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[No abstract available]

U.S. employers and their workers underinvest in employer training. Underinvestment occurs because training generates externalities, because the tax system is biased against training investments, because turnover is high, and because most workers lack access to loans and are unable to finance general training. School‐based occupational training ameliorates the underinvestment problem somewhat, but it is not a complete answer to the problem. During the election campaign, President Clinton proposed to stimulate training by requiring employers to spend some minimum percentage of their wage bill on training or else to pay a special tax. France has had such a mandate since 1972, so the design of a U.S. training mandate is likely to benefit from a careful examination of the French program. The French have demonstrated that a training mandate is administratively and politically feasible, but their mandate is not optimally designed for U.S. implementation. The article concludes with some recommendations about structuring a U.S. mandate to spend on training. Copyright © 1993 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company

This article reports a study of students' experiences in a community college vocational program in banking and finance and the jobs the students got and lost in the data center of a bank. The study is situated in current concerns about the presumed literacy problems of North American workers and the relationship between skills and competitiveness in the global economy. The discontinuities between such concerns and the situations of the vocational students in this study are discussed, as are calls for “functional context” and “critical” literacy programs. An argument is made for the educational, social, and political importance of studies of work in juxtaposition to studies of schooling. 1993 American Anthropological Association

Abstract: Patterns of smoking in Western Australia since 1974 were examined using four data sets. Consistency between sets of data was high for adults in the various categories of smoker status. Having established consistency, the patterns revealed by the surveys conducted by the Health Department of Western Australia were examined in more detail. According to these data, prevalence fell from 31.2 per cent in 1984 to 23.9 per cent in 1991 but was still higher among males, at 27.3 per cent, than among females, at 23.4 per cent. Although the sex‐specific prevalence levels were converging, the difference was still significant (P = 0.01). While patterns of smoking in Western Australia generally reflected those in Australia as a whole, some differences were detected. The variation in prevalence according to level of education among women became less pronounced: in 1991, prevalence was 25.5 per cent among women who had completed an apprenticeship or trade certificate compared with 21.7 per cent among women who had undertaken some university studies, the corresponding figures for 1984 being 31.1 per cent and 24.8 per cent. Differences in prevalence among young women between state and national data were also noted. Between 1987 and 1991 the prevalence of smoking among women in the 20‐ to 24‐year age group decreased from 41.2 per cent to 29.0 per cent. This is at odds with findings from the data collected by the Anti Cancer Council of Victoria which indicate that, in 1989, the prevalence of smoking among Australian women aged 20 to 24 years was 37.7 per cent, which was higher than the prevalence in any other male or female age group. 1993 Public Health Association of Australia

[No abstract available]

Recent developments in British higher education have included taking a close look at work-based learning, in particular its assessment (and its integration within academic programmes of study). However, two questions which are still continuously being asked are (a) to what extent are assessments of work-based learning valid and reliable, and (b) can they count towards the award of university degrees and diplomas? These questions are becoming increasingly important as there seems to be a growing trend for students to assess their own learning at the workplace (through reflection and analysis and the use of diaries and self-development journals). This article addresses the above issues by drawing on classical test theory (for an understanding of the fundamentals of validity and reliability) and by examining how the different notions of validity and realiability may be applied in the context of assessments (and self-assessments) in the workplace. The article concludes that, under certain stated conditions, it is indeed possible to determine whether assessments (and self-assessments) of work-based learning are valid, reliable—and comparable. © 1993, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

The contribution of differences in the Dutch and British education and training systems to the significant Dutch advantage in manufacturing productivity levels is examined in this article. The Dutch schooling system is characterised by high standards in mathematics, the provision of vocational education at ages 14-16 for a third of all pupils, and widespread vocational education at 16+. The proportion of the Dutch work force attaining vocational qualification approaches that of Germany and is well ahead of Britain. Comparisons of productivity, machinery and skills in matched samples of British and Dutch manufacturing plants were carried out in selected branches of two industries—engineering and food-processing. Higher average levels of work force skills and knowledge in the Dutch samples were found to contribute to higher productivity through better maintenance of machinery, greater consistency of product-quality and lower manning-levels (greater work force flexibility, less learning-time on new jobs). The Dutch productivity advantage was greatest in product areas where small- or medium-sized batches are demanded by the market. © 1992, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

This article begins by describing the national context in which a regional modern languages project was conceived. The aims of the project are set out as are the means by which monitoring and evaluation took place. The main focus of the article, however, is the perceptions and emotions of the teachers involved, both as clients of an in-service programme of professional development and as writers of language teaching materials for the 16-19 age range. The evidence gathered through open-ended questionnaire responses and diary entries reveals an interesting spectrum of feelings. It also underlines the benefits of networking and the importance of external support for writing activities. The positive outcomes in terms of curriculum developments at institutional level are listed in a brief conclusion. © 1993.

The opportunity and need for surgical training overseas changes with time. In the past, young surgeons in Australia and England completed their training with periods spent in the UK or USA respectively. Recent times have however seen a dramatic reduction in the numbers going abroad. This is in part due to concern about the ability to return to the domestic system in either Australia or the UK and in part due to a lack of knowledge about opportunities that exist not only in the English speaking medical community but also those on mainland Europe. We have been fortunate in having been able to work as members of the Department of Surgery in Rennes with Professor B. Launois (G.M.) and in Pans with Professor H. Bismuth (A.D.) and together in Berne Switzerland with Professor L. H. Blumgart. This experience has furthered our training in hepato‐biliary surgery in non‐English speaking environments. Supervisors and surgeons in training may wish to consider the possibility of additional experience in Europe rather than the UK or US A. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved

This paper is the first of a four part report on a study of the professional competence of speech therapists in the United Kingdom. It considers some of the methodological approaches to the study of professional competence, and describes the methods adopted for this study. A combination of consultative and survey techniques were used to determine which knowledge, skills and attitudes were considered essential to the competence of speech therapists working in three specialities; children, learning difficulties, and elderly/adults with acquired neurological disorders. Sixty-eight speech therapy 'experts' were consulted using Delphi and Nominal Group techniques. The items of knowledge, skills and attitudes generated by these experts were then distributed to 657 specialist speech therapists in order that the lists could be validated by a larger sample of clinicians. © 1992, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.