Little is known about when adolescents' vocational interests begin to surge. For the author's study with students participating in Georgia's Future Educators Association (FEA) conference, the sample had students from 13 to 19 years of age, and the author found that there was a dramatic change in interest between ages 15 and 16. FEA offers middle…

Urban high-school students' low average level of academic achievement is a national problem. A lack of academic progress is a factor that contributes to students failing to graduate. In response to these urban high school student problems, a growing number of urban charter high schools have opened as an alternative to the traditional public high…

From a critical psychology perspective, Prilleltensky and Nelson advocate for research that has explicit focus on social change and can allow for full participation and empowerment of those under study. The current article describes the collaborative development, implementation, and evaluation of a career education program within three ethnically…

The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001 brought about a multitude of education reform policies for education institutions that made the future of Career and Technical Education's (CTE) role in secondary educations unclear. These mandates forced educational leaders to emphasize student enrollment in tracks that prepare them…

As English is now promoted as an academic subject in primary and secondary schools in China, creating an enormous demand for qualified English teachers, there is a need to understand English teachers' motivation and commitment to the teaching career. In this paper, the author reports on a biographical study of 12 teachers who taught in schools in…

This study examined the career stability (career choices assistant principals intend to make over the next five to ten years) in a large, urban school district in the southeastern region of the United States in order to identify factors significantly related to their career aspirations. The study invited a purposive sample (n = 177) of assistant…

Selected survey data on future aspirations and expectations from 3565 young Indonesians are presented in this study. Muslim-majority Indonesia is an Asian economic success story. The economy has seen solid growth, leading to an expansion of the private sector. The upward credentialling of the labour market and the rapid growth of the middle class…

Drawing from an ethnographically grounded longitudinal study on educational transitions, the aim of this article is to analyse young people's reflections about their educational choices at different ages. Consistencies and breaks in their plans and actual choices are explored and reflected in relation to the economic, social, cultural and…

This report examines young people's participation in career advice activities while at school and their perceptions of the usefulness of the advice they receive. The data are from the 2003 15 year-old cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). Most members of this LSAY Y03 cohort were in Year 10 in 2003. The present report…

Purpose: The under-representation of women in the leadership of secondary schooling is a problem common to many developing countries, raising issues of social justice and sustainable development. It has its roots in societal understandings about leadership, the schooling and career aspirations of girls, the organizational characteristics of the…

The present study investigates how parental influence, career maturity, and self efficacy affect perceptions of postsecondary outcomes among deaf or hard-of-hearing students. Research suggests that deaf or hard-of-hearing students graduate from high school with the equivalent of a 4th or 5th grade reading level. Subsequently, this population of…

This study uses a unique, longitudinal statewide database to track students through the new teacher supply pipeline from high school through college and initial teacher certification. The report examines how each stage influences the characteristics of those who enter the teaching profession, with particular attention to academic skills and…

The history of American schooling is replete with the interplay between politics, economics and social behavior. This has never been more evident than in the current environment of high stakes testing on core subjects that largely ignores other important noncognitive outcomes of education. Within this context, the present study built on previous…

At the turn of the century, there was a widespread perception on the part of pupils, teachers, and policy makers that a "problem with school music" existed, particularly at the secondary level. It was hypothesized that one contributory factor was the perceived authenticity of "school music" in relation to "music outside…

A year long Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program was developed for middle schools students on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) involving learning disabilities. The workshops were designed to encourage students both on IEPs and not on IEPs to explore STEM as a future career choice by building their knowledge and…