The first of the three papers in this symposium, "Conflicts that Arise in Small Group Facilitation: A Descriptive Study of Accounts, Actions, Outcomes, and Assessments" (Judith A. Kolb, William J. Rothwell), contains self-report verbatim accounts contributed by facilitators and the results of a literature review on small group conflict.…

Research on quality assurance (QA) in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia over the past 6 years was reviewed. Three factors responsible for growing interest in QA were identified: close connections with industry sectors that have gained from the introduction of QA measures; the more competitive training market that has been…

Australia's personal and other services industry is the sixth smallest of the 17 industry divisions in numbers employed. The industry, a collection of quite diverse businesses and services in the public and private sectors, has three subdivisions: personal services, other services, and private households employing staff. The employment level has…

The impact of one-stop career centers on the U.S. Employment Service (ES) program was examined through case studies of one-stop initiatives in the following states: Georgia; Ohio; California; Iowa; Oregon; Massachusetts; Texas; Utah; and Wisconsin. Of the nine case study states, only Georgia had not begun instituting a one-stop career center…

A stratified random sample of Virginia's 4,000 employers with over 100 employees was surveyed about workplace-based foundational basic skills (oral and written communication, reading, math, thinking skills, teamwork, English proficiency, and basic computer literacy). A total of 446 surveys were sent with a usable response rate of 18 percent.…

This document reports on a study of employer-linked charter schools that included case studies of 9 of the more than 70 employer-linked charter schools currently in operation across the United States. Section 1 is an overview of employer-linked charter schools' key elements and unique features. Topics examined include the following: vision of…

The role of social partner organizations in vocational education and training (VET) has been compared for Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. In these countries, a system of industrial relations comparable to those existing in western Europe is emerging gradually.…

This is a report of the role of Distance education (DE) in enhancing education and training in developing countries. As countries compete in an ever more challenging international marketplace, they recognize the need to continually train and upgrade their citizenry. As national leaders struggle to cope with increasing populations and decreasing…

In connection with the changes in the structure of the work force that took place in Russia in the final ten years of the twentieth century and the increase in professional, intersectorial, and other kinds of labor mobility, the problem of the replacement and reproduction of cadres of top qualification (candidates and doctors of science) has come…

This report contains the Higher Education Coordinating Board's (HECB) assessment of the higher education needs in Snohomish, Skagit, and Island (SIS) Counties, and its recommendations to the legislature regarding those needs. The report contains two sections. Section I provides: (1) Primary conclusions and related considerations derived from the…

Between 2002 and 2012, the rate of job growth in North Dakota will be modest: under 1 percent annually. However, a large number of positions-close to a quarter of all jobs in the state-will open up for hiring due to retirements and separations. In addition, the demand for well-educated employees will only increase over the next several years. In…

An effective system of education and training is important for both social and economic reasons. Its role in the Polish economy is to provide the current and future labour force with skills to facilitate both continuing productivity growth and reallocation of resources as structural adjustment proceeds. Important reforms to decentralise primary…

The lack of human capital in Portugal has become a key obstacle to higher growth. This paper discusses the performance of education and training services in Portugal and shows that improvements are needed to narrow the significant human capital gap with other OECD countries. Despite progress in the past decades, Portuguese children spend…

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Changing poverty and changing antipoverty policies…

This publication is part of the study materials for the distance education course, Adults Learning: The Changing Workplace B, in the Open Campus Program at Deakin University. Section 1 looks mostly at male-dominated trades work and at some historical modes of the flexing of political muscle in struggles over the definition of work and skill. It…