This document proposes a direction and strategies for using a total quality management approach to develop and implement standards for evaluating vocational education students and assessing programs throughout Michigan. Discussed in part 1 are the following: the terms "standards,""assessments," and "certification";…

The United States has never had a consistent, unified work force development system. Instead, because of citizens' preference for decentralized government, most efforts at work force development have been sporadic and localized. From the 1960s until the early 1990s, Congress enacted between 125 and 175 narrowly-focused categorical employment…

Computer-based career information systems (CCIS) provide local labor market information. Guidance counselors frequently use CCIS in conjunction with clients, but youth and adults also access CCIS independently to obtain career information. The best known CCIS are the state-based career information delivery systems (CIDS). Although developed by a…

The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the extent to which the financial aid provided under Title IV of the Higher Education Act to students enrolled in proprietary schools is being spent to train individuals for demand occupations. Job opening projections in 12 states were used to estimate job demand, the National Center for Education…

Benefits and drawbacks to the employment of high school students were studied using data from the High School and Beyond Survey (HS&B). A literature review was followed by an analysis that used final samples of between 6,000 and 10,000 HS&B students depending on the regression performed. These students were sophomores in 1980 and were resurveyed…

Training of vocational education teachers should be closely linked to the industries in which the teachers are preparing to instruct students. A teacher training program in Taiwan has been designed with the cooperation of the metals manufacturing industry. In this four-year program, students are assigned to the industry to learn the product…

Designed for classroom teachers, this refereed yearbook includes examples, resources, and success stories to assist business educators to provide their students with the necessary skills for success in work and in life. Part I, Examining Business and Education Environments, contains the following chapters: "Business and Industry Need Qualified…

The emergence of a more learning-intensive economy has begun to change the relationship between education and work. As employers try to promote just-in-time learning and workers move more frequently from one job to another, continual learning at work becomes increasingly important. Four main elements characterize an education system that is likely…

This newsletter theme issue describes a state-local team partnership model for interagency transition efforts for young adults with deaf-blindness. Excepts from a presentation by Jane M. Everson identify key aspects and characteristics of effective state and local interagency partnerships. These include: (1) strategies for initiating and…

This teacher's guide is designed to help teachers conduct a course in fundamental blueprint reading as part of a workplace literacy program. The course offers nine central topics necessary for initial exposure to blueprint reading. Each topic lists several learning objectives, specific terms or vocabulary, and a measurable outcome. The topics in…

The focus of prekindergarten-grade 12 education has changed from maintaining a democracy to producing people who will enter college to become the scientists and engineers required to maintain the U.S. economy. Students who do not "fit" that curriculum are to be ignored. Despite the widening gap between the numbers of individuals preparing for…

Congress is working to complete legislation to create block grant funding for work force development. Nearly 100 vocational education, job training, adult education, and other work force education programs that previously were separately funded will compete for the reduced funding available. The Carl D. Perkins Act of 1990 and School-to-Work…

This paper addresses issues involving the designing of new job training and education programs in central Appalachia in response to national policies for economic improvement. In March 1994, the Reemployment Act of 1994 was announced as the Clinton administration's response to problems caused by radical and worldwide economic restructuring. The…

The Prince George's County (Maryland) Public Schools and Prince George's Private Industry Council worked together to provide workplace literacy classes at worksites for employees of 10 different employers. Over 300 employees participated in classes in English as a second language or basic skills. Businesses in need of literacy and basic skills…

The appreciative inquiry process was used to identify conditions enhancing self-directed learning. Participants in the project did the following: (1) used the five-step process to identify factors/conditions/forces that seemed to cause self-directed learning to occur; (2) created a matrix by combining the factors/conditions/forces with six…