This document, which is intended for adult educators and others interested in developing and delivering a workplace education program, provides an overview of workplace education. First, workplace education programs are defined as programs in which adult learners are taught basic skills by using the functional context of their jobs and a…

Identifies employee skills needed by U.S. business/industry: generic skills (e.g., reading, writing, computation, problem solving), relational skills (e.g., ability to work better and in more sophisticated ways with diverse groups); responsibility skills (e.g., taking initiative in learning); and integration skills (e.g., ability to make meaning…

Three aspects of problems, issues, and questions facing curriculum development teams, local authority advisors, and teacher trainers interested in helping teachers in the United Kingdom (UK) construct and shape an effective economics curriculum are examined. First, in an investigation of the curriculum context dimension, the paper predicts that…

Geography instruction must become an integral part of the high school curriculum. A number of recent state, national, and international surveys have shown the serious results of neglect of geography education, particularly with regard to international knowledge and understanding. For example, in a recent survey of 3000 undergraduates in 185…

In an effort to help basic skills students learn the skills they need to survive in college-level studies and remediate critical areas as quickly as possible, many community colleges have overlooked the value of other studies and the more general literacy that is essential to any education. By rushing to comply with students' utilitarian goals,…

This report describes certain assumptions and tentative conclusions made by an Advisory Group of the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit (ALBSU) about work with the mentally handicapped from a nonspecialist perspective. With the basic education organizer in mind, the report addresses six major issues. A definition of the term mentally handicapped…

The United States needs a vocational educational system that delivers, in an applied technological setting, the new basic skills that industry needs, as well as a general education system that provides creative instruction in applied math, physics, and science. To be effective, technological training should encompass, along with machine-specific…

Interviews, record reviews, student follow-up, achievement tests, survey instruments, and observation were used to gather data for the 1986/87 evaluation of the Topeka (Kansas) Educable Mentally Handicapped (EMH) Program. Strengths of the program were identified and included: a dedicated, well-trained staff; a good special education/regular…

Key competencies (or generic skills) have been specified in four sources: Further Education Unit (FEU), United Kingdom (1987); Finn Report (1991) and Mayer Committee (1992), Australia; U.S. Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) (June 1991); and Butterworth and Lovell (1983), New South Wales. A comparison of the four…

Intended to introduce educators in secondary schools and colleges to discussion promoting economic literacy for all students, this paper offers a critique of the typical economics curriculum, a rationale for economics education, and a working definition of economic literacy. The first section reviews and critiques current curriculum planning in…

A study examined the nature and extent of adult literacy needs in the American labor force. Data for the study were collected from a review of the literature, site visits to nine industry-based training programs, and consultation with a technical panel of experts. Input from company managers, instructors, and trainers familiar with the…

A solid body of empirical research supports the view that educational level is strongly related to occupational attainment. In the final analysis, however, it appears that although education does lead to a better job, how much better is determined by one's gender and race. Research on the relative need for training in basic, general employability…

The rapid generation of information today constitutes an imperative for change in the way undergraduate psychology courses are taught. Psychology instructors must carefully select material for their courses, structure courses to maximize student performance, emphasize information retrieval skills, and contribute to the development of general…

This book proposes restructuring the education system using the principles and practices used by successful businesses during the past 15 years of rapid change. It suggests that the skills taught by schools today, even if test scores measure them as improving, are not sufficient for high school graduates in an increasingly-changing, challenging…

In order to measure the preservice and inservice preparation of vocational education teachers, a mail survey was conducted of beginning vocational teachers' perceptions of their competencies and preparation for teaching--especially their preparation for teaching basic skills and special student populations. The survey population included 740…