This report examines the sub-baccalaureate labor market, defined as a labor market for those with less than a baccalaureate degree but at least a high school diploma. This market constitutes about three-fifths of employment. Following an introduction, the report describes the sub-baccalaureate labor market as primarily a local labor market…

One legacy of the United States' emphasis on individualism is a system of vocational education disconnected from employers. Collaboration is an attempt to replace hostility with closer relations between the public and private sectors. The movement for partnerships comes as the "system" of work-related education and training is becoming…

This book describes a 10-state study of work force development efforts in Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin. The book is organized in eight sections. Section 1 describes the overall visions and practices that states have created, examining the difficulties in implementing these…

Argues that education and workforce development departments in the community college can learn from one another and provide more effective and comprehensive services. (AUTH/NB)

This paper explores the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 on the work training being provided to welfare recipients by community colleges. This bill changed the approach for addressing poverty from a human capital perspective, which emphasizes the need for training and education to…

Focusing on innovations in workforce preparation and emerging practices in community colleges, this report examines tech prep programs and efforts to integrate academic and vocational education. Following an executive summary and introduction, section 1 outlines federal initiatives and other sources of support for innovation in workforce…

Focusing on nontraditional workforce, economic, and community development programs being developed within community colleges, this monograph defines these efforts as "entrepreneurial colleges" within community colleges and reviews characteristics and trends related to these efforts. Following an executive summary and introduction, the first…

This analysis assesses alternative explanations of the robust enrollment growth in community colleges in the 1970's, part of a larger trend of increased vocationalization of education. The conventional explanation is that community colleges offer the most appropriate training for rapidly increasing jobs requiring middle-level skills. Various other…

Based on statistical research and interviews with students, educators, and employers, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the education and training of the mid-skilled labor force comprised of individuals having at least a high school diploma but less than a baccalaureate degree. Following prefatory materials, chapter 1 highlights the…

High public expectations of the educational and workforce development systems are the force behind the shifting roles of education and training and efforts to create more coherent and effective systems of work force preparation. The result of pulling and tugging by citizens, policymakers, and educators is a system of widespread access,…

The history of education has featured a number of longstanding debates over educational adequacy. Debates over funding have touched on whether foundation-type programs can assure adequacy despite funding-level differences between districts. The relevance of teacher training and unionization to teacher adequacy is questioned, as is the ability of…

This paper continues a long-standing process, expressed in current practices of reauthorizing federal legislation every 5 years, of examining the rationale for federal involvement in occupational (vocational) education. Past discussions of this issue have come to a broad set of conclusions that the federal government should fund what states cannot…

Individuals in liberal societies have to construct their own conceptions of who they are and what career(s) they should prepare for as opposed to being told by families, schools, or communities. The trends toward providing more and more career information is a valuable component of an overall policy to prepare individuals to make decisions for…