The relationship between business/industry and education in Florida is discussed in this paper with special emphasis on the role of community colleges in fostering and promoting economic development in the state. First, the paper highlights major factors arguing for strong links between education and industry, including the decline of…

Courses in the arts should be part of the vocational curriculum. Not only is knowledge of the arts basic to what it means to be an educated person, but the way arts courses are taught also has a natural synergy with vocational education. Arts education naturally embraces methods that are characteristic of high-performance schools. For example, art…

The South can move out of the shadows of the harsh economic realities of the last 15 years and into the sunshine of developing new strategies to take advantage of the region's strengths. These strengths include a vast wealth of natural resources; a Sunbelt location; and most important, a huge reservoir of undeveloped human capital. The road to…

In fall 1992, the League for Innovation in the Community College conducted a survey of 1,042 community colleges to determine the extent and nature of their involvement in workforce training programs, the types of companies served, funding mechanisms, and perceived obstacles to providing effective training. Study findings, based on a 73.2% response…

An Education Writers Association seminar in Atlanta focused on the link between illiteracy and the workplace in the South. State economic development policies are largely bypassing rural areas, and the effects of this urban-rural split include persistent high poverty rates, population loss, and unemployment. Changes in the workplace, particularly…

During the second half of the 20th century, two-year colleges in the rural South were transformed from "junior" appendages of other institutions to community colleges that responded to the needs of local workers and businesses. This paper examines how the South's rural community colleges contribute to economic development today and what…

This collection of articles addresses various aspects of curriculum and instruction at Utah's community colleges. First, "Reflections on the Changing Role and Mission of Utah Community and Technical Colleges," by Don A. Carpenter, considers the colleges' role in meeting needs for comprehensiveness, "practical" general…

Federal block grants and consolidated programs related to poverty reduction may compel states to streamline administrative structures and approaches that have deterred collaboration in the past. This report considers the block grant environment in making key policy recommendations for reducing poverty in rural areas, formulated during a Pathways…

Trends in the workplace and legislative mandates have forced community colleges to consider how to integrate general education with vocational training successfully. The technological base of American industry has changed dramatically in the direction of greater complexity and interdependence, requiring workers to possess not only higher levels of…

This document discusses reasons for the current interest in workplace literacy and describes existing training for the workplace. Among the reasons for the interest in workplace literacy are changing demographics, which are altering the composition of the labor force, and changes such as the demise of the factory model in the workplace itself and…

Representatives of the business community define workplace literacy according to how well informed are the spokespersons for business, how expansive is their view of the role of literacy, and the extent to which literacy bears on their firms' productivity. These elements affect business people's understanding of what constitutes workplace…

Seven policy papers identify and address several issues pertaining to linkages between Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs and vocational education, special education, and vocational rehabilitation. The first paper examines barriers encountered in administration of federal legislation dealing with education and employment of…

This journal contains a series of articles dealing with the theme of development in Asia and rural Indonesia. Included in the journal are the following articles: "Nonformal Education in Rural Areas of Developing Countries," by members of the Rural Project Team from the Centre for Continuing Education at Australian National University;…

This serial issue, which is devoted to the challenges that recent changes in the U.S. workplace pose for society and labor-management relations, contains nine papers focusing on the following aspects of building a new workplace for the 21st century: historical and current perspectives; workforce and workplace changes; education and training of the…

This document presents information on the U.S. Department of Labor's activities in the following topics areas: developing a skilled workforce; keeping workers safe; building workforce security; and connecting workers with jobs. The following items are included: (1) a discussion by the president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems, Inc.,…