This book provides a compilation of addresses and panel presentations from the 1995 International Symposium of Japan-America Societies. Twenty-nine eminent speakers and presenters, authorities on topics ranging from economics to education, shared dialogue with delegates who gathered for the first-ever meeting of members of Japan-America Societies…

A literacy needs assessment on an aboriginal island reserve in Canada was conducted to address courses to improve the literacy of adult aboriginal students. Fifty-one adults responded to the questionnaire relative to the need to initiate an adult education program. Questionnaire results indicated that secondary school upgrading courses in…

Since 1983, discussions focused increasingly on the contribution to economic performance associated with the skills of the work force. Government policy went further by specifying skills important to economic performance and advocating their introduction into schools and training programs. Surprisingly little empirical research examined the…

This report describes a 1998 seminar held to review the situation of higher education reform in Asia and the Pacific region, as well as in some Western nations, and to identify common issues and priorities, and then develop a collaborative framework for addressing these issues and setting priorities. Seventeen participants from 16 countries…

This report describes the health status of children and adults in developed and developing countries. Worldwide, life expectancy at birth rose from 47 to 67 years between the 1950s and late 1980s. However, more than 300 million people live in countries where life expectancy is below 50 years of age and 1 of every 10 newborns dies before age 1. In…

A study examined employee training policies and their implementation in four or five large companies in five countries (Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom). Data were gathered through interviews by an expert in each of the countries using an interviewer's guide developed for the project (resulting in approximately 30…

A study was conducted in Europe to determine what occupations and job skills are involved in the rehabilitation of architecturally significant buildings and in the restoration of monuments. Final reports were received from Belgium, France, and Italy. Experience in Belgium shows that there are specific provisions for restoration works, whereas…

Intended to highlight those aspects of the archival field that government officials should be aware of, this report on the Records and Archives Management Programme (RAMP) outlines the major principles of records management and archives administration, identifies the information needs of the decision makers, and assesses the ways in which records…

Community psychology has not dealt directly with the economic forces that foster maladjustment. Instead, it has focused on changing the individual and limited segments of the population. Society supports economic structures and values that hinder community psychology programs. Individual empowerment has only limited scope because it does not deal…

This essay examines the youth policies and programs of the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Sweden, and Norway in an effort to provide examples that may be of assistance in the development of such policies in the United States. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the topic, noting that the focus is on younger adolescents between the ages of 10…

Many older Canadians (almost half, by some surveys) have low levels of functional literacy that lead to problems with everyday life. More than half of Canadians over age 55 have less than a grade 9 education, and they often have lower incomes than more literate seniors. However, older people are the smallest group represented in adult basic…

This report contains, in addition to the introduction and preface, 13 papers written by individuals working in the field of evaluation who present the concepts and practices of evaluation at their own particular distance education institutions. The introduction (Schuemer) gives a short outline of the evaluation nomenclature and an overview of the…

One volume in a series for the classroom, this document contains readings, resources, exercises, and statistical information concerning women and their places in their respective societies. The report covers such topics as women in the family, size of families, health, divorce, education, life expectancy, infant mortality, and women in the labor…

A study was conducted to analyze the impact of employee illiteracy on Canadian businesses. The opinions of 626 vice presidents of human resources or general managers were collected in a random sample of 2,000 Canadian establishments with more than 50 employees and 300 head offices of larger firms (25 percent return). The information was…

Ten papers are provided on the prison education service in the United Kingdom. "Developments in Prison Service Management" (Ian Benson) describes changes in the past 5 years. "Prison Libraries" (Peter Blunt) describes the background to prison libraries and provides information on the present position. Current approaches to…