In an era of financial constraint, this article gives attention to the role of "community college global counterparts" by comparing colleges of further education in the UK with community colleges in the US. It points to similarities between the two and the ways in which budgetary constraints impact on them--and, in particular, on access…

This article reports the views of managers and tutors on the role of policy "levers" on teaching, learning, and inclusion in colleges of Further Education (FE) in our research project, "The impact of policy on learning and inclusion in the Learning and Skills Sector (LSS)." Using data from five research visits conducted over…

Degrees in technical and further education (TAFE) are relatively new, but are likely to grow as a consequence of government policies that both seek to increase the percentage of Australians holding a bachelor degree and create a more unified tertiary education sector. There are ten TAFE institutes authorised to offer higher education in five…

A British study of nonparticipation in adult education focused on four stages: initial access, program practices, transition from introductory to advanced learning, and transition from informal to formal education. It was concluded that genuine access for underrepresented groups requires substantial changes in practice and resource allocation. (SK)

A study of 32 public and 25 private randomly selected providers of adult education in Scotland focused on their policies toward adult participants and the extent to which the organizations cater to adults. Data were collected from principals, deputy principals, agency managers, and other senior staff throughout Scotland but were concentrated…

Helen Ladd takes a comparative look at policies that the world's industrialized countries are using to assure a supply of high-quality teachers. Her survey puts U.S. educational policies and practices into international perspective. Ladd begins by examining teacher salaries--an obvious, but costly, policy tool. She finds, perhaps surprisingly,…

This volume contains a series of papers written for a symposium entitled "Adult Education and Allocation Policy in Sweden." Intended to provide a broader framework for analyzing allocation policy in adult education, the first paper is organized around the assumption that the effects of allocation policy both on participants and society…

It is necessary to develop some comparative indicators in order to describe and compare the systems of education in countries other than one's own. Access to higher education is an important indicator. Currently, 50 percent of the Swedish adult population takes part in some organized learning activity every year and 50 percent of the student…

Although a considerable body of research has been developed in recent years on participation in adult education, little has been done from the standpoint of social policy and its impact on participation. To assist investigation of this aspect of participation, three social policy models are presented: market models, progressive-liberal-welfare…

This document presents the British government's response to the report "Learning Works," which was written by a committee charged with identifying ways of engaging individuals who have traditionally not taken advantage of educational opportunities. Chapter 1 outlines the following steps that the government proposes to take to promote…

A study examined trends in enrollment in further education (FE) in Liverpool. Because the primary objective of the study was to identify possible factors that may influence the scale and specific strategies of student recruitment efforts, a case study approach was used to examine the FE participation rates and socioeconomic characteristics of…

This report describes the results of a study aimed at presenting a broad picture of educational opportunities open to unemployed adults in England and to identify problems and possible solutions. Material for the report was gathered through visits to a variety of institutions and agencies in urban and rural areas of England. The report is…

The impact of 1996 federal welfare reform legislation on state work force development programs was examined through a study of work force development programs and policies in 13 states: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The study focused on…

This collection of essays on rural education in the United States aims to fill a gap in the educational literature by highlighting the available research on rural schools and their contexts. The three sections of the book focus on the historical, social, political, and economic contexts of rural education; topics of practical interest for rural…

This document describes a study designed to identify: (1) typologies of nonparticipants in adult educational activities; (2) the attitudes, perceptions, and learning requirements of such groups and the factors that inhibit their participation; (3) effective methods of recruiting nonparticipants; (4) appropriate initial learning opportunities and…