Career and Technical Education (CTE): A Primer

[Excerpt] Career and technical education (CTE), sometimes referred to as vocational education, provides occupational and non-occupational preparation at the secondary, postsecondary, and adult education levels. As defined in a publication by the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED’s) National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), CTE prepares students for roles outside the paid labor market, teaches general employment skills, and teaches skills required in specific occupations or careers. The definition distinguishes CTE from liberal arts or academic education: the fine arts, English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, and the humanities. A CTE curriculum is often designed to have a post-education practical application and develop broadly applicable skills. Academic educational courses are often designed to develop subject matter knowledge and broadly applicable skills

GI Bills Enacted Prior to 2008 and Related Veterans’ Educational Assistance Programs: A Primer

[Excerpt] This report describes the five GI Bills with the lowest participation numbers and related veterans’ educational assistance programs. It is organized into five sections. The first section provides an explanation of the rationale and impetus behind veterans’ educational assistance programs. The second section describes the eligibility requirements and benefits of the GI Bills enacted prior to 2008. The GI Bills are discussed in descending order based on the number of current participants. The third section reviews the linkages and commonalities between the programs. A summary of selected characteristics of the various programs is presented in Table 2. The fourth section provides a brief overview of related VA programs. The final section provides information on participation and expenditures for the programs. A detailed look at earlier GI Bills that are no longer available to participants and the lessons learned is available in the appendices

The Post-9/11 Veterans’ Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post-9/11 GI Bill): A Primer

[Excerpt] This report provides a detailed description of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The first section describes participant eligibility criteria. The second section indicates a participant’s entitlement to benefits and the period during which the benefits must be used. The third section describes the eligible programs of education. The subsequent section explains the eligible benefit payments. The final sections illustrate key links to other programs administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and current data on obligations and participation

GI Bill Legislation Considered in the 114th Congress

The GI Bills® provide financial assistance to individuals, whose eligibility is based on experience in the uniformed services, while they are enrolled in approved programs of education, including training programs. In FY2017, the GI Bills are estimated to provide over $14 billion in benefits to over 1 million veterans and service members and their dependents. The largest program, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, is estimated to account for approximately 93% of the benefits and 80% of the participants. This report provides a description of and background for selected provisions in bills that did and would amend the GI Bills and have been reported by a committee of the 114th Congress as of July 2016

Direct Federal Support of Individuals Pursuing Training and Education in Non-degree Programs

[Excerpt] This report provides an overview of existing federal programs and benefits that support individuals engaged in the pursuit of training and education in non-degree instructional and work-based learning programs. It informs consideration of additional or revised policy approaches aiming to support pursuit of training and education through non-degree programs. The report begins with a brief description of employer demand for individuals who have completed non-degree programs. This is followed by a discussion of the landscape and key characteristics of non-degree programs, from those offered through work-based learning to those offered through more formal instructional means. The report concludes with a detailed description of six federal programs and three tax benefits that currently provide direct financial support to students pursuing training and postsecondary education in non-degree instructional and work-based learning programs. Each program and benefit description highlights potential gaps and limitations in the scope and extent to which the program or benefit supports individuals pursuing non-degree programs, as well as student eligibility requirements and federal administration and oversight

Recent Research in South Western Prehistory

The Devil's Lair investigations continue to be the most important single research project in the prehistory of south western Australia. The small group of excavators from the Western Australian Museum (J. Balme, C. Dortch, D. Merrilees and J. Porter) completed their fifth field season in April 1975

Kaethe Kollwitz: Women\u27s Art, Working-Class Agitation, and Maternal Feminism in the Weimar Republic

The German artist Kaethe Kollwitz challenged the cultural constraints placed on women during the Weimar Republic. My thesis analyzes the artwork of Kollwitz and the effects of maternal imagery within the political debates of abortion reform, sexual equality and pacifism in the 1920s and explores historians’ use of the ideas of maternal feminism to understand Kollwitz’s art. I challenge the social constructs of private versus public spheres to illustrate the diversity of experience and the agency of women like Kollwitz who manipulated these spheres. I argue that Kaethe Kollwitz gained a voice within the public domain by creating artwork and imagery that focused on the private sphere. Using these images of motherhood, Kollwitz manipulated gender roles and created new spaces for the female experience in public discourse, particularly regarding maternal feminism, abortion reform, and pacifism

Preliminary studies with a variable transfer composite polymer membrane.

A preliminary study was done to determine the feasibility of using a compressed fibrous teflon (PTFE) silicone polymer membrane in extracorporeal oxygenation devices. A series of composite membranes were fabricated, using different concentrations of a dimethyl silicone polymer dissolved in petroleum ether, to give membranes having variable oxygen transfer properties. A gas-gas system was chosen to obtain the necessary transfer data. Data were obtained by transferring pure oxygen through the membranes into a mixture of 47 mole percent oxygen and 53 mole percent carbon dioxide. All analyses were obtained by chromatographic techniques. The results of these experiments show that membranes can be fabricated having a wide range of oxygen capabilities. The oxygen transfer coefficients, when translated to blood-oxygen data, indicate that these composite membranes may be feasible for use in oxygenator devices. This type of membrane has the desirable feature of using thin silicone membranes which are self supporting --Abstract, page iii