[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60139-60140]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24430]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Comment Request

ACTION: Notice of solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor through the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS) is responsible for the development and publication of 
occupational employment projections and related career information, 
including the education and training requirements for detailed 
occupations. The BLS issued a Federal Register notice on November 18, 
2008 (Volume 73, Number 223), requesting comments on a proposed 
education and training system. On May 26, 2009, a notice was issued on 
the BLS Web site announcing that the BLS would continue to refine the 
system to classify occupations into education and training categories 
for use in 2010, and provide an experimental dataset on the new system. 
The new education and training system has been developed and the 
experimental dataset is ready for users to provide feedback.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this notice on or before November 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Teri Morisi, Office of Occupational 
Statistics and Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 
2135, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212 or by e-mail 
to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teri Morisi, Office of Occupational 
Statistics and Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
telephone number 202-691-6501, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Department of Labor through the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
(BLS) is responsible for the development and publication of 
occupational

[[Page 60140]]

employment projections and related career information, including the 
education and training requirements for detailed occupations. The BLS 
issued a Federal Register notice on November 18, 2008 (Volume 73, 
Number 223), requesting comments on a proposed education and training 
system. On May 26, 2009, a notice was issued on the BLS Web site 
announcing that the BLS would continue to refine the system to classify 
occupations into education and training categories for use in 2010, and 
provide an experimental dataset on the new system. The new education 
and training system has been developed and the experimental dataset is 
ready for users to provide feedback.

II. Current Action

    The objective of the new system is to present a more complete 
picture of the education and training needed for entry into a given 
occupation and to become competent at performing the occupation. Its 
major features are:
     Typical Entry-Level Education. An education level 
assignment that represents the typical entry-level requirement for each 
occupation independent of training.
     Previous Work Experience in a Related Occupation. An 
assignment to indicate if previous work experience in a related 
occupation is commonly deemed necessary by employers for entry into the 
occupation, or is a commonly accepted substitute for formal types of 
training.
     State Licensing. Information on whether one or more States 
regulate the occupation through licensure.
     Typical On-the-Job Training Needed to Attain Competency in 
the Occupation. An assignment for the typical on-the-job training 
needed to attain competency in the occupation.
    The typical entry level education, previous work experience, and 
State licensing categories represent ``pre-employment'' qualifications, 
and the typical training needed to attain competency in the occupation 
is attained once the worker is employed. The new system is depicted in 
Table 1.

                      Table 1--Proposed Education and Training Classification System Layout
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Pre-employment                                          During employment
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Previous work
                                 experience in a                    Typical on-the-job training needed to attain
 Typical entry level education       related       State licensing          competency in the  occupation
                                   occupation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doctoral or professional        Less than 1 year  Yes or No.......  Apprenticeship.
 degree.
Master's degree...............  1-5 years.......  ................  Internship/residency.
Bachelor's degree.............  More than 5       ................  Short-term on-the-job training.
                                 years.
Associate's degree............  None............  ................  Moderate-term on-the-job training.
Postsecondary non-degree award  ................  ................  Long-term on-the-job training.
Some college, no degree.......  ................  ................  None.
High school diploma or
 equivalent.
Less than high school.........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The proposed system differs from the current system in a number of 
ways. The current system assigns occupations to a single education or 
training category that describes the most significant source of 
education or training. The proposed system breaks this out into three 
dimensions: Entry level education, previous work experience, and 
typical training. A new dimension is added that provides information on 
State licensing. In addition, the term ``most significant source of 
education or training'' as used in the current system has been replaced 
in favor of clearly defining the categories as needed either to enter 
the occupation (typical education level, previous work experience, and 
State licensing) or to attain competency once employed in the 
occupation (typical on-the-job training).
    With the proposed system, the education level assignment will be 
determined based on educational attainment data from the American 
Community Survey (ACS); data on occupational skills, knowledge, work 
activities, and education and job training from the Occupational 
Information Network (O*NET); and BLS analysts' analytical judgment. ACS 
data aggregated by age can be a useful resource; in particular, ACS 
data on educational attainment for persons aged 18-29 can serve as a 
guide for assigning an entry-level educational attainment category; for 
occupations that have high levels of educational requirements, older 
cohorts may be more appropriate to examine. O*NET also serves as a 
source of information to assign occupations to work experience and 
typical training categories. BLS analysts also obtain information for 
assignments from employers, workers in the occupation, training 
experts, and representatives of professional and trade associations and 
unions.
    The experimental dataset contains 106 occupations selected from all 
major groups in the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 
system, and has representation from all assignments within the 
education and training categories. Access the experimental dataset and 
definitions for the education and training classifications at the 
following Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_propedtrain.htm.

III. Desired Focus of Comments

    Comments and recommendations are requested from the public on the 
following aspects of the proposed education and training system:
     The clarity of the new system of assigning education, 
previous work experience, State licensing, and on-the-job training 
categories to each occupation.
     The clarity of the proposed education categories.
     The suitability of the new system to meet the needs of 
customers.
     The understanding of how the new system is to be used.
     The usefulness of the new integrated system compared to 
the old ones.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 24th day of September 2010.
Kimberley Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2010-24430 Filed 9-28-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P