As postsecondary vocational education turns increasingly to preparation for high technological occupations, the question arises as to whether or not this infatuation with education for high technological occupations is reasonable and justified. Data on technician-level employment seem to contradict the view that high technological manufacturing is…

This working paper discusses the unique and complex issues community colleges face in providing career counseling and guidance to students, and it provides an overview of the current status of these services. Guidance and counseling at community colleges is complicated by the variety of students and the varying needs of population--from the older…

Argues that education and workforce development departments in the community college can learn from one another and provide more effective and comprehensive services. (AUTH/NB)

The author examines the ability of high-tech industry to provide jobs for graduates of these programs. He also discusses the historical role of vocational education in national policy and the problems that may result from the attempt to prepare students for specific jobs rather than for careers. (CT)

This research brief examines the effects of federal legislation on vocational and technical education. Federal legislation must be reauthorized every 5 years, with an associated national study, the series of National Assessments of Vocational Education (NAVE). This pattern of constant reexamination has made federal support for vocational education…

This paper argues that non-credit community college courses can reach more educationally and economically disadvantaged students and better serve them in their pursuit of short-term and long-term goals. The report suggests that these courses are more flexible, less impersonal and bureaucratic, and are more likely to be in community-based…

This paper suggests a variety of topics for the National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) to support as it reviews progress under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Technical Education Act 1998 (Perkins III). Section 1 covers the task most closely related to the legislation itself, which is to examine how community colleges and other…

This paper continues a long-standing process, expressed in current practices of reauthorizing federal legislation every 5 years, of examining the rationale for federal involvement in occupational (vocational) education. Past discussions of this issue have come to a broad set of conclusions that the federal government should fund what states cannot…