This report (2004) by Chris T King and Sarah Looney of the Ray Marshall Centre of UTA contains a discussion of 30 workforce development performance measures generated by several US states for 7 areas of interest to policy and program leaders and rated by them for usefulness.

The seven areas are: outcomes for employers and the economy; labour market outcomes for program participants; social welfare outcomes; customer satisfaction; skills gains; return on investment; and sub-group and comparative information. A One-Stop Career Centre was one of the features of services examined in this context.

In their review of the measures, the authors used the following lenses: rationale; feasibility; accuracy; validity; systems focus; time frames; and definitions.

While career development services were only one of the program features examined, the lenses used by the authors can be of value to policy makers/developers, delivery service managers, researchers, and leaders of the career guidance community in the search for meaningful policy performance indicators.

This policy brief (2005) by Sarah Looney and Chris T King provides backround to the movement to develop a standard set of performance measures for publicly funded programmes that comprise the US workforce development system. It also reviews two prominent US proposals: common measures proposed by the Office of Management and Budget , and the measures of the Integrated Performance Information Project.

While not specifically dealing with the performance indicators for career guidance/development services and programmes, the content of the policy brief has pertinence for such discussions in the USA and beyond. 

This is a recently signed agreement between the Australian federal government and the States and Territories of Australia. It is designed to address the objectives of the National Education Agreement and the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development already signed by the same parties.

The new agreement covers the engagement of young people aged 15 to 24 with learning, work, employment and the transitions involved, particulary to improve outcomes in educational attainment. There is special reference to social inclusion aims, especially for the indigenuous disadvantaged. Its overall aim is to better align federal, State and Territory programmes and services related to youth, career and transitions. Under the agreement the States and Territories will gradually assume primary responsibility for career guidance activities.

The agreement sets out indicative actions and outcomes for the following reform areas:

• multiple learning paths
• career development
• mentoring
• school, business, community partnerships
• individualised, personalised support for young people at risk.

It also sets out performance indicators and benchmarks for the agreement.

This Agreement is one example of how federal and regional governments can share the responsibility of career guidance provision and of the devolution of power to the regions with performance indicators.

This 2008 report describes some of the definitional, conceptual and historical foundations of the concept of social inclusion. It summarises the strengths and limitations of Australian and international approaches to the topic so far, and sketches some of the scope of exclusion in terms of locational disadvantage, intergenerational disadvantage, children at risk, child poverty and jobless families, employment, mental health, disability and homelessness. It also discusses the relational dimension of exclusion. The report provides elements of policy approaches to move from exclusion to inclusion.

Career guidance is often used as part of multidimensional strategies to address exclusion issues; indeed in its origins it was part of a social reform movement. In order to see where it may or can play a role, this report is essential background reading.

Funded by CfBT Education Trust, this research examined the impact on career guidance provision for young people of new arrangements for budget and management responsibilities by all local authorities in England since such changes came into effect in April 2008.

The authors concluded that there is a need for a stronger and more coherent national policy framework to be implemented so that young people may benefit from career guidance services of comparable quality regardless of their geographic location in England. Such a framework should be based on a detailed clarification of (i) the nature and relationships of key concepts; (ii) whether or not the distinctive expertise of the professional practitioner is recognised; and (iii) the extent of young people's entitlement to professional career guidance from an external source.

School dropout prevention continues to exercise the mind of policy makers in many countries. The European Ministers of Education (2003), for example, established several reform targets for education systems in Europe for the year 2010 including increased participation in the upper end of second level schooling and the reduction of non-completion rates. In the USA the Department of Education established within its confines the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), one of whose units is known as "What Works Clearing House" (WWC). The role of WWC is to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education. It reviews extant research about programs, policies or practices and assesses the "quality" of the research. Based on the research that meets particular standards, the WWC then reports on what the research indicates about the effectiveness of the program, policy or practice, which can be abbreviated as "the intervention".

The WWC produces three types of reports and a guide:

• intervention reports which assess all studies of a specific intervention within a topic area, rating each of them on WWC evidence standards;
• topic reports which compile the information from intervention reports within a topic area and enable WWC users to easily compare the ratings of effectiveness and sizes of effects for numerous interventions in one area;
• quick reviews designed to provide education practitioners with timely and objective assessments of the quality of the research evidence for recently released research papers and reports, and
• practice guides that contain practical recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools.

School dropout prevention is one of the topic areas of the WWC. Evidence for following three outcomes is rated for effectiveness:

• Staying in school
• Progressing in school
• Completing school.

Educational and vocational guidance are to be found as part of many dropout prevention strategies but they are only one element of a multidimensional approach to proving solutions to school dropout.

The WWC section on school dropout prevention is essential viewing for all policy makers, researchers and practitioners concerned with this problem.

Given the increasing policy importance being paid to the development of the skills to manage one's career, learning and work pathways in a lifelong learning context(Council of European Ministers of Education, 2008), this Australian publication is very timely to provide guidance on what exactly these skills look like. A joint initiative of the federal, state and territorial governments, and published by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, and Training and Youth Affairs, this recently released document provides a framework for the design, implementation and evaluation of career development rogrammes for young people and adults. It identifies the skills, attitudes, and knowledge that individuals need to make sound choices and to effectively manage careers.

It is divided into three sections:

• What are career management competency skills?
• Who uses the Blueprint?
• What is the Blueprint used for?

There is a very useful Blueprint toolkit included - a series of resources to be downloaded to inform and enhance career development programmes and activities.

This is a joint strategy and implementation plan for career guidance services in Northern Ireland of two government ministries/ the Department of Education and the Department for Employment and Learning. Based on extensive consultation exercises on its proposals of 2007, the document outlines a new comprehensive strategy for the delivery of career guidance services and the challenges involved. It articulates a vision for the future and maps the actions required to deliver it.

The vision is subdivided into five themes:

1. Careers education
2. Access to careers information
3. Improving careers advice and guidance
4. Improving quality
5. Improving professional development.

This is the Danish translation of the European Council of Education Ministers' Resolution (2008) on better integrating lifelong guidance in strategies for lifelong learning. The Resolution defined four key areas/axes to guide national reforms of policies and systems: