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 19 papers in this conference report examine the formative period of the field of adult education, the development of workers' education, and the interrelationships of the two fields. The four papers in Section I, on defining adult education are: "Challenging the System: The Adult Education Movement and the Educational Bureaucracy of the…

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…

The report analyzes data on Michigan special education professional personnel as they relate to such factors as age, educational attainment, teaching experience, certificate endorsement area, and supply. The report is divided into five sections: (1) instructional-ancillary personnel and student counts; (2) personnel attrition and retention rates;…

This book investigates how workers use computers and how they learn the needed skills, based on a study of 140 occupations in which computers are currently used. Its main finding is that relatively few workers need a lot of computer-related training. Chapter 1, the introduction, discusses the rapid growth and spread of computers across a wide…

High personnel loss rates among recruits who have signed up for the Army's Delayed Entry Program (DEP) are becoming an increasing problem for DEP program managers. Therefore, a research project was conducted to examine DEP loss as a function of sociodemography and policy variables at the microdata level. Two DEP loss models were created. The first…

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…

At Raymond Walters College (RWC), a two-year branch of the University of Cincinnati, the concept of developing linkages with business and industry began in 1983 with the creation of a new administrative office of Educational Services and a new community advisory board, the RWC Work and Learning Council. Though RWC provides noncredit training in a…

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 paper presents an overview of the need for adult education, surveys the theory behind adult education, discusses the reasons why adults do not participate in adult education, and outlines marketing strategies that may induce adults to participate in greater numbers. The first part of the paper cites the need for educational reform, noting…