To address the skills gap and reward achievement, technical assessment publisher, NOCTI, began an initiative to define technical excellence in career technical education (CTE) programs and to recognize the nation's top CTE students through a digital Technical Badge of Excellence (TBOE). Analysis of standard setting methods and NOCTI student test…

The government of Ireland, like many European countries, is currently under severe pressure from external forces to grow the economy. One possible way to maintain and grow its economy is through the production of a highly educated and globally competitive workforce. In an effort to develop such a workforce, the government, through the Department…

Utilizing Patterson's (1983) eight criteria for assessing theory in applied fields from a conventional (empirical-analytical) perspective, these criteria are evaluated and where applicable reconstructed from an interpretive (social constructivist) perspective of theory building research and assessment. Four additional criteria are proposed and…

"Economic competitiveness" is at the top of national, regional and global political and economic agendas. Several countries in all regions of the world have established policies and institutions devoted to economic competitiveness, including in developing and transition countries. This leads to the question of how to define national economic…

As public and private funders have focused on evaluating the effectiveness of workforce development programs, a myriad of data collection systems and reporting processes have taken shape. Navigating these systems takes significant time and energy and often saps frontline providers' capacity to use data internally for program improvement.…

Numerous studies about mentoring have been conducted, and this paper reviews current studies on mentoring programs from a systems approach. To understand current studies about mentoring, the paper identified three major research questions and reviewed how those questions have been examined in each area: mentoring input, mentoring process, and…

Discusses the role of management in supporting employee training programs for performance improvement. How to identify training needs and develop a plan to support training are described. Promoting management involvement in training by linking training to the organizational plan and establishing an evaluation plan are discussed. (Contains two…

Various researchers have recently challenged "contingent" models of managerial and leadership effectiveness, arguing that logic suggesting the universality of manager and supervisory leader behaviors is compelling, although there is sparse empirical evidence to support this view. A comparative study of the findings from three previous…

This article addresses the evaluation of new British programs designed to bring more experiential and active learning into the higher education curriculum. Some of the difficulties of assessing these programs are examined and political influences on evaluation are discussed. (MSE)

This paper focuses on the data ramification of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998. Section 1 provides an outline of the role of these postsecondary institutions under WIA: members of the State and local boards; one-stop operators; one-stop partners; and eligible service…

Texas is shifting to an integrated, systems-oriented approach to providing work force services for its residents and employers in which all services are guided by a single mission and vision. Implementation strategies are clearly focused on achieving common results. Accountability means being able to ensure taxpayers, residents, employers, and…

This paper offers an initial assessment of Texas' work force development evaluation and performance management efforts. Following an overview, section 2 clarifies distinctions between performance management and evaluation responsibilities such as purpose, definition, information produced, general question asked, and key questions addressed.…

A study assessed effectiveness of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 performance measures. Data were from a survey of WIA program administrators in 50 states; visits to 5 states; interviews with labor officials and national associations representing state and local workforce development officials; and a document review. Findings indicate…

The advent of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and global infrastructures for e-learning are revolutionizing how colleges and universities deliver degree programs to adult students. Benefits of on-line degree programs to working adults include flexibility, convenience, and time and cost savings. New technologies that greatly affect how online…