This guidebook summarizes learning on the role of intermediaries and how to build organizations that perform intermediary functions effectively and efficiently. An introduction defines intermediaries, in the context of youth-serving systems, as staffed organizations that connect schools and other youth-preparation organizations with workplaces and…

This brief provides information about the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, how it will be implemented in the greater Phoenix, Arizona, area, and the program's relevance to business. The brief also discusses the current work force development system, including information on these five areas of interest: (1) what the literature says about…

Again today, as 40 years ago, the idea of setting standards for career and technical education (CTE) has come to the fore. CTE practitioners have learned some lessons about implementing standards, among them that there is no "standard" standard; instead, there can be a confusing variety of standards. An analysis of standards reveals that there are…

This article describes how the Professional Development School without Walls, a partnership between the Departments of Special Education and Elementary Education at the University of South Florida and two large school districts, was developed; the challenges, needs, and contexts influencing the development and implementation process; and the…

As a result of rapid developments in information and communication technology (ICT), dramatic changes are taking place in approaches to teaching and learning in university and school classrooms. These changes offer new opportunities to explore entirely new methods of instruction in teacher education. ICT provides alternatives to conventional…

This paper describes the results of our efforts with regard to the design and implementation of an educational digital video library using MPEG-4 and the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL). The aim of our work is to integrate MPEG-4 encoding, full text indexing, high-resolution streaming, and SMIL, not only for delivering on-line…

"Informed math self-placement," a program implemented at American River College in Sacramento, California, to determine students' readiness for college-level math, has been in place for three years. This case study describes the development and implementation of math self-placement at American River. Math self-placement consists of a…

This guide, which is one of a series of three guides designed to provide state and local leaders, policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders with information about the work-based learning component of the School to Work Opportunities Act, deals with occupational education. The introduction traces the history of school-to-work initiatives,…

These materials include a report, evaluation, and book written about a workplace literacy project involving education (Alpena Community College), business and industry (Besser Company and Alpena Power Company), and labor (Thunder Bay Labor Council). The report specifies objectives; accomplishments, including development of eight courses in math,…

This book, which is intended as a practical guide to functional literacy at the grassroots level, addresses a range of issues encountered by literacy workers when mobilizing, planning, teaching, supervising, and evaluating adult literacy programs. The following topics are discussed: adult literacy, literacy teachers, and literacy work; the many…

This book contains essays about a specific and local reform, the Oxford Internship Scheme, which was developed and implemented by a partnership between Oxford University (England) and the local education authority in Oxfordshire. The internship program represents a commitment to the school-based training of teachers and, in some ways, is analogous…

A 1993-97 study researched the evolution of Intermediate and Advanced General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) in Britain. Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 225 centers; 5,100 GNVQ students were surveyed individually. Findings indicated that, of the 5 original and 10 added GNVQ subjects, GNVQ programs were…

Manual I describes the VIDEOSHARE Project, a demonstration project employing systematic, video-based technology in preschool special education classrooms to supplement traditional measures of academic and developmental progress. The VIDEOSHARE model focuses on using video to: (1) enhance family-school partnerships; (2) increase child study team…

The Alliance for Workforce Skills (AWS), a public/private partnership, provided adult basic skills training to employed and unemployed men and women in the Greater Hartford area. Many goals were not met, due in large part to the massive downturn in the Hartford economy. Only one of the four sponsoring corporations was still an active AWS partner…

This two-part document contains the final report (part 1) and the model curriculum (part 2) of the Workplace Basic Skills project at Burke Mills, Inc., North Carolina. Part 1, the final report, discusses the design, implementation, and operation of a project to identify a yarn manufacturer's skill needs, assess prospective employees' basic skills,…