The principal aim of community work-education councils is to make the transition between the worlds of education and work more rational through a deliberative, collaborative process of public and private interests and initiatives. A cross section of the community must work together as peers in a flexible give and take spirit. Councils should avoid…

A major problem faced in program evaluation of vocational education is the lack of a national manpower policy. This concern involves workers' acquiring and developing occupational skills which are needed by society and demanded by employers. Federal legislation specifications spell out program requirements which educators must keep in mind. (CT)

This paper aims to connect some of the main themes that emerged from the papers presented at the 1999 International Symposium on Career Development and Public Policy. It first addresses the need for links between policymakers and practitioners, the rationale for policy interest in career development services, and the way in which this rationale is…

Presents a theoretical discussion of evaluation research and the need for gathering data to support the decision-making process concerned with training program performance. Guidelines for conducting evaluation research are discussed, the participants involved with successful implementation are described, and data gathering methods are explained.…

In the United States, three levels of government (federal, state, and local) influence the nature, structure, and delivery of career guidance and counseling. Career guidance and programs are available to individuals of all ages and circumstances. Due to the different sets of guidelines at the different levels of government, the diffuse nature of…

Although most women are now working outside the home, gender equity in the labor force has not been achieved. Women are still concentrated in low-paying, traditionally female-dominated occupations (such as clerical and retail sales), while most jobs in the higher paying, more prestigious professions are held by men. Despite attempts to reduce…

The effectiveness of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 was critiqued. WIA was praised for providing an avenue for communication among state and local agencies during development of workforce development plans, potentially allowing individuals to choose from a wider array of services and service providers, spreading the concept of one-stop…

Global competition, sweeping technological change, and demographic shifts in the labor force call for a national campaign to improve the skills and professionalism of the American workforce. This document calls for the creation of new learning partnerships throughout communities and workplaces to sustain middle-class jobs, pay the social costs of…

This monograph describes a proposed program called the Job Security System (JSS), which would integrate the various public programs designed to help experienced unemployed workers find work. A justification for JSS and its general design are presented in the introduction, followed by a description of such potential JSS clientele as previously…

This booklet, which is intended for organizations making the transition to individual training accounts (ITAs) under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), explains how educational and training institutions can make vouchers work for them. After a brief overview of the WIA's main provisions regarding ITAs and the future of voucher programs, the…

Despite 6 years of economic growth, California's workforce investment system faces the following challenges: (1) meeting the needs of workers who do not earn enough to bring their families significantly above the poverty level; (2) meeting the needs of employers who face continuing shortages of workers with needed skills; and (3) meeting the needs…

This document contains 14 papers that were developed for a 5-day international seminar-workshop at which representatives of multilateral agencies, governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), women's organizations, feminist groups, and universities discussed gender issues in monitoring and evaluation of adult education. The following papers…

Relatively little research has focused on how organizational culture and existing methods of evaluating the job performance of minority ethnic groups have contributed to exclusion from, and discrimination in, the workplace or on how organizations can address these issues. The evidence suggests the existence of a widespread tendency in…

The six state-based research centers of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Australian Research Consortium (ALNARC) investigated the effects of inclusion of literacy and numeracy standards in Australia's national training packages and the standards' impact on the quality of learning and work outcomes. The six ALNARC projects, which used a case study…

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.,…