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This congressional report contains testimony examining the vocational rehabilitation system and the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and exploring some of the issues, including linkage, faced by the vocational rehabilitation system in Ohio. Statements were provided by a U.S. senator (Mike DeWine, Ohio) and representatives of the following agencies and organizations: Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission; The Ohio State University; Ohio Client Assistance Program; Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities; Ohio Association for the Deaf; and Ohio Disabilities Planning Council. Special attention was paid to proposed changes in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to streamline the program's bureaucracy and regulations and improve the quality and quantity of job placements for people with disabilities. Other topics discussed include the following: the vocational rehabilitation process at the direct-service level; the role of the private sector in vocational rehabilitation; the Individualized Written Rehabilitation Program; and the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems' nationwide Client Assistance Program. Appended are written statements by representatives of the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission and National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems. (MN)

This congressional report contains testimony pertaining to reauthorization of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, which was drafted to authorize funds for programs covered by the act and consolidate, coordinate, and improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational rehabilitation programs in the United States. Statements were provided by three U.S. senators (Mike DeWine, Ohio; Paul D. Wellstone, Minnesota; Tom Harkin, Iowa) and representatives of the following agencies and organizations: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services of the U.S. Department of Education; Rehabilitation Services Administration; National Institution of Disability and Rehabilitation Research; Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission; Vermont Association of Business, Industry, and Rehabilitation; National Council for Independent Living; Fairfax Opportunities Unlimited; Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities; Council for State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation; and Arkansas Rehabilitation Services. An appendix constituting approximately 50% of the document contains statements, articles, publications, and letters that were submitted by 18 individuals and representatives of the following agencies and organizations: Council of Organizational Representatives; National Rehabilitation Association; National Industries for the Blind; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; and American Foundation for the Blind. (MN)

This document examines employment and social policy in the European Union in 1999-2001. The document begins with an interview with Anna Diamantopoulou, the European Union's commissioner for employment and social affairs and the paper "Balancing Jobs, Cohesion, and Productivity" by Odile Quintin, the European Union's director-general for employment and social affairs. The following are among the topics discussed in the document's nine sections: (1) the European employment strategy (full-employment policies based on the pillars of employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability, and equal opportunities); (2) the relationship between economic, employment, and social policy and strategies for meeting the employment and social goals set by European Union member country leaders in Lisbon in 2000; (3) improving labor market access for disadvantaged sections of the community, including women, the long-term unemployed, and the elderly; (4) mobility and the new European labor markets (access to information on job vacancies, mobility, and learning opportunities; transferability of pensions); (5) jobs in the information society; (6) moving forward on social dialogue and working arrangements (modernization of labor relations; sectoral social dialogue; corporate restructuring and social responsibility; anticipation of change); (7) achieving a productive and inclusive society; (8) modern and sustainable social protection as a productive factor; and (9) preparing for enlargement of the European Union. (Contains 23 tables/figures/boxes.) (MN)

This paper presents the Committee on Education and the Workforce's hearing examining the adverse impact extensive federal regulations and reporting requirements have on teachers, administrators and students in elementary and secondary schools. Too many schools and school districts are overwhelmed by unnecessary paperwork requirements. Currently, the paperwork burden imposed by the Department of Education is larger than that of the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Interior and the Department of Justice. Members testifying before the committee were: Honorable Duncan Hunter, Chairman, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education; and Honorable Dale E. Kildee, ranking member, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. Witnesses testifying before the committee were: Charles Grable, assistant superintendent for instruction, Huntington County Community School Corporation (HCCSC); Robert P. Grimesey, Jr., Ed.D., superintendent, Orange County Public Schools; Jennifer A. Marshall, director, domestic policy studies, the Heritage Foundation; and James Willcox, chief executive officer, Aspire Public Schools. (Contains 23 footnotes.)

