Adeptness in abstractions and analysis--the language of math--is at least as important as adeptness at reading words for individuals in business and industry. Mathematics literacy stimulates the problem-solving and critical thinking skills that the workplace now demands. A National Assessment of Educational Progress study found that about half of…

What is the current role played by schools in helping their students who choose to enter the job market after high school graduation? An examination was made of the role of schools at four critical stages in students' transition to work--the career preparation stage, the job candidate stage, the job entry stage, and the job promotion or job shift…

Phase I of a study was conducted to identify the basic mathematics competencies needed for job success in office occupations (14 job clusters). It also sought to determine the differences between employees' and employer/supervisors' perceptions of the degree of importance of mathematics skills for office occupations. Following a review of…

A collaborative study was conducted by representatives of the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce, the University of Maryland University College, and Prince George's Community College to identify the training and professional development activities most desired by county business leaders. Surveys were mailed to 5,000 of the 15,125 businesses…

A study was conducted to investigate the educational and training needs of the community served by DeKalb Community College (DKCC) and DeKalb Area Technical School. During the study 40 faculty members conducted in-person interviews with 387 employers, and 512 part-time students were surveyed in class to assess community awareness of DKCC and…

A practicum was conducted to design, implement, and evaluate an instrument measuring the relative strengths of task-and nontask-related motivation of child care employees. Designed for child care center employees and supervisors, the instrument consisted of a self-administered demographic checklist and 100 forced-choice pictorial items…

This study was conducted to accomplish four objectives: (1) determine the current status of vocational education services available to youth under the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS); (2) assess the characteristics of DYS youth and their need for additional vocational programs; (3) determine employer and labor union…

A survey of area employers was conducted by Los Angeles City College in Fall 1979 to determine: (1) the skill requirements for entry-level secretarial and clerical workers, (2) the salaries earned by these employees, (3) the word processing equipment commonly used by employers, (4) future employment trends in secretarial/clerical fields, and (5)…

A study to identify the basic skills and tasks that are necessary to obtain job-entry level employment as an auto body technician was conducted at the Southwest Wisconsin Vocational-Technical Institute from March to July 1975. Surveys were distributed to employees, vocational graduates, and employers in the auto body trade. The survey determined…

In 1993, Washington's state legislature created the Commission on Student Learning to identify essential academic learning requirements related to four goals. One of those goals was to understand the importance of work and how performance, effort, and decisions directly affect career and educational opportunities. As in other states, the…

Work process change is a popular approach to performance improvement in contemporary organizations. Variables that serve as leading indicators of employee performance when process changes take place include employee learning, self-efficacy beliefs, learning transfer climate, and goal commitment. Two critical concerns exist when implementing…

In May 1991, a survey was conducted of businesses and industries in the Mid-Mon Valley in Pennsylvania to develop a profile of the companies, determine their competitiveness and expansion since completion of a 1987 Business Outreach Survey, determine their use of technology, identify training needs for the Mid-Mon Valley, and examine how companies…

In the increasingly technological world, it is imperative that workers receive training for the jobs of today and retraining for the jobs of the future. It has been proposed that businesses provide all of this training, because businesses benefit from having highly skilled workers and such a system might reduce taxes. This plan is flawed, however,…

In August 1992, the Eastern Iowa Community College District convened a 2-day Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) workshop involving a panel of six computer programmer/analysts (CP/A's) in the identification of specific competencies and tasks expected of CP/A's. To validate the entry-level skills identified, a survey was conducted of 96 businesses…

A study examined current developments in workplace adult basic skills training (BST) programs for adults in northwestern England. Case studies of three area companies offering workplace BST programs were conducted along with a telephone survey of 56 local employers (of 200 originally contacted) to gauge their awareness of and attitudes toward…