A globally competitive Mississippi must be built through investment in the education, training, and skills of its people. Recommendations for improving the system involve (1) a human resource and economic development strategy built on a partnership between the state and communities and (2) a state-level human capital strategy board. Critical…

The educational literature provides evidence of the increasing role of community colleges in serving business and industry. By providing pre-service education for persons entering the labor market or continuing education for employed individuals who seek skills upgrading, community colleges have made businesses a major consumer of college…

A German Marshall Fund tour of education and training systems in Denmark, Sweden, and West Germany generated ideas that Oregon could use to evaluate and improve its own educational systems and programs. Four principles define the European model: (1) government policy and programs promote employment; (2) business and labor are powerful partners in…

The U.S. economy is undergoing a transition that may rival the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution. The general directions are clear: an ever smaller share of the nation's work force is employed in the manufacturing sector; service sector industries are the source of most new jobs; and some "high tech" industries have had explosive…

Increasing concerns about the skill level of U.S. workers are driven by demographics, technological change, and international competition. Greater percentages of the labor force will be comprised of those groups that have traditionally faced the greatest barriers to full participation in the labor force. Rapid technological change is increasing…

Within the private sector, the human resource management perspective has replaced the traditional personnel management approach. A similar evolution within the educational community is necessary for implementation of successful school reforms. Presented in this paper are an overview of the transition from personnel management to human resource…

This study examines the state of foreign language training provided to industry by British colleges, offers guidelines on how colleges should respond to that market, and identifies created materials that will train college personnel. The study reports that the colleges have a good product to offer but that it is inaccessible to industry because of…

Sweden had, according to data gathered between 1986 and 1988, 8.4 million inhabitants, with a labor force of 4.4 million people. Its unemployment level was less than 2 percent. The level of educational investment was 7.5 percent of the gross national product (GNP), with 10.5 percent of the investment in adult education. Adult education in Sweden…

The American education system is being challenged to raise the academic achievement of students to prepare them for the jobs of the future. Yet many demographic, economic, and social factors are making that task more difficult. Low birth rates, especially among non-Hispanic whites, along with high immigration rates, have increased the share of…

Economic self-sufficiency is the key to reviving and maintaining a strong Indian culture; therefore, the goal of the Passamaquoddy Enterprise Zone Project was to develop an understanding of the types of business that do well in the area and those that do not do well. The study used interviews with business managers as well as case studies of 12…

Prior research has documented the failure of both staff development and teacher evaluation practices in schools to serve as sources of accountability and improvement for teachers. Few districts coordinate these two aspects of a human resource management system. Using a concept of organizational control, this study employs a qualitative methodology…

Major social and economic trends in American and California life that will affect California's colleges and universities during the next 15 years are identified. Characteristics of the information-based economy are examined, along with projections concerning the 40 fastest-growing jobs between 1982 and 1995. College and university research has…

The debate over the nature of effects that new technologies will have on job skill requirements has consequences for public policy and education. Much of the controversy over how to prepare students for the workplace of the future arises because different questions are being addressed. This report examines the disparate visions and disagreements…

This review synthesizes work undertaken in the field of economics and education with the aim of identifying and analyzing the economic dimensions of recurrent education. The development and meaning of the concept of recurrent education are addressed through discussion of the antecedents of the concept, international developments in recurrent…

The need for partnerships among deliverers of training in the public and private sectors has reached a critical point if U.S. businesses are to remain competitive. The work force and workplace are being transformed by demographic trends, economic and employment trends, a growing skills mismatch, and concerns over educational effectiveness. Two…