needs of the masses of educationally disadvantaged people and to effect social change. (SK)

Current discipline and motivation problems in our schools are indicative of students' rejection of an education irrelevant to their lives and worthless in terms of future employment. Educators must abandon their determination to maintain a competitive and hierarchical educational treadmill and encourage the young to begin an exploration of the…

A survey of 194 business graduates (39 percent response) identified the essential content for a basic course in business communication: listening, career planning, business English, and fundamentals of communication. Teachers should ensure that business education courses address these topics, and additional research should ensure that content…

Infusing cooperative strategies into the business education curriculum provides a feasible way to ensure the development of technical literacy but not at the expense of workplace literacy and employability skills. (JOW)

Most young people in Europe and Asia move directly into primary labor market by age 21. The do-it-yourself system confronting most U.S. non-college-bound youth has resulted in high youth unemployment, shortages of adequately prepared youth entering the job market, and increasingly uncompetitive economy drifting to low-skill, low-wage jobs.…

Education in the arts has the power to be intrinsically valuable and to help fulfill nonaesthetic, utilitarian goals. Art education can improve cognition, promote social relations, stimulate personal development, and foster citizen productivity. An examination of dance education shows at least 19 ways to connect dance to academics and the world of…

Using 1985 personnel record data from the Portuguese Ministry of Labor, a recent regression analysis found that the average rates of return for schooling in Portugal are in the 9.4 to 10.4 percent range. Large gender and regional earnings differentials exist. Study implications and limitations are discussed. (21 references) (MLH)

Argues against formalized liberal learning or general education core curricula. Posits that the expertise needed in most higher level occupations is broadening, owing to changes in the nature of organizations and work itself. Suggests that the student major should be reexamined, broadened, and given greater social context. (DMM)

Flipping burgers, operating cash registers, and stocking shelves are unchallenging, dead-end jobs that hinder high school students' academic success. U.S. industry has been using advanced technology to dumb-down jobs. Efforts of states and school administrators to restrict teen labor are discussed. Sidebars present innovative state initiatives for…

Many school districts are offering warranties on their high school graduates' basic academic abilities; employers identifying academic skill deficiencies may return graduates to school for free retraining. The problem is how to handle "recalls" appropriately. Community benefits and criticisms of the warranty approach are discussed. A sidebar…

Many education critics are now acknowledging that schools are performing better than ever. "Then and now" studies of test scores typically favor the now. Student motivation strongly influences performance on standardized tests. Bush's America 2000 program does little for poor and minority children falling behind grade level. Complex…

To blame the decline in national competitiveness solely on poorly educated, less productive workers is misguided. Despite the growing intensity of corporate criticisms of public education, there is no consensus among economists that schools have caused the productivity crisis. Schools are not critical to economic competitiveness in a global…