The factors affecting undergraduate-level agriculture students' interest in online courses were examined through a survey instrument that was voluntarily completed by 166 of the 240 students enrolled in the course titled Professional Leadership and Development, which was offered as a traditional face-to-face course at Texas A&M University in…

This paper explores the traditional European model of vocational training in light of a new focus on employability and lifelong learning that is becoming more common in Europe. It includes the following four sections: (1) an overview of some examples of vocational training systems in Europe and the proposal that they share enough to be considered…

The U.S. Army is in the process of implementing the Army Distance Learning Program, which is intended to improve training effectiveness and efficiency by substituting distance learning (DL) for portions of its current resident instruction program. To determine the potential effectiveness of DL in delivering military training, 25% of the resident…

This paper examines trends in occupational mismatch in the metal, building, vehicle, and electrical trades and questions whether the process of award restructuring that began in the late 1980s has created incentives for unskilled blue collar workers to pursue skill-based career paths in the trades. Chapter 1 discusses the paper's aim and history…

This document contains three papers on professional development. "An Inquiry into the Continuing Professional Education of Information Technology Workers" (David D. Branigan) reports on a study in which the model of the critically reflective teacher was used to examine the practice of continuing education for the information technology…

This document contains materials for use in conducting a 1-hour presentation on school-to-work (STW) programs in New York State for area employers in order to elicit their support for the state's STW initiative and encourage them to share information about the initiative with others in their communities. The document begins with nine tips for…

The New Economy Work (NEW) Scholarship is a proposed scholarship designed to reform federal training programs and to make them universally accessible to dislocated or disadvantaged workers. NEW Scholarships would accomplish the following things: (1) make access to training for dislocated workers as universally available as access to college; (2)…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on using technology for learning that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Openness to Technology in Virtual Teams: Implications for International Human Resource Development" (Mary R. Watson, Leigh Anne Liu) reports on a study that examined the attitudes of…

This booklet presents 12 examples of innovative initiatives to skill shortages nationwide. The description of each one provides this information: the challenge, partners, the story, and contacts with addresses and telephone numbers. The initiatives are Communications Workers of America and Cisco Systems: Military to Work Project; Knowbility and…

This book provides a policy update on the school-to-work (STW) transition in a wide range of countries. Fourteen chapters give a comprehensive overview of the main issues in policy formulation and a detailed consideration of how policies have been considered and implemented in those countries. The chapters are: "Introduction: STW Policies in…

Changes in work and the workplace are transforming the kinds of knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for successful work performance. Educators and school reformers are updating curricula and redesigning school programs to ensure that, in addition to academics, young people have opportunities to learn work-related skills and attitudes. A…

These skill standards, developed through a consortium of educational and industry partners in Illinois, serve as guides to workforce preparation program providers to define content for their programs and to employers to establish the skills and standards necessary for job acquisition and performance. The skill standards include the following…

This report presents findings from a study of self-service systems in eight One-Stop Career Centers that were identified as being particularly efficacious or noteworthy for completeness of resources, ease of use, or outreach to special populations. Chapter I describes the study design. Chapter II describes physical facilities. It focuses on the…

This publication describes the following six programs designed to improve education and employment preparation for adolescents and funded by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds: (1) High Schools that Work, a national initiative that assists more than 1,000 high schools in 22 states as they upgrade their rigor and improve their quality of…

The National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies was conducted to explore whether programs examined in the evaluation have helped welfare recipients move into the labor force and remain employed over the long term. As part of the evaluation, a study was conducted to identify the 4-year impacts that 10 programs in 6 sites have had on former…