Businesses throughout the United States are facing a tight labor market and a growing need for skilled workers. At the same time, millions of U.S. adults have foundational skills gaps in areas such as literacy or numeracy. This issue is especially acute among Americans with disabilities, who are twice as likely as their non-disabled peers to have…

Neoliberal ideology has made an impact on environmental education (EE) policies and practices in Brazil. The EE in Family Agriculture Program, of national scope and administered by the Ministry of the Environment, seeks to promote sustainable development in rural areas, specifically through strategies focused on adult education and non-formal…

In the past, rural America often relied on Washington for policy responses to its challenges, but federal policy has been slow to adapt to the broad changes taking place in so many rural communities. New approaches to rural policy have taken root in some states. Georgia's OneGeorgia Authority will oversee a series of economic development programs…

Discusses strategies to alleviate rural employment problems. (BH)

Describes provisions, implementation processes, and successes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Welfare-to-Work grants to promote employment of the least employable welfare recipients, including many in rural poverty areas. Addresses other welfare modifications concerning legal immigrants, disabled children, food stamp recipients,…

Significant social, demographic, and economic changes have occurred in the North Central states since 1960. This document examines structural and policy variables related to distribution of income, during the years 1960-80 in the 397 counties defined as agriculture-dependent in 13 North Central states. Personal income distribution has been…

Two views within the federal government regarding funding medical education--"just send money" and "prudent purchaser"--and their implications for rural America are discussed in the context of budget shifts toward pediatric training and National Institute of Health programs, different agency mandates, the high cost of health care and medical…

This report examines the role of the state in ensuring access to advanced telecommunications technologies by all Minnesotans and explores viable policy alternatives. Recommendations fall into four categories: access, affordability and competition, training and skills, and local initiative. Concerning access, the goal is for all Minnesotans to have…

Federal block grants and consolidated programs related to poverty reduction may compel states to streamline administrative structures and approaches that have deterred collaboration in the past. This report considers the block grant environment in making key policy recommendations for reducing poverty in rural areas, formulated during a Pathways…

This report examines the changing industrial structure of work in the southern United States, with particular emphasis on industry and occupational projections for this region and the educational requirements for tomorrow's jobs. Also examined are expected annual earnings, projected unemployment rates, and part-time employment trends associated…

Eight contributed papers given at a general session of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions 1992 annual meeting are presented. These papers deal with a variety of library issues, and are generally, but not exclusively, focused on developing countries. The following papers are included: (1) "Community…

In the past, economic development in the rural United States, particularly in the rural South, relied principally on the attractiveness of a low-wage work force to mass-production manufacturing industries. Now however, the viability of the traditional mass-production economy's organizational structure and operating procedures has been eroded by…

A majority of adults in most Alaska Native villages were without jobs in 1990, and the situation was probably not substantially better in 1998. This report summarizes current Alaska Native employment data and employment trends, provides information on public and private programs that target Native hire, and describes promising approaches for…

Resources available to Arizona through the School-to-Work Opportunities Act will not be concentrated in rural communities, although their educational and economic development needs are proportionately greater. Absent from education reform bills pending in the Arizona House and Senate is any reference to school-to-work transition or any explicit…

The papers contained in this special report were written as background material for three conferences sponsored on behalf of the National Commission for Manpower Policy. (Information on the proceedings of the conferences can be found in a related document, ED 138 763.) The papers, by titles, included here are as follows: "Defining the…