A study focused on the appropriate balance between academic and vocational education for those who intend to work rather than attend college after graduation. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) a high school curriculum that completely specializes in vocational education and ignores basic skills training will not be as effective as the one that…

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report reveals that only five percent of job holders requiring some sort of training received it in a secondary vocational education course. Tables from the report are appended. The article discusses what vocational education is and how it can be improved. (MT)

Christian fundamentalists must cease their scapegoating of outcome-based education, since churches, like other organizations, are goal oriented, and OBE is neither public education's devil nor its savior. Since finances are limited, schools should focus on the cognitive/academic domain and embed affective outcomes within it. Making…

A meta-analysis of studies from correctional departments in New York, Texas, Maryland, Ohio, and North Carolina as well as Bureau of Justice Statistics data showed lower recidivism rates for participants in the following: General Educational Development preparation, high school completion programs, academic and vocational education, and…

Comparison of the perceptions of 55 student nurses whose curriculum emphasized academics over clinical practice with those of 39 in a revised curriculum emphasizing theory-practice links found only modest evidence that the newer curriculum improved student perceptions of their preparation for clinical placement. (SK)

From a search of (mostly French) literature, a hypothesis was formulated that students with both academic training and work experience would solve a practical learning problem more easily than students with academic learning only. A study was conducted at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers in Paris to test this hypothesis. Two groups,…

The question of educational effects in higher education is reexamined by studying the effects of academic departments (rather than entire colleges) and employing as criterion measures achievement tests appropriate for the individual departments. (Editor/LBH)

Investigated the differences in professional achievement of graduates of master's of social work (MSW) programs having a bachelor of social work (BSW) background (N=125) versus a bachelor of arts (BA), or similar background (N=594). Results indicated that the MSW/BA graduates, as a group, outperform the MSW/BSW graduates. (LLL)

Although the traditionalists prefer a mandated curriculum and rigid top-down regulations, the outcome-based proponents are vague about the means for students to achieve compulsory end results. Neither approach is appropriate, since each is based on a coercive model. One Christian academy balances a traditionalist approach in the affective domain…

Two major research and development initiatives have been undertaken at Temple University's Center for Vocational Education Professional Personnel Development. The first focused on student learning outcomes and delivery configurations relating to the integration of academic and vocational education. The second focused on building the capacity of…

In this essay, William Hazlitt (1778-1830) deplores the effects of the classical education of his time on students who memorized without understanding and on teachers who tended toward pedantry. Interchange editors noted that "many of his criticisms of scholars and schooling have a contemporary ring...." (PP)

Reported are the results of a study to test a partial systems model of academic department performance for improved decision making and organizational developmental. A variety of outcomes, input variables, and departmental structure and process elements are examined. Comparisons with organizational effectiveness theories are made. (MSE)

Examines labor market outcomes of individuals with various types of postsecondary educational experiences, highlighting differences between students who have pursued technical programs, those who have pursued academic programs and those who have not pursued postsecondary education. Employs a triage model suggesting that employer-employee matches…

Discusses the paucity of research investigating the academic instruction of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Issues of measurements related to academic performance are reviewed, with the conclusion that the rate of academic responses provides the most desirable measure for research as well as for clinical application. (Author/CR)

The Options Program, a vocational program using applied academic courses at the Greene County Career Center in Ohio, was evaluated in 1989-90. Objectives measured were program enrollment, job placement of graduates, and postsecondary education of graduates. Data were gathered by comparing the enrollment, placement statistics, and percentage…