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As greater numbers of vocational teachers are asked to integrate academic skills into their vocational education subject areas, consideration must be given to the preparation these teachers need as they assume this new teaching role. This research addressed the above concern by focusing on the coursework vocational education teachers complete during their teacher preparation studies. Show less

This document sets out the UK Government's suggestions for improving the system for recognising professional qualifications across the European Union (EU). Recent evidence suggests that there is significant untapped potential in EU services, both in terms of productivity and employment. Reforms that improved the single market in services could have a significant impact on growth within the EU. Reforming the process for mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the EU is a key achievable priority in improving the single market in services, and creating growth.

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Equality impact assessments are an important framework for demonstrating due regard through considering evidence and analysis to help identify the likely positive and negative impacts that policy proposals may have on certain protected groups of consumers and to estimate whether such impacts disproportionately affect such groups. This assessment takes a summary view of the equality impacts of the changes to the apprenticeship program outlined below: (1) new incentive payments for small employers to take on a young apprentice for the first time; (2) measures to make it quicker and easier for employers to take on an apprentice, including reducing the time it takes an employer to advertise for an apprentice to one month, and stripping back any unnecessary health and safety requirements; (3) requiring apprenticeship providers to offer training in English and Maths up to the standard of a good [General Certificate of Secondary Education] GCSE to all apprentices, and publishing their progress; (4) launching a new employer-led review into the standards and quality of apprenticeships, to ensure every apprenticeship delivers professionally recognised qualifications which employers value; and (5) prioritising the efforts of the National Apprenticeship Service where apprenticeships deliver greatest value, including on younger adults, new employees, higher level qualifications and particular sectors, whilst maintaining a demand-led, all age program open to all sectors across the economy where high quality apprenticeships can be offered.

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This review looks at the framework for determining employment status and provides a snapshot of the UK labour market in 2015. In order to gain a greater understanding of some of the issues being faced, officials were asked to consider what the UK labour market looks like and suggest ways in which government could deliver a framework that strikes the correct balance between the rights of the individual and the needs of business, supporting growth and prosperity in the 21st century. The review involved discussions with a number of stakeholders and this report represents the findings of that review.

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This study focused on the development and preliminary validation of a framework for effective vocational education programs serving students with special needs. The results suggest that overall the framework has broad utility based on the information sources used herein to verify and refine its content. Eight components, outlined in the document, emerged as the core structure for the programs and services that serve special population students effectively. Show less

This issue of ‘Centerfocus’ argues that arts education, encompassing dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts, should be included in the vocational curriculum in secondary school. The authors suggest that study of the arts in addition to skills training is a valuable strategy for educating young people for further study and work. The paper documents the relationship between vocational education and arts education over the course of the 20th century. The discussion then examines the relationship between the changing employee characteristics required of the emerging economy of the new century and the implications of these changes for better collaboration between vocational and arts education. In conclusion, the authors look at circumstances favouring cooperation between vocational and arts education teachers, and recommend strategies to facilitate this relationship. Show less

Successful implementation of work-related education reforms requires that educators understand both reform principles and the ways in which work-based and school-based learning can be used to enhance curriculum and instruction. This document contains four educational briefs and five case studies, and describes innovative teacher education and professional development programs that support school-to-work and related reforms. A product of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education's (NCRVE's) Teacher Education Initiative, these studies are based on a national search for promising professional development programs, interviews, case studies, and literature reviews. The educational briefs are as follows: Changing work, changing learning: the imperative for teacher learning in workplaces and communities / L. Allen Phelps; Innovative professional development opportunities: key elements for successful development / Victor Hernandez-Gantes; Educator internship programs: providing a quality learning experience / Thomas Sargent and Judy Ettinger; The use of professional development schools to inform educators about the school-to-work initiative / Christine Maidl Pribbenow. The case studies are: Professional development in support of school-to-work: Jackson-Hillsdale Counties, Michigan / Christine Maidl Pribbenow and Thomas Sargent; Montpelier High School: restructuring the educational experience: Montpelier, Vermont / Christine Maidl Pribbenow and Thomas Sargent; Bringing the world into the classroom: business-education compact: Portland, Oregon / Christine Maidl Pribbenow and Thomas Sargent; The advanced technology environmental education center: a global effort: Bettendorf, Iowa / Thomas Sargent, Christine Maidl Pribbenow and Francisco Castelan; Building and sustaining a commitment to improving learning through staff development: the Miami-Dade Community College journey: Miami, Florida / George H. Copa. Show less

This review and synthesis of research in business and office education is based on doctoral dissertations and some independent studies completed between 1968 and 1980. Approximately 1200 studies are reviewed. It has been organised according to the major content areas comprising business and office education such as: accounting/bookkeeping; basic business/economics; business communications; business data processing; business math; shorthand; and typewriting and word processing. Research related to the philosophy and general objectives of business education, the educational environment of business programs, and the social and business environment affecting business education is reviewed in separate sections. Career education, and student professional organisations are also treated separately. All content areas are broken down into various sub-areas, such as objectives, curriculum, technology, teaching methods, and evaluation. A comprehensive bibliography of the studies reviewed is included. Show less

The national strategy for access and student success in higher education has been developed at the request of the UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister for Universities and Science. The vision of this national strategy is: that all those with the potential to benefit from higher education have equal opportunity to participate and succeed, on a course and in an institution that best fit their potential, needs and ambitions for employment or further study. This final report to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills sets out what the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) will do to carry out the strategy.

Part one summarises the vision, overall approach and key actions that are proposed across the three broad stages of the student lifecycle: (1) access - preparing for and entering higher education; (2) retention and student success - staying on and achieving a qualification; and (3) progression to further study or to/within employment. Part two describes the strategy in detail and the evidence that it is based on. It brings together new and existing research on access and student success, including evidence gathered through commissioned research, a call for evidence and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders. The first three chapters discuss issues, evidence, and recommendations relating to the three broad stages of the student lifecycle. The concluding chapter describes in detail the proposed implementation of the strategy and outlines the types of indicators that will be developed to measure progress against the priorities it identifies.

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Higher education in the United Kingdom (UK) is a successful public-private partnership of government funding and institutional autonomy. This White Paper sets out the government's reforms for higher education with a view to tackling three challenges. The first is to shift public spending away from teaching grants and towards repayable tuition loans, to ensure that higher education receives the funding it needs even as substantial savings are made to public expenditure. The second is to ensure that higher education institutions (HEIs) deliver a better student experience; improving teaching, assessment, feedback and preparation for the world of work. The third challenge is to ensure that HEIs take more responsibility for increasing social mobility. The reforms are designed to deliver a more responsive higher education sector in which funding follows the decisions of learners and successful institutions are freed to thrive; in which there is a new focus on the student experience and the quality of teaching and in which further education colleges and other alternative providers are encouraged to offer a diverse range of higher education provision. The overall goal is higher education that is more responsive to student choice, that provides a better student experience and that helps improve social mobility.

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