Next Steps at Vanderbilt, an inclusive postsecondary education program at Vanderbilt University, aims to equip students with skills and experiences to gain competitive employment. Next Steps has two primary goals: (1) Increase opportunities for students to gain targeted skills in career fields of interest; and (2) Create new career development…

Career and technical education (CTE) programs (programs that teach students specific workplace skills aligned with the labor market) may track data for lots of different reasons: to comply with funding requirements, to manage their services and continually improve, to measure their progress toward their goals, and to evaluate whether they are…

Advanced Placement (AP), launched in 1955 by the College Board as a program to offer gifted high school students the opportunity to complete entry-level college coursework, has since expanded to encourage a broader array of students to tackle challenging content. This Education Commission of the State's Policy Analysis identifies key components of…

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) is an innovative program and strategy developed by the Washington (WA) State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) in conjunction with the state's 29 community colleges and five technical colleges. Its goal is to increase the rate at which adult basic education and…

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, together with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, set in motion policy changes that have allowed many thousands of children and youth with disabilities in the United States the opportunity to gain the educational and vocational skills needed to transition to living, working, and participating as…

The Arizona Center for Vocational Education, Northern Arizona University, developed a program to train women in nontraditional careers. Since jobs were plentiful in the field, the program aimed to train 25 women in building maintenance. Project leaders established linkages with union apprenticeship programs and local business and industry…

Florida's Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP) is a statewide system linking the administrative databases of certain state and federal agencies to collect follow-up data on former students or program participants. The databases that are collected include those of the Florida Department of Corrections; Florida Department of…

The Minnesota Extension Service sought to have adult learners provide local leadership for establishing educational priorities as well as to have them become actively involved in the organizational change and program-planning process. Because it was found that many citizens are unprepared for such leadership roles, the extension service developed…

This handbook is designed to provide school decision makers with a global view of how assessment programs for home study schools are developed. Outcomes assessment (OA) is a required element for recognition by the National Home Study Council Accrediting Committee and hence for member schools. This handbook is designed to enable program developers…

The question "How should one decide which jobs are related to a training program?" must be answered directly and consistently before specialized training can be planned or evaluated. A conceptual framework is needed to provide a useful structure for thinking about the concept of training-related jobs, and certain issues must be resolved…

Although only Ohio has issued statewide standards for noncredit continuing education and a few other states have looked at such a process, most of the literature on student outcomes focuses exclusively on degree-credit programs. A college, university, or state system might want to assess continuing education outcomes for the following reasons: to…

Since 1998 a consortium of six educational and community institutions in Australia have created a pathway into tertiary education for those not served by existing paths. The new path results in a Diploma of Further Education. The program is based on a philosophy of lifelong learning, including a foundation of eight lifelong learning goals.…

This document discusses the adult education component of two Canadian women's organizations from a historical perspective. The two organizations chosen, the Federated Women's Institutes of Canada and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Canada have traditionally emphasized the education of women. The six sections of the paper cover…

Principles of sound educational assessment are discussed, along with current assessment issues and appropriate roles of colleges and the state in developing and implementing assessment systems. Assessment practice in New Jersey is considered. Principles of good assessment include: assessment should serve, not dictate, educational purposes; forms…

A program was conducted at Florida International University, first, to provide immediate assistance to experienced and prospective vocational instructors and other personnel who are serving limited-English-speaking out-of-school youth and adult vocational students and, second, to develop a model for preparing bilingual vocational instructors and…