Higher education opens doors to job enhancement and economic benefits to adult learners. Despite facing multiple barriers such as life-work-school time conflicts and financial constraints, adult learners continue to seek higher education and certifications. Rural employers also benefit from supporting degree completion or job-specific…

One of the key goals of any academic program is to ensure that skills taught in the classroom apply to post-graduate employment. Failure to do so can impact an academic department's recruitment and retention efforts, strain relations with alumni and damage the institution's reputation. Using interviews conducted during a faculty externship at a…

The purposes of this multiple case study were to determine if manufacturing and services sector employers found value in the use of an ePortfolio in the hiring process, and to develop a suggested template for an ePortfolio format to be used within career and technical education. Electronic portfolios "allow students to showcase their…

Noting that America's need for youth services is at an all-time high, this study surveyed frontline youth workers and youth organization directors in Indiana to determine their needs and how those needs were being met. Focus groups with youth workers were also conducted. Key findings are as follows: (1) though 75 percent are college graduates,…

The purposes of the study were to (1) determine the overall perception of vocational education in Indiana as held by the general public, (2) determine if there are differences in perceptions related to the various areas within vocational education, (3) identify perceptions of vocational education by junior and senior high school students,…

The Indiana State Board of Education requires all students, including students with learning disabilities, to successfully pass the graduation examination: Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress Plus. Students with learning disabilities who cannot pass the examination receive a Certificate of Completion upon graduation. As a result,…

Describes a study to provide a source of employment data for vocational agriculture programs. Data collected from a stratified, random sample of ten percent of the agribusinesses in fourteen Indiana counties formed the basis for projecting 1977-1981 agribusiness employment needs for high school level workers. (MF)

Responding employers from two business samples (286 of 2,700 and 67 of 400) perceived a lack of desired competencies in entry workers. High school graduates rated no higher than 3.07 and college graduates 3.89 on a 7-point scale. Social competencies (sociability, responsibility, self-management, integrity, self-esteem) were thought in need of most…

A study examined the circumstances underlying the school-to-work transition problems of disadvantaged youth and strategies that school systems in Detroit, Pensacola (Florida), New Castle (Indiana), and Pittsburgh have adopted to address these problems. Among the problems studied were lack of information about jobs and careers, too few role models…

A survey of 379 Elkhart County, Indiana, employers was conducted to determine the local labor force situation. Replies received from 141 employers were analyzed, with the following findings reported: (1) more than 520 job openings existed for unskilled, entry-level jobs, but employers were having trouble filling them because candidates were poorly…

The importance of conducting vocational follow-up studies increases as interest in employment-related education and training programs spreads. Expanding student enrollment and increased Federal and state support have prompted educators to develop models that determine the effectiveness of training programs. This monograph briefly introduces and…

An evaluation described Tech Prep prototypes as they were implemented in five different Indiana sites and assessed their effectiveness. Evaluation procedures included: (1) collection and analysis of data from students involved in Tech Prep for the first time in 1990-91 and students involved for the second year; (2) analysis of prototype project…

This document contains action plans for four states (Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, and Missouri) involved in the Jobs for the Future program designed to enhance states' ability to handle economic change. The first section, "A Call to Action," discusses what Colorado's public and private sectors must consider doing to meet the…

A study was done to define the general image of vocational-technical education in Indiana as represented by a statistical sampling of respondents from a variety of categories of the general public, including junior and senior high school students, elementary and secondary teachers and school personnel, parents, and employers. A stratified random…

Jobs for the Future undertook a program designed to enhance the ability of four states--Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, and Missouri--to manage economic change is described in this report. An analysis of what was happening in the state economies, especially the kinds of jobs that were being created, was carried out. The research portions of the…