"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Teacher Excellence for All Children: Senior Democrat Offers Legislation Featuring Teacher Incentives and Induction…

U.S. high school students' lack of preparedness has serious implications for the economy and prosperity. For most of the nation's history, manufacturing workers with modest formal education could earn decent wages. For roughly 60 percent of the jobs in today's labor market, at least some postsecondary education is needed, and that percentage is…

In order to achieve the EFA (Education For All) goal agreed by participating nations at the Dakar World Education Forum 2000, The Lao government has undertaken various studies for its "National Plan of Action for Education for All." Lao is an inland mountainous nation with 49 ethnic groups. Such diversity makes the provision of social…

The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness and understanding of the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Program. The Academic Senate holds the view that welfare reform that focuses on "work first" tends to push participants into below-subsistence-level jobs and eclipses an emphasis on long-term…

A study explored downsizing from the perspective of the person separated from the job and its connection to violence and peace studies. Literature on downsizing, violence, peace studies, and organizational studies was reviewed. Participants were 28 white-collar employees, including the researcher, separated from the same organization. Data were…

This document provides background for those looking to establish workplace mentoring or buddy systems. It touches briefly on the other two legs of an effective workplace preparation program, which are orientation and on-the-job training. These six steps for setting up a mentoring system are described: recruitment, flexibility, training, written…

The General Accounting Office assessed the extent to which states were coordinating their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services with their one-stop centers. Data were gathered through the following activities: (1) an autumn 2001 survey of workforce development agency officials in all 50 states and a similar survey conducted in…

This annual report of the Community Colleges of Arizona for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000-2001 offers individual statistics from each of the 10 community college districts in the state. Facts for the state system include the following: (1) the annual full-time equivalent enrollment for FY 2000-2001 was 97,588, the unduplicated headcount was 349,278, and…

The traditional economic development strategy of the South--concentrating on low-skill, low-wage labor--no longer works; the region cannot compete with other areas of the world that offer low-cost, high-skill labor. The challenges facing rural and central-city communities in the South are immense, and only a comprehensive approach to economic…

Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), the third largest community college in the nation, is tackling the area's need for skilled workers. The number of jobs available in the northern Virginia region increased 103% in the last year. But there are substantial numbers of students at NVCC who are lacking the skills necessary to obtain employment…

This Working Paper contains three sections: the background to existing User Choice resourcing principles and their interrelationships as of March 2004; analysis of the existing arrangements, including their consistency with each other and with the User Choice principles agreed by Ministers; and concluding comments. The author found a considerable…

The objectives of the 4-year Laborers-Associated General Contractors (AGC) Business and Education Standards Project are: (1) generate world-class standards for construction craft occupations; (2) develop and promote a certification program for construction craft laborers (this objective was deleted because of negative reaction); (3) promote the…

The literature on diversity in the work force was reviewed to determine the complexity and breadth of workplace diversity issue and identify trends in diversity management and training. The literature review focused on the following: definition of diversity; changing society and work force; reasons organizations are managing and valuing diversity;…

According to a recent survey of midsized and large U.S. companies, approximately 190,000 information technology (IT) jobs are unfilled because of a shortage of qualified workers. The formal, four-year education system is producing only a small proportion of the workers required. IT workers can also obtain skills from two-year associate…

Because of the increased attention to family day care resulting from several state and national initiatives to improve quality, there is a need for a solid knowledge base about family day care. This book examines recent research on family day care. The book is divided into six chapters according to focus. Chapter 1 examines the ecology of family…