Programs for the employment of mentally challenged workers are commendable; however, some of these workers simply cannot participate in them. The experiences of the Marriott Corporation provide a glimpse of the positive and negative aspects of hiring mentally challenged workers. (Author/JOW)

The national skill standards project may take 10 years to complete and will be expensive to set up and maintain. Getting consensus from industry, unions, and educators and ensuring checks for fairness and nondiscrimination pose challenges. (SK)

Emancipatory processes such as perspective transformation and conscientization do not mesh with the aims of job training programs. Training language is often used to control trainees' social perspective. The fundamental question is: In whose interest are training programs for the unemployed run? (SK)

A survey received 509 responses from 2,000 randomly selected accounting employees about which training topics are receiving the most attention and who is receiving the training. Results prove that training has become an integral part of a certified public accountant's job; topics most often covered were tax related--individual and corporate income…

Discusses Skills 2000, a report that looks at the relative decline of the industrial base of the United Kingdom, taking the perspective of the trade unions. Explores reactions to it through interviews with a number of interested parties. (JOW)

An article excerpted from the Harvard Education Letter warns against the notion of directly importing foreign apprenticeship models into school-to-work initiatives in the United States. (JOW)

British labor-force survey data indicated that the probability of receiving training and the amount of training received were substantially higher in unionized workplaces. (SK)

Work-related attitudes of 164 welfare recipients, 159 recipients in job training, and 158 employed former recipients were compared. Those employed had the highest scores in money ethic, work ethic, and self-esteem; higher education and income; and longer job tenure. Recipients not in training had the least positive money and work ethic. (Contains…

Analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that probability of turnover is significantly related to receiving training; men receive more training than women; when predicted probable turnover is controlled, the gender difference is 25% smaller; and positive effects of education on training are due to differences in…

The new youth training initiative in Britain is termed "modern apprenticeship." However, the history of the decline of apprenticeship over the last 30 years raises questions about whether this model can be reinvented to meet contemporary workplace needs. (SK)

Employee development programs that encourage learning that is not necessarily work related benefit employers through improved motivation, commitment, and morale, if work-related training is also offered. Less-skilled, less-educated employees have the most to gain. (SK)

Widespread labor shortages are leading companies to adopt innovative recruiting and training methods, such as Internet job postings, computer-based training, certified interviewers, collaborations with colleges and universities, and making employees at all levels feel important. (SK)

Australian apprentices (n=389) expressed a preference for well-structured training with clear expectations in social learning contexts. Results were at odds with current flexible delivery methods that unstructured, self-directed, and independent learning approaches. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

Describes how a new principal learned to be an instructional leader during her first year on the job at Kirbyville Elementary School in Kirbyville, Missouri. (PKP)

The purpose of this project was to compare three hospital-based measures of co-morbidity to patient self-report co-morbidity and to determine the relative proportion of outcome predicted by each of the co-morbidity measures in a population of individuals receiving major joint arthroplasty. Baseline measures using the SF-36 general health…