Mike Rose points out that this is a crucial moment in the history of education in the United States. On one hand, Americans see a rhetoric of College for All, and pressure to get more racial minorities and low-income students into higher education, while the high school dropout rate stays stubbornly high near 30%. There is another rhetoric, about…

Recent education policies focus on making youth pathways more transparent while addressing skills shortage. However, there appears to be ambivalence about the target audience for "new vocational" programmes in secondary schools and how they should be organized. This paper begins from the observation that Canadian policy-makers, like…

Asserts that while enrollment in academic courses has increased since "A Nation at Risk" report, academic achievement as measured by national and international mathematics and science exams has remained unchanged. Suggests that divergence between increased enrollment and test scores is due to watered-down curriculum and course materials.…

In an effort to improve the ability of vocational education to reinforce academic skills, we must not take the heart out of vocational programs by removing work-related components. The agenda for educational reform must be broadened to include vocational education. (JOW)

This essay questions the commonly held assumption that schools today are worse academically than they were in the past. It argues that schools have seldom been chiefly interested in intellectual inquiry. Nor have they ever been committed to providing a quality intellectual education to all students. We argue that if history has anything to tell us…

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), established as a result of the America 2000 strategy proposed by President Bush in 1991, stressed the importance of helping all students develop competence in the following areas: resources, interpersonal, information, systems, and technology. The three-part foundation identified by…

Patricia Vance is in charge of a resource room program that helps learning disabled students to cope with the demands of a highly academic curriculum. Her major goal is to teach students to enjoy the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. (CJ)

Because tech prep has the twin goals of preparing students for entry into postsecondary/continuing education or the work force after high school, tech prep programs require significant modification of conventional curricula and teaching methodologies. Both research and experience have demonstrated that the ability to transfer learning from one…

In this article problems with separate vocational schools today, considering current political and economic conditions, are discussed. Among the problems examined are social segregation of students and teachers, additional operating costs, and curriculum isolation. The authors propose that the comprehensive high school approach to secondary…

Although more than one-half of U.S. high school graduates do not go on to college, the high school curriculum fails to meet the needs of this "forgotten half." Curriculum reformers have focused on strengthening the curriculum; however, most of their suggestions are appropriate only for those in the college preparatory curriculum. The…

Tech prep plays a pivotal role in the education reform movement and is a key educational strategy. The purpose of tech prep education is to prepare an academically and technically competent work force. It is a curricular and instructional strategy for all students that leads to competence and employability in the technical fields. In tech prep,…

This prospectus for an accounting course is one of a series of business education position papers/curriculum guides developed for high schools in Connecticut to demonstrate that business courses can be used as part of an integrated academic and vocational curriculum. The guide is organized into the following six sections: (1) business department…

This publication begins with a fact sheet that details how tech prep can and should complement other dropout prevention strategies used by a school district. The rest of the document contains 110 selected quotes, statistics, and statements concerning the need for tech prep programs. References (author, title, source, date) are given in parentheses…

A project was conducted to improve the vocational teacher education program at Northern Illinois University (NIU). Project activities were based on five objectives. To meet the first objective of revitalizing recruitment strategies for the program, three brochures and a recruiting poster were developed. The materials were to be sent to all high…

Prepared as a sequel to the College Board Educational Equality Project's "Academic Preparation for College: What Students Need To Know and Be Able To Do," this book examines curricular ideas, teaching strategies, arts learning rationales, and related issues. The arts are defined as separate fields of study which offer a distinctive…