The authors look at the roles that vocations, vocational streams and productive capabilities can play in improving links between mid-level qualifications and occupational outcomes. Support for vocational streams and productive capabilities varied by industry but there is the potential to progress these concepts in each of the industries…

This report presents a case study of the Automotive Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative (AMTEC), which brings together auto manufacturers and community colleges across 12 states to identify and implement wide-ranging improvements in technical education for automotive manufacturing workers. A "Big Collaboration"--AMTEC…

By providing an affordable way to build and maintain a knowledgeable and skilled workforce, noncredit courses add value to people and their communities. Still, government leaders and other decisionmakers want to know: Exactly how much value do they add? Who benefits? What is the return on investment? Which programs are most effective and most…

This study draws on literature reviews, interviews, and case studies to examine the viability of replication strategies in education and employment training. Replication is a dynamic process for improving the quality of local services by developing credible knowledge about effective program models, and reproducing those models in a variety of…

This document comprises the second volume of a two-volume resource guide to help states and localities take advantage of new Federal initiatives to increase services to youth under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). This volume comprises the discussion papers that formed the basis for the options summarized in the first volume. The papers…

The purpose of this guide is to provide state and local Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program administrators with an approach to developing meaningful and relevant negotiated performance standards that will serve as a management and evaluation tool. The guide is organized in four chapters. Chapter I provides background information on the…

The federal government needs to provide employment and training assistance to help dislocated workers to become reemployed. Worker mobility assistance should not be focused upon as a major thrust of reemployment programs, since American workers are remarkably resistant to pressures to move to more promising labor markets. Efficient and effective…

This directory describes current and newly expired projects funded under the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) Secondary Education and Transition Initiative. The projects focus on postsecondary education, dropouts, self-determination, training and employment, transition of special populations, outreach, and family…

This guide is intended to assist Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program policymakers, planners, and program operators develop JTPA programs and activities. Discussed first are JTPA participant eligibility criteria and ways of assuring that competing groups can receive services in an equitable manner that is consistent with the intent of JTPA.…

The perception that the United States is falling behind in the skills race has prompted experts to look abroad for policy ideas. Of particular interest has been the German "dual system," which alternates 2 to 3 years of highly structured work-based training with classroom teaching for young people, beginning at age 16. Buoyed by the success of the…

This publication, one of a series designed to help policymakers and TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] agency personnel, offers a baseline for understanding the challenge of serving persons who are being forced off welfare roles but who are hard to place in employment. The following topics are covered: (1) policy issues (who should be…

This report addresses expanding welfare-to-work (WTW) programs to increase work among welfare recipients facing personal and family challenges. Section 1 examines what is known about the impact of traditional WTW program models and policy innovations on employment and earning profiles of these recipients. Evidence is presented showing WTW programs…

This publication, one of a series designed to help policymakers and TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] agency personnel, offers an overview of programs providing publicly funded paid jobs in the public or nonprofit sector to TANF recipients, as well as of work experience programs in which recipients receive welfare payment in return…

In 1989, in an effort to prepare the Texas economy for successful global competition, the Texas legislature mandated regional Quality Workforce Planning for vocational-technical education, calling on educators and employers to form training partnerships to strengthen the state's work force. In response to this legislation, 9 of Texas's 24 planning…

Today, this country is facing awesome challenges. Technology is changing all aspects of life, while work force requirements shift rapidly, swelling the numbers of workers who need to be retrained. At the same time, information technologies are creating changes in the automated office. Higher-level literacy is required for most workers in this…