Responses from 639 Illinois high schools and vocational centers (96%) indicated that 55% used integration strategies for vocational and academic education; 80% conducted integration-related staff development. However, only 32% give academic credit for vocational courses and most of the strategies used were low level. (SK)

Survey responses from 47 of 49 Illinois community colleges and interviews with 20 staff show that the predominant approach to academic-vocational integration is applied academics. Less evident are multidisciplinary courses, linked or cluster courses, and learning communities. Many barriers result from the long-standing separation of vocational and…

A review of the draft Illinois Academic Standards was conducted to identify changes to incorporate career-related and employability aspects of the academic content. Activities included collection and review of materials on state standards or equivalent state initiatives as well as national and other initiatives. Promotion of the project's primary…

A pilot study (first phase of a 2-year study) was conducted to identify individual teachers who had begun integrating academic and vocational education before the development of state or national integration initiatives such as tech prep. The teachers were identified through a procedure involving nominations of exemplary vocational education…

Quality Assurance Program (QAP) integration activities were studied at eight Illinois community and junior colleges. Data collection involved telephone interviews with career deans at the colleges, 11 follow-up site observations, and attendance at a regional vocational education system directors meeting. When classroom observations occurred,…

The Illinois Systems of Public Higher Education are described and analyzed. The final result of a decade of rapid expansion in Illinois was a state system of higher education that consists of four governance systems for senior universities and a community college system, involving 12 universities and five coordinating staffs. It is the…

Illinois State University and University of Illinois faculty collaborated to pilot test and evaluate Applied Academics curricula in Illinois. Three sets of pilot sites included the following: (1) 14 local education agencies that pilot tested Applied Communications and/or Mathematics; (2) 10 sites at which vocational teachers collaborated with…

The Illinois Council on Vocational Education polled members of local school boards and administrators on their perceptions of vocational-technical education and business community participation in school programs and planning. The poll included surveys, discussions, and interviews. Two hundred eighty-three questionnaires were completed. At least…

In 1979 the Rockford Regional Academic Center formed a task force to examine the feasibility of providing upper division and graduate level instruction in the Rockford, Illinois area by "remote delivery." The objective was to gather information about: (1) what remote delivery instructional systems are available; (2) what the physical…

The role and function of upper-level higher education institutions, their current health, and their future prospects are considered, based on a national study. Data were gathered on nearly all of the 25 upper-level institutions in the United States, and site visits were conducted at approximately half. These schools offer work at only the junior,…

The Illinois Council on Vocational Education (ICoVE) launched a statewide study in 1990 to understand the perspectives of business and labor on what vocational education can do to prepare the work force with the skills necessary for the future. The study was designed to build new public-private partnerships. It included a survey of businesses and…