This digest describes efforts to improve academic learning for middle level high school students to be applied practically to develop workplace competence and flexibility by integrating academic and vocational education. Following an introduction describing the need to prepare students for working life is a paragraph describing generally the integrated strategy that is the subject of this digest. That section describes a program of sequential courses that allows students to achieve vocational competencies as it fosters learning of abstract or theoretical concepts under applied conditions. It replaces job-specific instruction of traditional vocational education with contextualized knowledge that provides students with a range of problem-solving and employability skills. The next section describes eight models of school organization from incorporating more academic content into vocational courses to career academies, to replacing departments with occupational clusters. A discussion of the benefits of integrating academic and vocational education examines student motivation, workplace links, equity, educationally rich learning, changes in school organization, and a qualified work force. A final section reviews implementation and covers student orientation, curriculum and assessment, teacher roles, and school organization. (JB)