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The DfES [Department for Education and Skills] consultation document Success for All [indexed at TD/TNC 72.207] represents the government's attempt to initiate a wide-ranging reform process in further education and training. Two of the main aims of this process are to offer '...14-19 learners greater choice and higher standards with academic and vocational programmes’ and to offer '...employers much more productive engagement with a transformed and responsive network of providers committed to meeting regional and sub-regional skill needs' (DfES, 2002, p. 10). Despite a consultation process on the document and the continuation of the government's relentless review and restructuring agenda, there seems to be precious little evidence for both, a significant improvement of qualification structures and an increasing involvement of employers in school-based training provisions in particular. Therefore, this paper outlines two reforms of school-based training in Germany and Sweden that seem to fulfil both aims quoted above.

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The paper explores the multiple dimensions of public-private partnerships in education that have been initiated in Australia and overseas, especially in the UK. It argues that the growing importance of education in modern societies and economies necessitates more flexible and diverse approaches to the provision of education, including public schooling. Public-private partnerships provide an important means of doing this and can underpin major reforms and innovations. Several arguments are advanced for public-private partnerships. They concern the limitations and inadequacies of solely government provided education, the increased demands for financing education, a changed and broader concept of public good, and the opportunities to build social capital. The paper explores a range of approaches to public-private partnerships. They include mixes of public and private schools, private participation in the delivery of public education, education-industry partnerships, forms of private investment in education, networks of public and private organisations, school-community partnerships, and private management of public education providers. There is a considerable amount of evidence of the success of both international and national innovations in public-private partnerships. They have mostly produced better educational outcomes and at lower costs for governments. However, they do raise challenges for the ways in which we plan, govern and manage educational provision, for the ways in which educators work, and for our attitudes towards diversity and on-going change in education. A public private partnership in school education is a legally binding agreement between a public authority responsible for a school or school system and a non-public entity that is intended to bring a benefit to each party. The non-public entity may be an individual or organisation and may be either profit or non-profit. For a non-profit entity, the benefit may be the satisfaction of a mission that may include the achievement of a benefit to the education partner. The non-private entity may be an organisation of volunteers.

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When members of AUSTAFE, the Australian professional association for managers in vocational education and training (VET), visited the United Kingdom, they were interested in the development of National Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) and to learn about best practice and understand similarities and differences. CoVEs are tasked to provide for the development of the skills and careers of those already in work as well as to enhance the employability of those entering the labour market. The aim is to secure enhanced vocational learning opportunities in post-16 learning with an emphasis on post-19 provision, to upskill the workforce and develop work-based learning and to increase proactive employer/college engagement for the development of innovation. Show less

As part of Success for All (indexed at TD/TNC 72.207), the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Learning and Skills Council (LSC) joint strategy for building a more effective and responsive learning and skills sector, the LSC has introduced three-year development plans for further education colleges and providers. Development plans comprise a summary of strategic issues and headline improvement targets for: learner numbers; success rates; the professional qualifications of lecturers and trainers; and employer engagement. This report outlines the findings and conclusions emerging from a Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) project that examined the nature and range of employer engagement in post-16 learning targets agreed in provider three-year development plans and the early impact of these targets on provision. The report also describes a typology of employer engagement and proposes a strategic framework for agreeing and reviewing the targets. The project objectives were to: (1) identify the nature of college and provider employer engagement targets, the process by which the targets are agreed, and effective practice; (2) consider the range of activities being undertaken to achieve the targets, and to classify these in relation to their expected outcomes; (3) investigate the early impact of the targets on increased employer engagement and satisfaction and on changes in provision; and (4) provide advice to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the sector on how employer engagement is being interpreted in order to secure greater clarity in its definition. Show less

The Increased Flexibility for 14-16 year olds Programme (IFP) was introduced in 2002 by the UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in order to ‘create enhanced vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14-16 year olds who can benefit most’. Partnerships between schools and colleges and training providers were formed and two cohorts of Year 10 students began two-year vocational courses including National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), other Vocational Qualifications (VQs) and new General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSEs) in vocational subjects. The partnerships aimed to enhance student attainment, develop their skills, knowledge and social learning, and increase retention in education and training after 16. The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned by the DfES to conduct an evaluation of the first and second cohorts of IFP students. The evaluation aims to: assess the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the implementation of the IFP, and identify those delivery models and implementation practices and strategies that appear to be most successful; evaluate the extent to which the IFP has fulfilled its national aims, objectives and targets; and assess the impact of vocational qualifications and new work-related learning opportunities on young peoples’ skills, knowledge, attitudes, attendance, attainment and post-16 progression. This report presents a profile of the partnerships between schools and colleges that were established to deliver the IFP to Year 10 students in 2003. It outlines the characteristics of the students who were participating and the qualifications they studied. This is the second cohort of students participating in IFP and comparisons with the first cohort are provided throughout the report.

