A brief, low-cost career intervention was designed to reduce employee turnover in the customer service call center of a financial institution. Through an extensive literature review, organizational commitment (OC) was identified as a primary predictor of employee turnover, and a list of research-supported OC antecedents was compiled. Antecedents…

The Office of Technology Policy analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics' growth projections for the core occupational classifications of IT (information technology) workers to assess future demand in the United States. Classifications studied were computer engineers, systems analysts, computer programmers, database administrators, computer support…

In 1996 the Appalachian Regional Commission reinvented itself, adopting a strategic plan that reaffirmed its two historic priorities--an economic and human development program and a developmental highway program--and rethinking how to achieve them. The plan established goals under five headings: education and workforce training that prepares…

This paper describes a 3-year project that combines classroom and real-life experiences to change how teachers are taught and learn to teach. The University of Georgia's College of Education developed a teacher education model that teaches and places prospective teachers in the context in which they will work (the classroom) and in the context in…

As a response to the problem of adult-student retention at two-year and four-year urban colleges, a new structural model, "Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, Perceived Stress, and an Integrated Model of Student Persistence" (Sandler, 1999), has been identified to better explain the integration, finances, behavior, and career development of…

A study examined evidence of any labor market payoff for school dropouts and if they acquire cognitive skills, and studied whether the payoff differs by gender and race/ethnicity. It analyzed data containing information on the universe of school dropouts in New York and Florida who took the General Educational Development (GED) exams between…

This brief discusses findings from the first year of a 3-year study of expectations, planning, and outcomes for high school students (N=181) in Massachusetts school districts who are receiving special education services and their families. Students and parents will complete a survey once a year for 3 years. Students are from various racial/ethnic…

This manual is based on a 3-year, federally funded program, Project FASTER (Functional Assessment Services for Transition, Education, and Rehabilitation), that developed functional assessment procedures and provided assessment services to adolescents and adults with learning or behavioral disorders who were involved in school-based transition…

This document contains four symposium papers on linking human resource development (HRD) theory and practice. "Reorienting the Theoretical Foundations of Human Resource Development: Building a Sustainable Profession and Society" (Tim Hatcher) examines the theoretical disciplines of economics, general systems, sociology, psychology, and ethics in…

This document contains four symposium papers on contextual learning issues. "Learning to Learn Strategies of Successful Real Estate Professionals: Implications for Learning in the Workplace" (Margot B. Weinstein) describes a multicase study in which a model called the Individual Learning System was used to identify the strategies and…

This guide discusses the processes involved in helping students with cognitive disabilities such as mental retardation find and keep a job. Following an introduction, the guide discusses the types of employment available for these youth and young adults in competitive and supported employment settings. The following section looks at the roles of…

These four issues of "Aligning," a newsletter-like publication of the Colorado School-to-Career Partnership and Partnerships for Educating Colorado Students, provide information about various facets of the school-to-work program in the state. One of the four-page issues highlights the connection between the work of the Colorado Education…

Research on informal learning in the workplace suggests several definitions, including that informal learning is a process of learning that takes place in everyday experience, often at subconscious levels, and that it is unique to, and rests in the hands of, the learner. Research supports introducing informal learning not as a replacement for…

The globalization of work and continuing advances in technology are changing the nature of the work force. Blue-collar workers are being replaced by information specialists who are sometimes called "knowledge workers." Knowledge workers are workers who can think, work with ideas, and use information to solve problems and make decisions. In terms…

This study of policies, strategies, and practices designed to create a learning and training culture focuses on Britain, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United States. Part I provides an overview of key contextual changes influencing development of policy for building a learning culture in the countries; sets out the approach adopted…