In early 1991, a study of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) education-coordination set-aside program examined how the set-aside program was being implemented in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It was undertaken as a result of questions raised in public policy debates concerning possible misuse of the program. The concern was that…

In an effort to provide nontraditional students with the same opportunity as traditional students to reach the highest level of skills and competencies associated with hi-tech, high-wage employment, the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) offers alternatives to its historically successful full-time day program in chemical technology.…

Proactive steps should be taken at the national level to ensure that rural America receives educational and economic opportunities comparable to those provided to the nation's urban regions. This report, by the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC's) Commission on Small/Rural Community Colleges, details policy and administrative…

A study of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) showed that the RRB was only a microcosm of the problem of unprepared workers being experienced by employers nationwide. Implementing basic skills programs was found to be crucial because corporations and government agencies, like the RRB, found the labor pool to be poorly educated. Research on…

When changing technology required that workers in the unionized sector of the British Columbia Construction Industry be able to read more difficult materials than had previously been necessary and to use complex mathematical concepts on the job, it became evident that a new approach was called for, and SkillPlan was developed in March 1991 to…

A reflective self-assessment process was used to evaluate Project RISE, a 1-year, federally funded workplace literacy project. The goal of the evaluation was to help staff understand their collective experience in a way that might help them to serve their clients more effectively in the future. A list of the most critical problems faced by staff…

National concern about U.S. competitiveness in the world market has focused attention on the need to improve the work force. The two major 1992 presidential candidates have included training programs as important planks in their campaigns. President Bush has issued two proposals. Initially, he has charged in the Job Training 2000 proposal that the…

This inventory revises and updates data published in a 1986 inventory of articulation, collaboration, and Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) agreements between vocational-technical schools and community colleges in Massachusetts. In addition, it provides information on programs in city vocational schools, comprehensive high schools, and service…

Employer attitudes toward youth, the youth labor market, and prospects for a national system of youth apprenticeships were studied through a survey of firms that had participated in local youth apprenticeship or cooperative education programs in seven U.S. cities and focus group discussions with small and large employers in eight U.S. communities.…

An evaluation assessed the effectiveness and adequacy of North Dakota's vocational-technical system in carrying out the purposes of the Carl Perkins Act and the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and the coordination that took place between the acts. The evaluation that centered on schools' and institutions' efforts to fulfill the purposes of the…

Worker education and retraining is a key component of economic competitiveness, requiring the collective efforts of business, government, and education to secure and use revenue creatively and efficiently. Approximately 85% of the workforce of the year 2000 is already employed today, and up to 75% of those workers will need significant job…

In response to the increasing numbers of displaced workers due to corporate downsizing, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, in Tennessee, has initiated the Workplace Innovation (WIN) Project to help adults gain prerequisite academic and personal skills to re-enter the workforce or enter college for eventual placement in higher-paying…

These 17 papers attest to the deepening and broadening interest in self-directed learning as one solution to the lifelong learning needs of men and women in an increasingly dynamic society. The papers include the following: "Self-Directed Learning Knowledge: Some Issues" (Long); "Development of Self-Directed Learning Readiness: A…

This manual is designed to train an in-house steering committee to design and implement a comprehensive, ongoing, worker-driven, workplace learning program. The seven chapters take the projected committee through a full-cycle design process. Each chapter includes an overview, a list of objectives, and a series of action steps to follow, and a…

Born into slavery in 1856, Booker T. Washington overcame staggering obstacles to lead emancipated blacks into a quiet revolution against illiteracy and economic dependence. In his lifetime, the national focus became more democratic, and the education of adults proliferated, bringing social change. The first public efforts to educate freed slaves…