Concerns that students who have learning difficulties and disabilities (LDDs) and who are enrolled in further education (FE) colleges were being excluded from the basic entitlement to accreditation prompted a review of the system of 16-19 qualifications in 1995. It was recommended that England's national qualifications framework be revised and…

State governments have either licensed Master's level professionals in the social science areas as "professional counselors," or are considering such legislation. If enacted, such licensing reform would enable counselors to provide psychotherapy to their clients on a fee for service basis. Such reforms will dramatically affect the field of…

In France, most services provided to people in their homes are much less regulated than the same services provided in an institutional context. With the exception of providers of paramedical services, providers of home help are not required to possess particular training or diplomas. Until 1987, France's home help policies followed the Swedish…

This paper examines alternative certification programs in terms of entrance requirements, supervision and mentoring, and post-certification professional support. A good alternative program uses rigorous screening processes to ensure the selection of qualified teacher interns; provides high-quality preservice training in methodology, classroom…

Two reports concerning the education of limited-English-proficient students are presented. The Task D160 report presents information on current and planned state certification requirements for bilingual education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers, and the ways in which these requirements address or do not address the challenge of…

This paper was developed for the Illinois State Board of Education as part of a year long project to address the issue of personnel shortages in special education. Recommendations from a number of state committees and professional organizations were analyzed and additional input obtained from various professionals in regular and special education.…

A project examined how General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) are evolving and how far their development is in line with the objectives originally set out for them by the government. Information was collected from institutions in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which began offering GNVQs in 1993-94. The survey examined the five…

A study reviewed eight standards and certification systems for occupations that required less than a bachelor's degree for entry-level employment. Common elements among systems included industry ownership and control, recertification requirements to keep certificate holders' skills current, national portability of credentials, and integration of…

This bulletin deals with the critical shortage of qualified professionals in special education and related services which seriously hinders the nation's ability to serve the growing number of children and youth with disabilities, birth to age 21. For every 10.5 special education teachers now employed in the nation, school systems report needing…

The economics and sociology of the relationship between training and employment in Europe were examined through a comparative study conducted in six countries: Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In each country, teams of researchers used a standardized methodology to collect the data needed to estimate (over a…

Designed to guide training and curriculum development to prepare machine operators for the national certification exam, this publication identifies the important knowledge required for productive performance by a plastics machine operator. Introductory material discusses the rationale for a national standard, uses of the Body of Knowledge,…

Research tested the hypothesis that preemployment vocational education is a major contributor to enterprise productivity, because it raises workers' skills that are then applied in more effective work practices. An intercountry comparisons approach involving Britain and Germany and Britain and the Netherlands or France identified medium-sized…

This report describes different methods used by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Texas Tech University to provide training to rural teachers in serving students with visual impairments. Distance education is well-suited to the problem of rural personnel preparation. UAB uses videotaped lessons in conjunction with on-campus…

This component of the California New Teacher Project describes comprehensive, innovative forms of assessment to be included in new teacher preparation and the credentialing process in order to promote successful induction of teachers into the profession. This report, organized into chapters, begins with an introduction that analyzes the…

Vocational education has many pedagogical advantages over academic education in meeting three critical conditions of excellence. The first critical condition is student involvement. Most vocational education programs tend to involve students intensely and personally with peers and teachers. The natural advantage most vocational education has over…