These two objectives fall within that category. Even if the NGP had more resources, the technical challenges of collecting the information would be substantial. A desirable development emanating from these national leadership forums and the work of others is that the necessary connective tissue can be attached to a national voluntary standards skeleton that includes both academic and occupational standards. At certain points in the learning process, the two types of standards must become connected. This occurred for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of the concern that the proposed responsibilities of the Council would generate too much federal intrusion into the public education system.
Today there is only a modest effort being undertaken to promote correlation.
However, these modest efforts need a broader base of support, particularly from organizations concerned about core academic standards. A central feature of the National Skill Standards Act of 1994 is that a range of interested parties must be involved in the development and implementation of a voluntary skill standards system. The Act appropriately gives the lead responsibility to the private sector to identify the priority occupations for which standards will be developed with the intent that employers will be primary consumers of the standards for hiring and promoting their workers. However, the Act recognizes that employers are dependent on the efforts of others. The Act provides for representation from the education enterprise in the decision-making processes, on the national board, and on the voluntary partnership bodies.