Career academies are specialized high schools that blend challenging academic courses with realistic work experiences. An academy's curriculum organizes academic instruction around an industry or occupational theme and enables students to complete college preparatory courses and acquire work-related knowledge and skill. (Author/JOW)

In the Australian state of Victoria, vocational education and training have been integrated in secondary schools with largely successful employment and postsecondary outcomes. However, changing the academic, college-preparatory culture and attitudes will take more time. (SK)

Hoping to motivate more California students to finish high school and find future success, the James Irvine Foundation last week announced a new center aimed at expanding work-based learning programs that integrate high-level academics. Called ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, the new project will seek to provide solutions…

Portland (Maine) Regional Vocational Technical Center conducted an integrated studies research project to identify and validate the academic skills and conpetencies embedded in its vocational programs. Recommendations were made to award integrated studies credit for vocational curricula that develop specified competencies in mathematics, social…

Southridge High School was funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant to design a building for an integrated vocational/academic program. The curriculum includes cross-discipline team teaching, block classes, and an academy program. (JOW)

Susan Drake, who has been actively involved in developing theories on curriculum integration, describes how they work in practice in Canada. (JOW)

An "interview" with John Dewey explores his view of educational assessment that measures both knowledge and its application as well as the impact of work and life experiences. His arguments for a unitary system that integrates vocational and academic curriculum are presented. (SK)

The best examples of career and technical education demonstrate education that is challenging both technically and academically, integrating core academic skills directly into the curricula to prepare students for the workplace or further education. More collaborative teaching is needed. (JOW)

Southern Regional Education Board's State Vocational Education Consortium developed a model for integrating vocational and academic education that includes at least three credits each in math and science; four English courses; and four credits in a vocational major and two in related fields. Eight sites implementing the model have narrowed gap…

Instead of departments, a team of English, social science, science, and math teachers plan and implement programs in four career clusters at Dauphin County (Pennsylvania) Technical School. (SK)

Tips for incorporating English and math in welding classes include selling the academic work as essential job-related skills and maintaining a balance between the academic and the technical content. (SK)

Continuing technological change means that students must learn that technology cannot exist in isolation. Technology education enables understanding of the interrelationships between the technologies and the social contexts in which they are used. (SK)

In a Maryland high school, physics and chemistry principles are integrated into welding and metals projects, enabling students to work on academic assignments and experiments simultaneously. (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…

This packet contains 10 integrated academic and vocational education lesson plans developed by teams of high school teachers in Virginia. Six of the lesson plans were developed through collaborations of vocational and academic teachers. The other four, developed by teams of academic teachers, have strong vocational applications. The lesson plans…