The growing importance of multiple-income strategies in the changing rural Appalachian economy is discussed via a case study of a network of female home-based machine-knitters. Social networks are an important part of the knitters' recruitment and training process, promote leadership development, and help overcome some of women's economic…

Includes "Welding Done Well" (Cutshall); "Opening Doors" (Cutshall); "Earning and Learning" (Cutshall); "New York's ELITE Schools" (Crockett); "Alexander High School's RVI [Related Vocational Instruction] Program: Focusing on Abilities" (Crockett); and "Perrysville's START Program Making a…

Presents an excerpt from the book, Help Wanted...Credentials Required: Community Colleges in the Knowledge Economy. States that credentials are now highly sought after by many employees, and community colleges must balance between providing a good education/training and the economic strain of doing so. Discusses changes in the trends of higher…

Reviews library automation efforts in West Virginia. Topics include information equity and rural areas, library systems and resource sharing, statewide connectivity, a higher education telecomputing network that has expanded to include elementary and secondary school libraries, multitype library cooperation and staff training, and academic library…

The nation's largest and most effective educational system is the job training provided by private business. Subsidies and financial aid for postsecondary education should be channeled directly to students and away from any particular institution. Workers should be encouraged to make their own decisions about their job training needs. (SLD)

This article describes the WonderTech Work Skills Simulation, a recently-developed experiential approach to teaching employability skills to adolescents and adults. The paper describes the design process of the simulation and provides a brief synopsis of its structure, content, and processes. (Author)

Surveyed 50 experienced child care center directors about what training experiences most influenced their skill development. Found that directors often had to learn on the job; life experience strongly shapes performance; training opportunities were often outside the field; management training helps acting directors most; conferences are most…

Third Wave is a Christian charity based in Derby (England) that offers training in vocational skills, preindustrial crafts, horticultural and agricultural skills, environmental education, and woodland survival skills to disadvantaged people at city and farm locations. Third Wave employs a holistic approach to personal development in a community…

Interviews with six Australian adolescent school-leavers, six employers, six employment service providers, and eight trainers found that schools deemphasize school-to-work; school leavers lack vocational maturity; unemployment may lead them to a peer culture discouraging further education; and employment services and training providers do not…

Discusses the Working Connections Program, a program funded by Microsoft Corporation and administered by American Association of Community Colleges. Describes the program as being created to assist community colleges in the development and implementation of information technology (IT) programs that are designed to train skilled IT workers. (NB)

Tennessee's Three-Star Program for Community Economic Preparedness helps rural communities sell themselves as desirable locations for industry. The program emphasizes community planning and improved quality of life; features include adult leadership programs, community action projects, after-school and extracurricular programs for children and…

Discusses the changing nature of vocational education in the community college, offers models and strategies for organizing and delivering vocational education, and presents evidence on program effectiveness and outcomes associated with student participation. Notes that for some vocational education approaches--for example, tech prep--little is…

Suggests an alternative to typical practices of new staff orientation: one week of paid orientation without direct responsibility for children so they can experience the program vision in action and practice assuming their role within it. Details strategies involved in this approach and encourages directors to calculate the cost of turnover in…

Informal workplace trainers help employees learn what they need to know and do in order to get their job done. Little is known about the actions of informal workplace trainers, who may be colleagues or supervisors. This study provides an empirical basis for actions undertaken by informal workplace trainers. A total of 350 Australian enterprises…

A pretest-posttest field study investigated self-efficacy, both general and specific, in an intensive training experience to prepare new recruits for their work assignments. Specific issues addressed include (1) the effects of the training experience on general self-efficacy (GSE), work-specific selfefficacy (SSE), and performance expectancy; (2)…