Coordination between Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)-related programs and Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)'s one-stop centers increased since spring 2000, when WIA was first implemented. Nearly all states reported some coordination between the programs at either the state or the local level. Most often, coordination took one of these two forms: through co-location whereby a client accessed TANF-related programs at the local one-stop, or through referrals and electronic linkages to off-site programs. How services were delivered also depended on state and local preferences and conditions. Despite progress, states and localities continued to report challenges. WIA funds may not be readily used to serve TANF clients in the one-stops because WIA's performance measures may discourage serving clients who may not be successful. Even when officials chose to use the one-stop system to provide TANF-funded services, other challenges remained, largely stemming from infrastructure limitations and different program definitions and reporting requirements. Some local areas found innovative ways to provide TANF services in the one-stops, often focusing their efforts on resolving the issues that had been found in the fragmented employment training system. Early evidence showed states and localities were increasing their efforts to bring services together to fit local needs. (YLB)

This Congressional report contains the testimony presented at a hearing to examine the extent to which Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work services are being provided through the one-stop career centers established through the Workforce Investment Act and to determine how such linkages are impacting program participants. The oral statements of the following individuals are presented: Howard "Buck" McKeon and Patsy T. Mink, Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. House of Representatives; Sigurd R. Nilsen, director, education, workforce, and income security issues, U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO); Greg Gardner, interim executive director, Utah Department of Workforce Services; John B. O'Reilly, Jr., executive director, Southeastern Michigan Community Alliance; Erika Kates, senior research associate, Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University, and executive director, Welfare, Education, Training, Access Coalition, Boston, Massachusetts; and Barbara Gault, director of research, Institute for Women's Policy Research. The report's eight appendixes contain the written statements submitted by the witnesses plus the text of the GAO report "Workforce Investment Act: Coordination between TANF Programs and One-Stop Centers Is Increasing, But Challenges Remain" and the written statement submitted by the Utah Department of Workforce Services in response to questions regarding Utah's extension policy. (MN)

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) programs can be coordinated in a number of ways, some of them especially focused on women. For example, research suggests the following: (1) WIA and TANF can be coordinated to improve low-income women's human capital development; (2) many states and localities intend to use the Workforce Investment Act to provide high quality training; (3) research shows that women experience low wages, poor job quality, and continuing poverty following welfare reform; (4) most welfare recipients and former recipients need skill development to get good jobs; (5) job training and education increase earnings and employment; and (6) education and training improves child well-being. Recommendations for the future include expanding state flexibility and allocating resources to provide quality education and training; removing TANF's 12-month limit on vocational education and training; articulating and expanding the types of education and training that can count as work; eliminating the arbitrary 30 percent cap on education and training; and maintaining or increasing levels of funding for training and education through the Workforce Investment Act. (Contains 43 references.) (KC)

This paper consists of a transcript of the testimony of the Director of Early Childhood Services at the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources on April 21, 1994. The testimony addresses the issue of improving the connections between early childhood programs and public schools. The testimony indicates that the NASBE is increasingly concerned with the challenges of creating a more seamless, comprehensive, equitable system of early childhood and family support services and linking those programs to the public education system. The testimony focused on three points: (1) early childhood programs make a positive difference in the skills, knowledge, confidence, and social capacities of children and families; (2) public schools fail to sustain this positive momentum when children and parents move into kindergarten and the primary grades; and (3) full advantage should be taken of current legislative reforms in Head Start and Title 1 programs to create incentives for more effective partnerships between schools and early childhood programs. (SD)

This report of a program to increase cooperation, coordination, and collaboration between Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) youth programs and local educational agency (LEA) systems provides information on the laws and regulations supporting cooperative efforts. It also reports findings of a survey of educators and CETA Youth Employment and Training Program (YETP) and LEA staff. Chapter 1 outlines program objectives and activities. Chapter 2 summarizes federal legislation supporting mandated linkages, overviews some efforts, and reviews research on vocational education and manpower training program effectiveness. In chapter 3 are presented results of a survey of LEA and CETA personnel regarding adequacy of linkage efforts and obstacles to improving these efforts. Data indicates major discrepancies between the perceptions regarding the types and degree of cooperative effort. Program uncertainty and inconsistencies are reported as the greatest obstacles to effective linkages. Chapter 4 contains conference proceedings. The eight presentations focus on impact of Reagan budget proposals on the implications of economic development in Connecticut for vocational education, employment training programs, and private sector initiatives and three successful linkage programs. Chapter 5 makes recommendations for linkage action. Appendixes contain the survey instrument and data. (YLB)

