In Europe a very intensive discussion is in full swing as to whether vocational schools should in future be guided and monitored by the state or whether they should be freed from state dependency. Within the framework of a number of pilot projects in German-speaking countries, vocational school centers are currently testing their autonomy. This…

This study by the Rand Corporation is part of a series analyzing the educational personnel system. This report focuses on the principal educational manpower policy problem--the teacher surplus. Specifically, a number of alternative projections are developed for the market for teachers, showing policy issues that will arise if the current…

This report critically examines two approaches to benchmarking vocational education and training (VET) - benchmarking through performance indicators and comparative case studies. The author finds both approaches provide useful information, although the case study approach enables a more thorough analysis of particular issues and can take greater…

This article traces the Lisbon strategy back to the White Paper issued by President Jacques Delors in 1993 on "Growth, Competitiveness, and Jobs" as the launching point for the structural reform agenda needed to turn around the massive unemployment crisis and proposing a combination of policies for the structural reform of the labour…

The aim of this article is to examine the interplay between learning in school and learning in the workplace--and its problems. Historically, education and work have become separated and each developed its own rationale--a school rationale and a production rationale, both of which may form the foundation for interplay. Concurrently with this, the…

As the global economy rapidly changes and new technologies are introduced, more highly skilled workers are required. In the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), firms struggle to fill skilled positions due to a lack of qualified candidates, while the number of unemployed low skilled workers is growing. This paradox especially affects…

This investigation seeks to develop data to help understand the direction being taken in university programming in Manitoba over a 35-year period in terms of the perception of alleged growth of the labour market orientation of universities. The impact of the political party in power is examined, as are features of the post-secondary program…

The author outlines the dimensions of the crisis in the teenage labor market, and analyzes its implications for secondary, and particularly post-compulsory, schooling. After tracing the parallels between the post-war years and the present situation, he sketches the nature of the educational reforms that he sees as being necessary. (CT)

More than half of all California youth ages 13 to 24 have a foreign-born parent. Because a large number of these immigrant parents have a limited education, lack of improvement in educational attainment from one generation to the next would have serious implications for the state economically as well as socially. Education is an important…

Highlights deficiencies in current British policies on work-based learning for 16-19 year-olds. Discusses problems arising from employers' voluntary participation. Outlines a holistic approach based on the community of practice model. (SK)

Three articles debate the findings of a study: "Low-Skilled People on the European Labor Market: Towards a Minimum Learning Platform?" (Ottersen, Steedman); "The Concept of a Minimum Learning Platform Educational Contents and Methods for Improving the Low-Skilled" (Schneeberger); and "Achieving a Minimum Learning Platform…

Many Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries recruit internationally skilled workers for their health, education, or public administration sectors and the subsequent emigration of such workers can cause critical shortages in developing countries, even as these countries receive substantial aid from those same OECD…

This article reports the findings of a Danish research council-funded project aimed at exploring a comprehensive package of management reforms in higher education instituted in Denmark since 2003. The reforms attempt to change not only the way institutions are governed but the very notion of democracy and engagement in higher education. In short,…

Richard Murnane and Jennifer Steele argue that if the United States is to equip its young people with the skills essential in the new economy, high-quality teachers are more important than ever. In recent years, the demand for effective teachers has increased as enrollments have risen, class sizes have fallen, and a large share of the teacher…

This paper investigates how the remuneration of education has evolved during 1982-98, the period of reform. This strand of literature documents an increased convexity of the earnings function; that is, the returns of one additional year of schooling rises with the years of completed schooling. The educational attainment of Brazil's labor force has…