This article analyses the trajectory of national testing in Portugal between the early 1990s and 2015 in order to unveil continuities and changes in the regulatory processes of education in Portugal, particularly the emergence of results-based coordination and control methods. Drawing on legislative materials, it identifies and describes the…

This document describes the concepts and policies guiding the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in programming for services in the school to work transition. Underlying assumptions address the complexity of post-school services, the focus on all students with disabilities, and the goal of employment as an important…

After a brief outline of the educational situation and the social framework in Italy which developed after the second world war, this article explores the future of the Italian school system. (Author/RK)

The focus of this study is on lessons learned by collaborative partnerships that use ICTs to expand access to and improve the quality of secondary education in South Africa. Secondary education is the most strategic, and unfortunately the least developed education sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Empirical studies show that, in addition to…

The report, which is part of a series, contains four papers concerning school-to-work transition issues and models. The first paper, "Secondary Special Education and Transition from School to Work" (F. Rusch and L. A. Phelps) reviews the economic, educational, and community adjustment difficulties of youth with handicaps in the context…

The paper examines the prospects of employment for Canadian youth with mental disabilities and offers a model for secondary vocational programing designed to promote the transition from school to work. An introductory section comments on the bleak outlook for employment for students with disabilities and notes the economic and social consequences.…

This report examines current knowledge about the nature, development, and consequences of competition and market reform in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. In the process, the policy context and key aspects of the theory and practice of a competitive training market are analyzed. These other topics related to the…

Management models for cost-effective technological instructional systems must overcome the barriers which the educational superstructure raises to oppose alternative modes of instruction. Under our labor-intensive system, instructional costs rise, but productivity doesn't; the system must either become less labor-intensive, through technology, or…

The number of entrants to the labor market today in most sub-Sahara African countries far exceeds the number of new jobs generated by the economy. This mismatch is one of the most serious problems the region faces. With too few jobs to go around, vocational training should focus on the generation of self-employment possibilities. In the mid-1970s…

This is the first report on the evaluation of the Inquiry Based Science and Technology Education Program (IN-STEP), an innovative and ambitious science education initiative for lower secondary schools being undertaken by a public-private partnership in Thailand funded by MSD-Thailand, an affiliate of Merck & Co. IN-STEP is a public-private…

This publication addresses basic issues related to the concept of transition as it is applied to students with disabilities in California. Following a pretest (and its answer key), the document uses a question and answer format to discuss common concerns about transition, normalization, the school role, the "Bridges" model developed by…

A conceptual framework for school-based vocational education and training (VET) in Australia is based on a United States model. It implies VET has purposes beyond equipping young people with skills. Global themes in VET development are government use of VET as an economic and social policy tool to ensure skilled workforces; provision of VET…

The perception that the United States is falling behind in the skills race has prompted experts to look abroad for policy ideas. Of particular interest has been the German "dual system," which alternates 2 to 3 years of highly structured work-based training with classroom teaching for young people, beginning at age 16. Buoyed by the success of the…

A significant change in vocational education brought about by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act 1990 amendments was the introduction of outcome-based accountability. Accountability from the local perspective was explored through interviews with local program administrators, staff, students, and employers in secondary and…

Developing a youth apprenticeship in the United States would boost productivity, improve the preparation of youths for the skill demands of a global economy, and simultaneously offer minority youth an avenue into the economic mainstream. Germany's "dual system" of youth apprenticeship could be adopted to form a national skill-building…