This document presents recommendations made to the Administration and Congress concerning future federal funding for vocational education and the staff report reviewing the federal role in vocational education. Part A lists recommendations for federal funds: (1) limitation to appropriations furthering the national interest, (2) use for program improvement and innovation, (3) use at secondary school level for remedial programs for raising functional literacy and employability, (4) use at postsecondary level for increasing accessibility to disadvantaged, (5) establishment of same requirements as for other programs, and (6) reaffirmation of sex equity. Chapter 1 of the report discusses federal interest in vocational education as indicated in the Vocational Education Act and by economic analysis. A summary follows of recent Commission research on the labor market effects of secondary vocational education and postsecondary training, comparing and contrasting results with those found in other studies. Chapter 2 reviews federal interest in occupational information, discusses strengths and weaknesses of techniques used in occupational forecasting, and considers vocational education's role in occupational labor markets. Chapter 3 examines coordination to determine legislative changes to facilitate linkages between the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and vocational education programs. Concerns include developing a common goal, funding, joint planning, involvement with other organizations, and personnel interaction. (YLB)

The transcript is provided of an oversight hearing on interagency cooperation in special education. Programs, problems, and achievements in the state of Pennsylvania are reported by professionals representing community mental health, public education, community agencies and associations, and child care institutions. Problem areas cited include program funding costs and sources, the role of the federal government, duplication of services by agencies, inconsistencies in interagency agreements and definitions, and uneven compliance with state plans. Accomplishments include a child count, establishment of a statewide parent network, and identification of gaps in services and ways of sharing services to address unmet needs. Among a number of recommendations are the following: (1) review present interagency agreements to reduce inconsistencies; (2) encourage agencies to agree to accept existing documentation of handicaps; (3) retain the public school intermediate unit as coordinator of special education services and expand its role in inservice training; (4) provide state grant money to school districts wishing to increase building accessibility; (5) include all related agencies in Individualized Education Program conferences attended by parents. (JW)

The discussion in this hearing, centering on extension of the appropriations under the Vocational Education Act of 1963, focuses on the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee and the State Occupational Information Coordinating Committees. Testimony includes statements and prepared statements, letters, and supplemental materials from five individuals representing the Maine Occupational Information Coordinating Committee; the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee; the Alabama Occupational Information Coordinating Committee; National Governors' Association, Office of Research and Development; and Massachusetts State Employment and Training Council, Department of Manpower Development. (YLB)

These Congressional hearings contain testimony dealing with the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Included among those persons providing testimony at the hearings were representatives of the following agencies and organizations: the National Governors' Association, the Department of Labor, the Office of Management and Budget, the National Commission for Employment Policy, the National Association of Counties, the National Alliance of Business, the National Association of Private Industry Councils, the AFL-CIO, and the Cumberland County Training Resource Center of Portland, Maine. The focus of the testimony was on various aspects of the implementation and evaluation of the JTPA, including the nature and extent of state and local governmental action in implementing the act, the development and use of interstate supportive structures to consolidate the program, the role of private industry councils (PICs) in implementing the act, and the development and utilization of performance standards to assess the effectiveness of JTPA programs. (MN)

The goals and purposes of the National Rural Education Association (N.R.E.A) as revised in October 1986 derive from the general goal to improve educational opportunities for children in rural areas with additional attention to those for whom opportunities have been severely limited in the past. Specific goals/objectives concerning national leadership and voice include serving as national advocate/representative for rural education through position papers, policy development, and expansion of rural publications; providing coordination at the national level for rural education programs/activities; providing leadership for rural education related conferences/workshops; and providing a forum for public educators in rural areas. Specific goals/objectives concerning needs of rural students include promoting state/regional delivery systems which identify rural education materials and program needs, encouraging mass media and technology to serve rural education more efficiently, and encouraging use of distance education technology; recognizing exemplary delivery systems and practices; encouraging collection/dissemination of practices, data, and other information; encouraging sharing of resources and services; encouraging colleges/universities to develop materials/resources for rural schools and to train school personnel for work in small schools; and stimulating discussion, research and policy for public and private agencies to develop educational materials/technology appropriate to rural children. (LFL)

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of eight-week football skill training on motor development of children. Thirty male volunteers participated in the study between the ages of 10-12 and had football training for 2 years. The revised version of Körperkoordination-Test-für-Kinder (KTK) was determined. The motor skills of the players were measured twice before and after eight weeks of training. The Wilcoxon signed rankings test was used to determine the difference between the pre-test and post-test results among the players themselves. As a result of the analysis, it was found that 8-week football skill training had a positive effect on the motor skills development of the players (p <0,05). As a result, eight-week football skill training applied to children positively affected children's motor skills development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]