Foremost among efforts over the last decade to improve the work-related skills required of all young people to meet the demands of American's workplaces was the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills Commission (SCANS). Integral to SCANS were its three-part foundation (basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities) and these…

The state of Washington's workforce development system agenda focused in 2002 on these four goals: (1) closing a perceived job skills gap; (2) training incumbent and dislocated workers in order to prepare them for changes in the economy; (3) achieving wage progression for low income individuals; and (4) integrating workforce development programs…

This document contains the 11 publications constituting the first stage of the Voyager program, which is a four-stage program that utilizes contemporary content and instructional approaches to teach the reading, writing, critical thinking, and communication skills that adults need in today's world and to take adult learners from the beginning…

This document contains seven papers from a study of the role of distance learning approaches in enhancing the contribution of nonformal education to socioeconomic development in Africa. "Introduction" (Richard Siaciwena) presents an overview of the research project and defines key terms related to nonformal education. "Ghana: The…

This document contains the materials for a competency-based course in diesel technology and electrical and electronic systems that is tied to measurable and observable learning outcomes identified and validated by an advisory committee of business and industry representatives and teachers. The competencies addressed align with the medium/heavy…

Washington Works is a nonprofit organization founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1992 to help low-income women improve their lives and the lives of their children by teaching them to think differently about themselves. The program offered courses in personal effectiveness training, basic skills training, office skills development, and job search…

This document is the first in a series of two reports on demand-led strategies to support welfare-to-work clients. The authors believe employment retention programs that demonstrate they can meet the needs of employers for effective employees follow a demand-led approach, which has the potential to expand the opportunities available to welfare…

Research on adult basic skills in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the English-speaking world was reviewed. The review focused on the following aspects of adult basic skills education: the scale of need and impact of poor basic skills; learner characteristics; motivation, attendance, dropping out, and progression; provision and programs; tutors…

These two documents deal with the relationship between Missouri's Show-Me Standards (the standards defining what all Missouri students should know upon graduation from high school) with the vocational competencies taught in secondary-level family and consumer science (FACS) education courses. The first document, which is a database documenting the…

The General Accounting Office (GAO) examined publicly supported training programs for employed workers, including low-wage workers. The GAO surveyed local workforce boards nationwide and received responses from 470 boards. Two-thirds of the responding boards provided assistance to train employed workers, including partnering with employers to…

Since its establishment in 1996, the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) has actively conducted and disseminated research to help build effective, cost- efficient adult education and literacy programs for adults who have low literacy and math skills, limited English skills, and/or no high school diploma. Funded as…

This document is intended to assist organizers of professional development activities for arts and sciences faculty members of preservice teacher education programs at Ohio colleges and universities. The following materials are included: (1) a decision matrix to organize the decisions made by facilitators of professional development activities;…

This document is intended to assist organizers of professional development activities for education faculty members of preservice teacher education programs at Ohio colleges and universities. The following materials are included: (1) a decision matrix to organize the decisions made by facilitators of professional development activities; (2) a…

Alberta Learning was created in May 1999 to enhance the focus of the government of Alberta, Canada, on lifelong learning and equipping all Albertans with the information and skills needed to live and work in the information age. During its first year of operation, Alberta Learning focused on its core businesses of basic learning, adult learning,…

The role of adult education in sustaining economic growth and expanding opportunity in Massachusetts was explored. The analysis focused on the new basic skills needed for a new economy, groups lacking the new basic skills, the demand for adult basic education (ABE), funding for ABE, building basic skills through adult education, ABE's costs and…