The subbaccalaureate labor market is almost entirely local. Employers emphasize motivation, common sense, and job-specific, interpersonal, and basic skills. Cooperative education enables students to acquire specific experience and practical skills. (SK)

Examines the research findings about English educational reforms related to markets in education and discusses several mechanisms intended to bring demand and supply into equilibrium. The English examples clarify the limitations of quasi-markets introduced under current conditions. Discusses implications for the design of policy around strong…

Corrects 1972 National Longitudinal Study data used in two earlier papers on education effects in subbaccalaureate labor markets. Corrections confirm most earlier findings. However, for men, the effects of vocational associate degrees are insignificant, whereas the effects of vocational credits earned are significant. Economic benefits may accrue…

Examines the returns to subbaccalaureate credentials and coursework, using the postsecondary transcripts of the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972. Results indicate substantial variety in the returns and suggest clear differences between the subbaccalaureate labor market and that for individuals with baccalaureate degrees. (56…

Investigates enrollment and completion rates in public 2-year colleges, using models to interpret student and legislative demand. Student demand for enrollments and completion rates are not especially sensitive to labor market conditions. These patterns tend to persist over time, suggesting institutional rigidities. (Includes 6 tables, 17 notes,…

Employers often use education and other ability measures as indicators of unmeasured ability dimensions. This paper presents tests of signaling, relying on differences in earnings functions for salaried individuals in screened occupations versus self-employed individuals in unscreened positions. Vocational associate degrees and high school grades…

The education-work movement is seen as very similar to traditional vocationalism and a force for social and economic stratification, rather than equity. If the relationship between education and work is to take a new direction that is progressive rather than repressive, education must abandon the principles of vocational education. (AF)

Different manifestations of vocationalism (schooling directed toward specific occupations) have generated strikingly similar educational practices and ideologies in educational systems of both developing and developed nations. Discusses vocational differentiation of secondary and postsecondary education in various countries, sources of opposition…

A fifth strand of the "new vocationalism" is trying to align academic and vocational education by restructuring high schools to provide more consistent integration opportunities. These efforts take the form of career academies, clusters or career paths, and occupational high schools or magnet schools. Active, student-centered pedagogies…

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…

This book posits that "plain talk" is needed on the subject of evaluation in vocational education and training. In the first chapter, conceptual issues are discussed. Chapter 2 focuses on the reasons for, and methods of, evaluation. Chapter 3 presents and assesses the value of a broad range of evaluation techniques, including outcome measures,…