This article features the Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) which serves as the founding credential in the six states and one locality in the Career Readiness Certificate Consortium (Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C.). The Career Readiness Certificate was developed by the small consortium…

This bibliography summarizes recent research on the structure and effectiveness of workforce development programs. While the term "workforce development" can mean many things, this document focuses on programs to help low-skill, low-wage and displaced workers increase their employment and earnings, as well as labor market trends that…

In 2007, Michigan undertook a bold mission: to retrain tens of thousands of adults to qualify for jobs in emerging and expanding sectors of the economy. The state's proposal to jobless, dislocated, and low-income residents was simple but appealing: enroll in up to two years of postsecondary education, and Michigan would cover up to $5,000 in…

This issue of "Changing Schools" focuses on character education. The lead article, "Character Education: Finding Ways To Foster Ethical Behavior in Youth" by Diane McIntyre Wilber discusses the character education programs that have spread to nearly every type of school, whether public, private, charter, or faith-based. Since…

Drawing on innovative workforce development efforts around the country, Jobs for the Future (JJF) publications, tool kits, and other resources respond to the challenges to advancement for low-wage workers. Occasional papers in the series Advancement for Low-Wage Workers seeks to elevate discussion of this issue within and outside the workforce…

The past several years have seen basic changes in policies and programs concerning poverty, work, and workforce development. The essence of the changes is putting work first, and many states and localities are building "Work First" into welfare-to-work programs funded under Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and many are adopting…

Ohio's commitment to vocational education is stronger than ever. Vocational education programs in Ohio reflect the fact that not all high school graduates go on to higher education; job training programs offered in Ohio schools provide young people with marketable job skills. To determine these skills, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) makes…

State skills corporations are public/private ventures designed to increase the supply of skilled workers in a state. Using public funds matched by private dollars, the corporations bring business and educational institutions together to train workers for skilled occupations. One of the principal goals of the corporations is to establish an…

This sixth annual compilation presents resumes of ongoing projects in career education, vocational education, and education and work. Included in the volume are resumes of projects funded by contracts and grants from the member agencies of the Coordinating Committee on Research in Vocational Education (CCRVE) as well as abstracts of projects…

This study examines the intent and operation of postsecondary education linkages with business and industry. Following an introduction, chapter II describes the Industry Services Training Program, which provides occupational training for jobs created by new, expanding, and diversified industry, and the Sunshine State Skills Program, which helps to…

The Employer Specific Skills Training (ESST) Program strengthens New York State's economy by assisting employers and employees to become more productive and competitive through customized training and education. The program has three goals: (1) to foster cooperative ventures; (2) to use resources of local education agencies to respond to local…

Supported employment offers opportunities for severely disabled adults to carry out paid work at regular work sites within their communities and provides a path to normalization. Supported employment differs from traditional programs in that the positions are integrated into the community, skills are taught on the job, and support is need-based…

This draft statement outlines the issues to be discussed at a series of invitational conferences to consider policies and proposals regarding youth education and employment in New York State. It consists of three sections. In section 1 a general description of the problem of youth unemployment is provided. Section 2 examines a framework for action…

Changes in the U.S. economy have increased the number of 25 to 54 year old women in the work force to about 74 percent. However, most of these women are segregated in low-wage jobs. Women often fall into those jobs because of sex-stereotyped vocational education enrollment and gender-related barriers in education and in their family and…

Eleventh- and twelfth-grade students in California comprehensive high schools and Regional Occupational Centers/Programs spend about one million hours a day on vocational education. California students who took a concentrated sequence of high school vocational subjects during 1981 had a 26 percent unemployment rate in the spring of 1982, compared…