This report is aimed at helping Congress better understand the functions, history, capabilities, limitations, uses, and misues of educational tests; learn more about the promises and pitfalls of new assessment methods and technologies; and identify and weigh policy options affecting educational policy. To prepare this report, the Office of…

Workplace training strategies in selected foreign countries were examined from the standpoint of their relevance to development of a national training policy in the United States. Case studies of the following were conducted: apprenticeship training in Germany, enterprise-based training in Japan, stimulation of training by training taxes in France…

Recent research leaves unsettled the role of education in the recent fall of productivity growth. Part of this dilemma is due to two major methodological problems in the estimation of education's contribution to productivity growth: the methods for deriving weights for returns to education, and the interaction among education and other factors…

This document contains transcripts of U.S. Senate hearings leading to the reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act. During the hearings, testimony and/or prepared statements were given by the U.S. Secretary of Education, representatives of business and industry (especially the training sector), educators (especially vocational education…

This document studies the role of unions, management, and education agencies (the social partners) in vocational education and training in the United Kingdom. Through an analysis of existing and historical structures governing cooperation and coordination between the social partners and the public bodies responsible for vocational education and…

Participants in a symposium on economic development in rural New York State analyzed existing strengths and weaknesses of the state's rural areas and made policy suggestions relating to three broad goals: (1) ease government constraints on rural businesses in order to encourage growth and development; (2) build on and strengthen the positive…

Farming-dependent counties are some of the most economically distressed parts of nonmetropolitan America because their inability to diversify economically has left them vulnerable to changes in natural resource markets, commodity prices, and farm conditions. The Midwest has been hit hardest. The greatest proportion of highly leveraged farms is in…

This policy paper explores the nature and significance of human capital development. Its intended audience includes policymakers, students and researchers, and citizens who bear the ultimate responsibility for public policy. An introductory section defines human capital broadly to include all productive capacities acquired at some cost and…

This report investigates how administrative complexity in funding and personnel of American public school districts varies depending on local, state, and federal funding environments. The analyses are based on a data set integrated from several national data sources describing school districts in the 1970s. As hypothesized in the study, dependence…

Prepared as a working document for officials of the Alberta (Canada) government, this report reviews the Metis Betterment Act and regulations made under the Act with one goal being to ensure that any proposals for a new Act would place the major responsibility for the political, social, economic, and cultural development of the settlements firmly…

This book, divided into three sections, comprises papers delivered at a conference on "Alternative Strategies in Compensatory Education," convened by the staff of the National Assessment of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act and designed to aid Congress in its 1987 reauthorization of Chapter 1. The introduction,…

This report is an overview of the current state of adult education and guidance in Scotland, focusing on issues and problems and suggesting methods of helping more adults take advantage of educational opportunities. The report is organized in six chapters. The first chapter surveys policy and conceptual issues in the development of guidance for…

This study assesses the consequences of the continuing and rapid introduction of information and telecommunications technologies in offices. The report of the study contains 12 chapters. After a brief look at the context of office automation from the perspective of history, the first chapter highlights some expectations about the technologies and…

Policymakers must review the accomplishments of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), problems associated with suggestions for its reform, and incremental reforms to the program that are required and possible. Despite the fact that research generally attests to CETA's success, the system suffers from a poor public image.…

Secondary analysis of self-reported data from 1,819 questionnaires completed by state vocational education staff in 47 states was used to examine the training and experience of current state vocational education staff in five federal policy priority areas: sex equity, disadvantaged persons, handicapped persons, limited English-speaking student…