This paper reviews Iceland's performance in skills accumulation against the backdrop of a rapidly changing economic environment and discusses directions for further improvements. Since the late 1990s, the government has considerably raised expenditure on education, which is now among the highest in the OECD relative to GDP. Nonetheless, Iceland…

An effective system of education and training is important for both social and economic reasons. Its role in the Polish economy is to provide the current and future labour force with skills to facilitate both continuing productivity growth and reallocation of resources as structural adjustment proceeds. Important reforms to decentralise primary…

Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) represents the only chance for many Baltimore City residents to obtain a post-secondary education, find a job with a career path, and earn a sufficient income to support a family. BCCC is also a critical linchpin in Baltimore's ability to build a competitive workforce. Yet the college, with 7,300 credit…

During the 1990s, a new policy hypothesis focusing on the quality of teaching to provide a high-leverage means for improving student achievement began to gain currency. Based on interview, observation, survey, and record data collected at the state, district, and school levels over a five-year time period, the study offers a look at how the San…

"Changing Education" is targeted for Australian teachers and administrators. This theme issue, which the editorial defines as about "The Changing World of Continuing Education," contains eight articles and an editorial about recent developments in adult literacy and basic education (ALBE), vocational education and training, and…

This book examines cultural diversity issues for U.S. and Canadian higher education institutions. Profiles of five ethnic minority groups (African American Blacks, Caribbean Canadian Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Jews) were constructed, and then used to reconstruct diversity policies and programming. The profiles were based on six core…

This document contains papers in which 12 experienced gender specialists examine the various developments and elements affecting women's participation as equal players in the workplace and propose actions and policies promoting sex equity in the workplace. The following papers are included: "Preface" (Mary Chinery-Hesse); "Introduction " (Eugenia…

This book contains 10 papers exploring the effects of race, ethnicity, and class on women in the workplace. The following papers are included: "Series Editors' Introduction" (Ann Stromberg, Barbara A. Gutek, Laurie Larwood); "Introduction" (Elizabeth Higginbotham). The book is organized in four parts. Part I, "Historical…

Papers on linguistic minorities and library use include: (1) "Why Consider the Library and Books?" (Stephen Krashen); (2) "Supporting Spanish Language Literacy: Latino Children and School and Community Libraries" (Sandra Pucci); (3) "'I Did Not Know You Could Get Such Things There!': Secondary ESL Students' Understanding, Use and Beliefs…

This collection of papers describes the processes of doing teacher action research. There are nine chapters in three parts. Part 1, "Ways of Doing Teacher Action Research," includes (1) "Action and Reflection: Narrative and Journaling in Teacher Research" (David Hobson); (2) "Action Research Rationale and Planning:…

Ideas about what constitutes work, the ways work is organized, the tools used in work, and the relationship between work and the other components of life are all changing rapidly. The implications of these changes for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and elsewhere were examined. The following issues were considered: (1) the…

The attitudes and experiences of 18 vocational education and training (VET) practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education (TAFE) in South Australia were examined to determine how leading-edge VET practitioners engaged in designing, developing, and facilitating online learning understand…

A study was conducted to obtain pilot evidence that could serve as a basis for developing convincing methods for individual Australian companies to use in determining their returns from investment in training. The study attempted to replicate survey results from significant overseas surveys by using information collected on more than 90 Australian…

Australia's apprenticeship system was examined in 11 individual research projects that focused on various aspects of the system, including the following: milestones in its development; its changing structure; its broadening occupational base and client base; characteristics of apprentices; completion and attrition rates; outcomes from traditional…

Professionals have normally become qualified through a period of formal education followed by a structured training program and continuing professional development. This traditional pattern is being replaced with a process of lifelong learning that, thanks to the development and application of a wide range of information and communication…