The United States is experiencing dramatic shifts in the skills required of incumbent workers and new hires. While the recent low unemployment rate was generally good news, it also exacerbated a persistent skill shortage in the region's labor force that has been consistently reported by many employers. A McKinsey Global Survey indicates that…

This publication shares research from site visits conducted to construction pre-apprenticeship programs in Baltimore, Hartford, Milwaukee and Portland (OR). Findings from the site visits, which included interviews and focus groups with pre-apprenticeship program staff, public officials, philanthropic leaders, construction industry leaders and…

From 1989 until 1998 the U.S. Department of Education administered the National Workplace Literacy Demonstration Program. During that period, over $130 million supported some 300 projects where adult education programs partnered with thousands of businesses, agencies, and organizations to provide work-based skills to employees. While only seven…

Because their fiscal health depends on having a large base of high-wage taxpayers, states have an economic interest in increasing their citizens' skill levels. In today's global economy, high wages are increasingly tied to the high skills required to function successfully in high performance work organizations. Employer-provided skill upgrading…

As part of the effort to create a labor force that is competitive across the world, Connecticut is planning a School-to-Career System that would give high school students the opportunity to extend learning into the community and workplace. The state would provide schools with information about the fastest-growing jobs and skills needed for…

The Connecticut State Council on Vocational-Technical Education made recommendations to improve education that would help students prepare for the work force. The council evaluated the following: its belief statement; the Connecticut economy; the state's ability to support technical jobs; and education and training for work in Connecticut,…

Increasingly, small and mid-sized businesses are becoming just as focused on work force training as large corporations are. The training being provided by smaller companies is extending beyond nuts-and-bolts instruction into the area of core business skills, such as leading, managing, thinking creatively, and solving problems. States are…

This document contains four papers presented at a symposium moderated by Valeria Stokes at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Management Development Simulations: Effective or Not?" (Jill R. Hough) reviews the differences between simulations and educational games and presents a simulation classification…