There is currently more focus than ever on the importance of earning a college degree. At the same time, many students and parents are dubious that America's expensive, one-size-fits-all higher education system can adequately educate students for an ever more diverse and sophisticated world of work. There are other educational options that are…

This qualitative study sits at the intersection of two trends in vocational education. The first trend is a narrative approach to understanding cooperative education learning; the second is a movement away from career development theories toward the view that individuals use work experiences to help construct their lives. Both trends view learning…

U.S. strength in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has formed the basis of innovations, technologies, and industries that have spurred the nation's economic growth throughout the last 150 years. Universities are essential to the creation and transfer of new knowledge that drives innovation. This knowledge moves…

Mark Van Doren, the noted literary scholar, once remarked, "The college is meaningless without a curriculum, but it is more so when it has one that is meaningless." Many current critics of undergraduate curricula in America assent to the crucial need for programmatic renewal in our colleges and universities. They bemoan the cookie-cutter…

In the knowledge economy, the journey of education to develop a flexible, knowledgeable, and skilled workforce should begin in pre-school and continue until at least an associate degree--the equivalent of a high school diploma a generation ago--is achieved. A high school diploma is not sufficient to compete in a global economy. The number of…

This cooperative education survey of student employee salaries and benefits supplies information to educational practitioners throughout the Midwest interested in providing their student employees with reasonable and fair remuneration for their work. Two survey questionnaires were used, one for bachelors' degree programs and another for associate…

Stating that no vocational education program demands greater commitment from teachers than the work experience program, the author describes from personal experience with the Ohio Occupational Work Experience program the many roles of the teacher-coordinator in keeping the potential dropout in school and employed. (MF)

Ohio's Work SITE Learning Model is the product of a national demonstration project for the integration of academic and vocational learning, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The model is made up of three components: the connecting component, the school-based learning component, and the work-based learning component. This implementation…

This bulletin provides a comprehensive account of the establishment of the cooperative system of education in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, from conceptualization to implementation. The cooperative course was not the product of an academic laboratory of pedagogical research, but rather an investigation of the…

A project to further the integration of vocational and academic education in Ohio used focus groups and surveys to obtain information on the needs of academic and vocational teachers for curriculum to assist them in this integration. Focus groups at nine secondary schools involved administrators and vocational and academic teachers. Their…

This report examines the provisions of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act and describes the steps that have been taken thus far to establish an Ohio system. It discusses the general features that must be included in Ohio's school-to-work system and the strategies around which Ohio's school-to-work plans are being structured. Recommendations are…

TWENTY-EIGHT PROSPECTIVE TEACHER-COORDINATORS, IN COOPERATION WITH SUPERVISORS AND TEACHER EDUCATION STAFF PERSONNEL, DEVELOPED A PLAN OF OPERATION AND PROCEDURE FOR IMPLEMENTING COOPERATIVE OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCE PROGRAMS TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS AND SERVICE OCCUPATIONS. COMMITTEES OF WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS…

AS REQUIRED BY THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACT OF 1963, PART OF THE HOME ECONOMICS PROGRAM INCLUDES CLASSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS AND BOYS WHO WISH TO PREPARE FOR GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT UTILIZING HOME ECONOMICS KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS. OHIO OFFERS THE COOPERATIVE 2-YEAR PROGRAM, AND THE OCCUPATIONAL WORK-EXPERIENCE WHICH IS DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR THE 11TH-…

One of the most successful attempts to give instruction in the trades in the public high school and at the same time to preserve the best of the traditional high-school course is that begun at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The cooperative plan, adopted in imitation of that in use in the college of engineering of the University of Cincinnati, has…

The perceptions of cooperative education held by the students, teachers, and employers participating in cooperative education programs in Ohio and Ontario, Canada, were examined through six parallel case studies conducted in one urban, suburban, and rural school in each country. Data were gathered through site visits to each school, participant…