Developing a comprehensive strategy for postsecondary education that will meet the needs of America's diverse population and help ensure our ability to compete in the global economy is vital to the growth of our nation. Key to improving performance of our colleges and universities is measuring that performance. In this paper, the authors assert…

In May of 2006, two focus groups were conducted for the Arkansas Department of Education. The goal of this research was to explore the needs of Arkansas business leaders with regards to hiring Arkansas high school graduates. Some of the themes explored in the research were: skills perceived to be lacking in the graduates, strong suits of recent…

California's loss of capital gains and stock options revenue during the recent economic downturn was one of the worst in the nation, and the resulting fiscal crisis led to reductions in State appropriations to the University of 15% over the past four years, while enrollments grew by 19%. This article examines the effects of this reduction in State…

Through a literature review regarding teacher job satisfaction in the U.S. and in China, in terms of community factors, school factors, and teacher characteristics, this paper finds that most teachers in both countries are satisfied with their jobs, but teachers cited various factors influencing their job satisfaction. This paper makes a…

The distribution of regulated child care within and between Maryland and Illinois was studied. "Regulated" means all center-based and regulated family child care in the two states. Census data have been linked with child care supply data available from the statewide child care resource and referral networks. It has not been possible to…

All but 3-4% of the 91,189 complaints of alleged discrimination received by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1994 were dismissed for lack of sufficient proof of discrimination. A 1995 study of the extent of voluntary affirmative action found that 37% of a sample of 138 employers surveyed in the Philadelphia area had implemented steps…

The "clinical ladder" is a grading structure that facilitates career progression and associated differentiation of pay by defining different levels of clinical and professional practice in nursing. The clinical ladder approach, which is well established in the United States, differs from the approach used in the United Kingdom's National…

This first annual report by the Dusseldorp Skills Forum on the situation of young Australians provides a national perspective on developments that have affected 15-19 year olds during the 1990s. An overview chapter, "Youth: The Rhetoric and the Reality of the 1990s" (Richard Sweet), addresses these topics: education-work transition; the…

This report recommends passage of the Workforce Investment Partnership Act of 1997. It describes this bill as one that streamlines the current federal job training system, making it more user-friendly, and consolidates the numerous federal job training programs, eliminating confusing and redundant mandates and creating integrated statewide work…

This report documents the employment status of Virginia Community College System (VCCS) students. In fall 1996, all 24 colleges involved in the study had at least a 50% working student population, and nearly 41% of all VCCS students were working full-time and also taking classes. A profile of business and industry showed that community colleges…

Great Britain's New Deal is designed to provide unemployed individuals between the ages of 18 and 24 years with an array of counseling and guidance services called the Gateway. It will include access to independent career advice and a specialist assigned to help them overcome their particular barriers to employment. Key elements of the Gateway are…

This annotated bibliography was prepared to identify work force preparation issues and their implications for vocational teacher preparation. The bibliography was compiled to provide a broad-based, representative review of the recent literature and documents dealing with trends and issues concerning the workforce preparation of youth and adults in…

This collection of papers examines what academics do as a work process and how that is changing dramatically with the fiscal crises being experienced by most governments around the world. It explores how academic work is organized, how it is enacted, in whose interests, and with what ultimate effects. Papers include: "Markets in Higher…

This study examines the problem of teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention in the context of schoolwide reform in 7 of Philadelphia's 43 middle schools. The seven schools are implementing the Talent Development Middle School model of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk, a promising…

Noting that the adoption and entry into force of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 was an important milestone in history reflecting the changing image of the child, this book examines the relationship between education and children's rights. Chapter 1 deals with motivation, the different but interconnected reasons for…