Linking Vocational Education and Training Standards and Employment Requirements: An International Manual.

This document, the fourth volume in a series, details a process for linking vocational education and training (VET) standards and employment requirements that was developed in the United Kingdom and based on functional analysis. The introductory sections describe the other three manuals in the series and the process used to develop this manual. The following are among the topics discussed in sections 1 through 5: (1) an international perspective on efforts to meet labor market needs through VET (the purpose of VET, how the VET system responds to change, roles in development of VET standards, embedding changes in VET standards, gathering information about economic change); (2) functional activity and describing work activity (describing behavior, task analysis, functional mapping, iteration); (3) VET standards (standards for the modern economy, new employment requirements for skilled workers, performance requirements); (4) standards, overarching requirements, and levels (completing VET standards, increasing/reducing levels of VET standards); and (5) evaluating VET standards (policy, technical, and implementation criteria and an evaluation framework for VET standards). Twenty-seven figures are included. The following items are appended: an example "technical" module; an example "overarching" module; guidelines for tracking types and impacts of economic change; a list of verbs used in the titles of VET standards; and example functional maps and modules. (MN)