This book examines and illustrates the process of transforming school-to-work into real learning for real work. In chapter 1, guidelines are presented for designing project-based learning programs that are both academically rigorous and grounded in community and workplace realities, and the attempts of three very different high schools to develop…

This document describes the Maryland Hospital Skills Enhancement Program, a collaborative effort of the Maryland Hospital Association, Essex Community College, and three Maryland hospitals that was designed to improve the literacy/basic education skills of hospital employees in 11 targeted service occupations. Two curriculum models were used:…

This document reports on a 2-day symposium that brought together 180 representatives of Campus Alberta, which is a major initiative to make learning opportunities more flexible and responsive to learners' needs by focusing on such things as system coordination, course transferability, and ways to build on existing strengths and which now…

The major needs of career and technical education (CTE) in the year 2000 were assessed. The regional needs-sensing networks of the National Dissemination Center and the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education were used to obtain input from members of the following stakeholder groups: state-level liaisons; representatives of…

The status of career and technical education (CTE) teacher preparation programs was examined through a survey sent to all CTE program chairs and teacher educators with administrative responsibilities. The survey was also posted on the World Wide Web. Data were received from 227 programs from 164 institutions (response rate, 44%). Ten percent of…

Linkages between Australia's vocational education and training (VET) and technical and further education (TAFE) sectors and industry were examined through 13 case studies involving a variety of industrial sectors in South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. Special attention was paid to the processes established by school clusters to develop…

This book presents a selection of papers from the annual, international, interdisciplinary conference of the World Association for Case Method Research & Application. Papers are categorized into six areas: (1) "Case Studies and Research" (e.g., subjectivity as a source of insight in case study research, evolution of a teaching case,…

This document reports on a European Training Foundation Advisory Forum study of vocational education and training (VET) and retraining in the regions of the European Union (EU) that synthesized overviews of the general country situations regarding the territorial organization of the VET system and policy and relevant case studies concerning…

A national evaluation of school-to-work (STW) implementation was conducted by collecting data on four broad issues: states' efforts to promote the changes envisioned by the School to Work Opportunities Act (STWOA); impacts of local STW partnerships on school and workplace opportunities available to students and creation of coherent STW systems;…

The passage of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Amendments of 1998 (Perkins III) and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) marked a new era in the performance accountability partnership among the states, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Evaluation of vocational education…

Despite 6 years of economic growth, California's workforce investment system faces the following challenges: (1) meeting the needs of workers who do not earn enough to bring their families significantly above the poverty level; (2) meeting the needs of employers who face continuing shortages of workers with needed skills; and (3) meeting the needs…

This document proposes a comprehensive education and lifelong learning program for Wales through 2010. The primary goal of the proposal is to transform Wales into a learning country where high-quality, lifelong learning provides the skills people need to prosper in the new economy, liberates talent, extends opportunities, and empowers communities.…

This document contains 32 papers from a conference on balance and perspectives in comparative vocational education and training (VET) research in Europe. Selected papers are as follows: "On the Path to Vocational Training Research with a European Dimension" (Oliver Lubke, Klaus Schedler, Alphonse de Vadder); "The Val Duchesse Social…

A 2-day regional seminar was held to raise awareness of the problem of youth unemployment in Southeastern Europe and assist countries in the region to develop their own framework of action and concrete projects. The following were among the topics discussed: ways policymakers can help young people find valid employment opportunities within…

This book, which is addressed to managers in further education and higher education across Great Britain, explains what managers must do to enable the changes required to widen participation in their sectors. The following are among the topics discussed: (1) the why and how of widening participation (the importance of widening participation in a…