The trajectory of the Roma is illuminating for understanding the social situation of other minorities, but also for a set of issues concerning the multiculturalism present within states. In this article, the author discusses the context of Roma education--marked by the stateless and marginalized status of the Roma--and provides a brief history of…

Integrity is commonly conflated with basic literacy in assessments of the skills workers need. This case study of a word-based character education program in Springfield, Missouri examines how business leaders may blame a lack of skills by employees on a lack of moral literacy. The premise of this essay is that the expression of a literacy program…

The prevailing view among leaders in the university community is that America is not investing enough in higher education. A recent survey of the American economy by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) echoed that concern. After all, college graduates are dramatically more productive than those without higher education…

This article illustrates how the generic employability skills approach to critical thinking suffers from serious conceptual and epistemological difficulties that impact deleteriously on both its practical effectiveness and democratic appropriateness. Unlike technical skills, employability skills, in this case cognitive capacities such as critical…

This model is an attempt to create a measure of resources to reflect the value of persons, groups, villages, provinces, or nations in terms of education. It attempts to measure human assets and nonhuman material elements. To measure gross cumulative factors, this measure of wealth considers population, environmental learning, and formal learning.…

Praises David Kearns' article in the same "Kappan" issue for characterizing schooling as a failed monopoly and supporting development of educational research capacity and tax support. Adequate funding is the key; whereas the private sector will spend over $6,060 yearly to train one employee, public schools spend only about $3,500 yearly…

In 2005, the Minister of Alberta Advanced Education initiated a comprehensive exercise to establish a new direction for Alberta's advanced education system. Through the A Learning Alberta review, a new vision and policy outcomes for the advanced education system will be articulated. The process provides an opportunity for government, stakeholders,…

Is Ohio losing its best and brightest minds? That's what is often implied by some well-publicized data on college graduates who move to other states after graduation. But what do these data actually tell us? This Commentary shows that they do not paint a complete picture of the emerging class of graduates, much less the state's workforce. States…

Voluntary associations can powerfully contribute to the learning and development of young people and operate in ways that both rely on and extend social capital. In this paper these associations are called "primary supports" because they focus on promoting the learning and development of all young people and because of the presence and ongoing…

This report highlights significant work of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General for the 6-month period ending September 30, 2004. Sections include: Activities and Accomplishments; Elimination of Fraud and Error in Student Aid Programs; Budget and Performance Integration; Financial Management; Expanded Electronic…

This report describes the Transition to Work Simulator (TWS), a computerized model of the important career decisions which people make from youth through midcareer. The implications of TWS as a planning tool for human resource development at the national level are discussed. (Author/SJL)

Perpetual training is the new rationale for education and training in advanced industrial countries, providing the link between education and the economic system. This paper is concerned with Skill New Zealand, a "seamless" education system integrating all education levels with workplace training. The paper examines this new program's…

Estimates the returns to schooling in Brazil in 1980, by fitting earnings functions to census microdata. The average private rate of return has fallen by about one-third from 1970 but still remains a respectable 12 to 13 percent. When schooling levels are disaggregated, the lowest private rates emerge for primary education, and the highest for…

An Appalachian Regional Commission-sponsored conference on entrepreneurship stressed that the availability of investment capital is important to economic development in Appalachia and other rural areas, but it is not enough. A local social and business culture that embraces entrepreneurship and risk-taking must be developed through…

Examines the factors that lead to the existing ethnic inequalities within the German educational system. Analyzes, in relation to migration, the significance of the intergenerational transmission of education as cultural capital in combination with economic and social capital. Discusses the findings. (CMK)