Because a growing proportion of the world's working population is in the informal sector (in work areas generally outside the sphere of state protection), planners of vocational training for adults must pay closer attention to those concepts of teaching and learning that have relevance for the informal sector, and they must develop strategies for…

In one attempt to deal with the dropout problems, faculty from the University of California (Los Angeles) have forged a partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District and have turned existing high schools and continuation schools into community-based learning (CBL) programs. High school students in these programs attend field sites 2…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on assessing employee skills. "Bridging the Training Gap: Identifying Work Place Transferable Skills Needs in Manufacturing Organizations in East Central Minnesota" (K. Peter Kuchinke, James M. Brown, Howie Anderson, Joe Hobson) reports a study of a workplace education program in rural…

A large percentage of American youth enters the job market ill-prepared and lacking basic skills; the majority of our working population is not adequately prepared for the occupations in which they find themselves. Too many job changes, dissatisfaction, and a lack of systematic preparatory and continuing education have led to the productivity…

This paper describes the Lower Price Hill Community School, located in a low-income neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, suggesting that the school's history and operation offer practical steps for improving education for Appalachian people. Conditions faced by urban Appalachians, many of whom migrated to cities following World War II are described…

The materials described here are used to teach English for special purposes at the University of Birmingham. Using the communicative or functional approach to language teaching, they deal with a "common core" of skills, leaving for later in the program special sub-units relating these skills to texts, tasks and problems peculiar to a particular…

The U.S. work force is unready for the new jobs, unready for the new realities, unready for the new challenges of the 1990s. Across the board, jobs are demanding better reading, writing, and reasoning skills and more math and science. Statistics define the scope of the problem: 25 percent of young people drop out of high school; 70 percent of all…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on increasing participation in learning that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Factors Influencing Employee Participation in Training: An Empirical Investigation" (Reid A. Bates) reports on a mediated model of employee participation in training…

This paper suggests three educational changes that need to be made in light of the changing relationship between the student and the institution. First, a closer relationship between colleges and elementary and secondary schools must be built. Since a majority of high school students go on to college, educators from the separate levels must focus…

This document is a collection of 46 papers concerning the use of microcomputers in vocational education. Most of the papers relate hands-on experiences that vocational educators in various parts of the country have had with microcomputers in vocational education subjects, while others include suggested ways of coping with computer introduction,…

Provides the transcript of a September 1987 debate on educational issues between Republican presidential candidates Jack Kemp and Pierre du Pont. Interspersed throughout the transcript are written responses to questions submitted to additional candidates Robert Dole and George Bush. (BJV)

This document contains four papers on issues in human resource development (HRD). "Employability By Sector of Industry: Taking Account of Supply and Demand Characteristics (Andries de Grip, Jasper B. van Loo, Jos M.A.F. Sanders) reports on development of an Industry Employability Index that integrates both supply and demand determinants of…

The push for higher academic standards has resulted in an increase in the numbers of high school students needing extra help. The need for extra help is most pervasive in high-poverty areas and most high school students need extra help not in traditional basic elementary skills but in reading, mathematics, and advanced reasoning skills. Most…