Other reports from the evaluation are indexed at TD/TNC 77.125, TD/TNC 80.651 and TD/TNC 80.678. Show less

This chapter, which is based on literature, interview and observational data gathered in secondary schools in the US and UK during 1997-98, examines the 'added value' of education-business partnerships. The education systems of the US and UK are compared, showing that both systems share some similarities in terms of challenges to prepare students for the world of work and the use of education-business partnerships to achieve this objective. The themes of isolationism and exploitation are examined from the educator's perspective and graduation and jobs from the student's perspective. The education and training agenda from an employer's perspective is also explored. The chapter concludes that while partnerships are perceived as inherently good for the future and benefits include work experience, equipment donation, mentoring and professional development, there is also uncertainty about the purpose and form of such partnerships. The issue of the shifting burden of paying for education and training from state to business is raised.

The monograph from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 80.217; individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 80.218 to TD/TNC 80.229. Show less

This article reviews the development of Community Consortia for Education and Training (CCET) in Wales, and explores their role in the development of a cohesive post-16 learning strategy. The article examines the development of the formation of one such consortium as a case study. A range of challenges are identified for making effective progress. These highlight the difficulties, as well as the successes, for this key contemporary cross-sector educational partnership between schools, colleges, universities, businesses and voluntary organisations.

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This report presents the findings from a series of interviews with employer members of the National Modern Apprenticeship Task Force. The study was designed to elicit the employers' perspectives on the current structure and performance of the Modern Apprenticeship (MA) and their reasons for deciding to participate (or not) in the initiative. The quotations from the interviews are reported anonymously. The project's findings are structured around nine themes. The report is illustrated with examples of good practice from the participating employers, which they have developed to improve their delivery of the MA. The views of the Task Force employers who currently do not operate the MA are interwoven with those of the participating employers in this report. Non-participating employers discussed the range of issues covered under the nine themes outlined below and, hence, gave their views in relation to the MA in general. In terms of their own organisations, the non-participating employers said they were not involved in the MA at the present time as the programme did not align with business need.

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This paper is part of research undertaken by working group three within the COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) Action A11. The working group investigated the concept of complex learning-teaching arrangements. These arrangements aim to prepare students for work and lifelong learning in an environment where they will have to cope with complex work situations. The group aimed to develop approaches to training to achieve this goal and their work derived certain characteristics required within such learning-teaching arrangements. In this paper, the author investigates how learning arrangements that occur in both school and the workplace could be organised so that knowledge is transferred into practice. He discusses the implementation of a new curriculum concept termed ‘areas of learning’ within the German dual training system. The concept involves the transformation of traditional disciplines into a cross-curricular approach where the contents of the former curricula are reorganised into patterns of activity. Drawing on this idea, its potential for enabling the development of closer links between learning processes at school and workplaces is investigated. The paper questions what should be done at school and in the workplace and how the learning network between school and workplace/enterprise should be managed. The paper concludes with a report on the current state of development of a German research project that has developed ‘swinging learning arrangements’ in cooperation with vocational schools and enterprises.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 83.59. Selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 83.60 to TD/TNC 83.64. Show less

The Increased Flexibilities for 14-16 year olds Programme (IFP) was introduced in the UK in 2002 to ‘create enhanced vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14-16 year olds of all abilities who can benefit most’. Partnerships between schools and external providers were formed during the first year of IFP to achieve this goal. Each partnership involved a ‘lead partner’, generally a further education (FE) college, with funding provided through Local Learning and Skills Councils (LLSCs). In the same year, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) commissioned the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) to undertake a national evaluation of IFP to: (1) assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of its implementation; (2) identify delivery models and aspects of implementation that are most successful; (3) evaluate the extent to which IFP has realised its objectives; and (4) assess the impact of vocational qualifications and new work-related learning opportunities on the skills, knowledge, attitudes, attendance, attainment and post-16 progression of participants. As the first cohort of participants are continuing their qualifications at the end of the first year of implementation, the findings focus particularly on the strategic and operational implementation of IFP, including managing the program within the school, working in partnership, equality of access to IFP courses, and delivery of IFP. Some issues to arise include transporting students to their location of study, additional time for IFP coordinators to maintain contact with partner organisations, funding, and the identification of students to participate in IFP. Although students were only part way through their first year of IFP, the evaluation revealed positive outcomes from gaining access to a wider and more appropriate curriculum. Show less