Over the past 20 years, major transformations have occurred in educational, social, political, and economic areas that continue to have an impact on the education and development of youth with disabilities and the institutions that support them. Approximately half of all students with disabilities in 2003-04 spent 80% or more of their day in a…

The 1990s and early 2000s saw the increased development of advanced training, skills standards, and certification exams by private organizations in the United States. Employers began accepting these skill certifications in lieu of traditional on-the-job training, thereby encouraging employees to acquire more credentials. This article examines the…

Recent reform in the Hong Kong senior secondary education has awakened the need for a balanced and comprehensive learning experience in the academic, vocational, organizational, social service, arts and sports domains to prepare students for employment, for learning and for life. Following on from its recommendation, the Education and Manpower…

A distinctive feature of the British approach until the 1960s was that vocational education and training (VET) should be provided by employers. This is conventionally contrasted with the much more formal state coordinated approach of Germany. The question posed is whether the British style was the "spontaneous order" that results because…

This study identifies and empirically tests factors that may influence learners' use of a computer-based training support system (TSS). The areas of research and theory were drawn from human-computer interaction, information and business management, and adult education. The factors suggested in the literature that may affect learner's use of a TSS…

This study was undertaken to explore the use of a digital camera for mental imagery training of a vocational task with two young adult men with Down syndrome. The results indicate that these particular men benefited from the use of a collaborative training process that involved mental imagery for learning a series of photocopying operations. An…

This article explores the state of skills development for smaller enterprises in South Africa through a consideration of two recent empirical studies of very small and micro enterprises (VSMEs--those with 2-10 employees). It provides new evidence about the complexity of the VSME sector and the mixed performance of state attempts to engage with it…

This article discusses aspects of the informal learning of tertiary teachers in a polytechnic, a wananga (Maori tertiary institution) and a university in New Zealand. Case studies showed that they gained their teaching knowledge and skills mainly on the job, through informal, experiential learning, and much less through formal courses,…

Data from the Balearic Islands (Spain) on the number of young people dropping out of the education system with no formal qualification and on the general level of education of the young population as a whole indicate that this region is not on a par with most of the other regions in Spain and the European Union as a whole. The regional government…

This presentation is devoted to four main topics: (1) the comparative performance of U.S. adults and high school students on international literacy assessments; (2) the literacy/numeracy proficiencies of the nation's adults in different educational groups and among those who recently participated in federally-funded adult education programs; (3)…

In June 2005, the Victorian State Government introduced the Regional Jobs Package (RJP)--a twelve-month pilot program that attempted to kill two social policy problems with one stone. The problems were youth unemployment and skills shortages in regional areas of Victoria, Australia. The intention of the RJP was to create a "win-win"…

This paper explores whether a professional development weblog could support work-based learning in a TAFE Library. The paper includes both a literature review of material dealing with work-based learning in the VET sector, weblogs and their possible use as a professional development tool and an evaluation of a weblog project devised to support…

This fact sheet summarizes data gathered in the 2008 survey of National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant recipients. Conducted by The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, this was the ninth annual survey of ATE projects and centers. Included here are statistics about the program's grantees and…

This evaluation of programs conducted in fiscal 1978 under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) consists of an overall picture of the 1978 YEDPA program experience and case studies of programs in 12 states. Findings and recommendations are presented concerning the implementation of YEDPA programs by Comprehensive Employment…

Since Singapore achieved partial self-government in 1955, economic and political considerations have reshaped educational policy and programs to support the transformation to an industrialized country. Changes in the educational systems include: more facilities for technical education and training; a reorganized secondary school system phasing out…