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…

This document is intended to provide New York schools, business/industry representatives, and others with resources to develop or further refine work-based learning (WBL) strategies or components. Section 1 presents background information on the following topics: (1) the scope of WBL; (2) foundations for the development of WBL; (3) categories of…

This document is designed to help literacy practitioners and others establish health literacy programs to help learners in South Carolina develop the literacy skills needed to perform their role as health consumers and providers and maintain their own health and the health of those they love. The introduction defines literacy and health literacy,…

To address the skills shortages stemming from the transition to a more technological and skills-intensive economy, Congress established a program whereby funds from H-1B visa fees would provide seed funds for private companies, labor, and government to join together in creating training alliances focused on skills in short supply. Unfortunately,…

The United Kingdom's Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA), UK SKILLS, and the Further Education Skills Competition Council conducted a collaborative action research project to improve students' vocational learning and skills through enhanced learning experiences. From February 2001 to April 2002, three further education colleges worked to…

The attitudes and career plans of high school juniors and seniors were examined in a telephone survey of 809 U.S. high school juniors and seniors (sampling error, +/-3.5%). The respondents ranged in age from 14 to 20 years and were evenly divided between males and females. The key conclusions were as follows: (1) students perceive a lack of career…

Australian education and training and vocational education and training (VET) research are in a state of crisis. Both the higher education and VET sectors are now squeezed and subject to contradictory objectives, multiple accountabilities, heightened expectations, and diminished resources in an environment of uncertainty and frustration. The…

Workplace mentoring has been identified as an important aspect of work-based learning in projects conducted under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. By establishing relationships with caring and competent adults who can provide emotional support and facilitate skill development, less-experienced youths and adults are more likely to bridge the…

Capstones are culminating experiences in which students synthesize subject-matter knowledge they have acquired, integrate cross-disciplinary knowledge, and connect theory and application in preparation for entry into a career. Capstone courses should be both a synthesis and a bridge to students' future after graduation. In career and technical…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is pleased to present the findings of the second annual National Trends Report. SETDA commissioned the Metiri Group for a second consecutive year to conduct a national survey in the fall of 2004 on the second year implementation of the No Child Left Behind, Title II, Part D, Enhancing…

The focus of the Forum's eleventh Study Group report is assessing what it will take for the state to respond to the court's findings in the decade-old Leandro lawsuit, a suit that challenged, among other things, the constitutionality of the state's current system of financing schools. The essence of the court's ruling is that: The state, as judged…