The Ontario Industrial Workers' research site offered a basic analysis of issues relevant to the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) research and the labor education community. Project goals revolved around the need to examine development and applications of a new PLAR instrument, the Skills and Knowledge Profile (SKP), which is…

This is a report on a business survey conducted by Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC) (Oregon) to review the success and quality of the college's degree and certificate programs in business administration, computer application systems, and computer information systems. The community college surveyed 104 local businesses to verify the…

This document discusses the teacher preparation recommendations from a task force put together by the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). These recommendations are needed due to the shortage of teachers and the lower national tests scores of U.S. high school students. The task force offers suggestions on four faculty-related topics: (1)…

The Software Human Resource Council (SHRC) is a nonprofit sectoral council that speaks for software professionals throughout the Canadian economy. The SHRC's mission is to increase the number of Information Technology (IT) workers in Canada. This paper gives a brief overview of the evolution of SHRC's Information Technology Professional Program…

This paper contends that, because the direct connection between education and earnings is growing, with higher earnings increasingly linked to some form of postsecondary education and training, economic self-sufficiency frequently requires that workers advance beyond high school. At the same time, employers are increasingly reporting difficulty in…

Workforce development organizations are more and more focused on achieving and documenting performance outcomes; yet managers frequently face a challenge getting buy-in from frontline staff about collecting and using data--not only to satisfy funders' needs but to improve services. "Good Stories Aren't Enough" looks at the experience and…

School districts have participated in multiple rounds of education reform activity in the past few decades, yet few have made headway on system-wide school improvement. This paper addresses the questions of whether districts matter for school reform progress and what successful "reforming" districts do to achieve system change and to…

Rigorous college preparatory course sequences are critical to preparing students for postsecondary education and work. Yet, large numbers of students still do not participate in the most beneficial courses, and there is little evidence that the high school curriculum is rigorous enough to ensure that most students are adequately prepared for…

Writing in the workplace is among the understudied business topics in the field of HRD. Yet, the impacts of writing in today's workplace are significant, and organizations making it a priority benefit from it. Furthermore, writing is related to the issue of workplace literacy which is the umbrella term for basic communication skills. This…

This E.D. Tab focuses on degree completions in academic programs that have been deemed areas of national need by federal legislation. The analysis focuses on completions data from 1996-97 and 2001-02 and examines completions at institutions granting awards of associate's degrees and higher. In particular, it looks at the change in the total number…

Tech prep plays a pivotal role in the education reform movement and is a key educational strategy. The purpose of tech prep education is to prepare an academically and technically competent work force. It is a curricular and instructional strategy for all students that leads to competence and employability in the technical fields. In tech prep,…

The administrative structure of technological and vocational education (TVE) in Taiwan has three levels: central, provincial/municipal, and local authorities. Provision is at three levels: senior vocational schools (which include vocational programs provided by some general senior high schools), junior colleges, and institutes/universities of…

The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) studied the various requests it received from the social partners (employers, unions, governments, educational institutions) and how they could be more closely involved in CEDEFOP's activities. To analyze the requests, 70 interviews were organized around a four-part…

For over a decade, Latino immigrants, especially those of Mexican origin, have been at the heart of the immigration debate and have borne the brunt of conservative populism. Contributing factors to the public reaction to immigrants in general and Latinos specifically include the sheer size of recent immigration, the increasing prevalence of…

Passed in November 1994, California's Proposition 187 was intended to deny public school education and health care to undocumented immigrants and their children. The rhetoric of current anti-immigrant hysteria has shifted from that of recent decades and relies on both racist and sexist imagery. This narrative shift, with its emphasis on women and…