Comprehensive high schools have developed into systems serving the high-achieving, college-bound students and the students who need remediation in basic skills, with little attention being paid to the large number of students who fall between these two levels. Little attention is paid to educating students for midlevel jobs that require more…

As more states increase the number of credits required for high school graduation, progressively less time is being left for vocational education. To address this problem, many school districts and states are beginning to formulate policies for granting academic credit for basic skills training provided in vocational classrooms. As of 1985, 11…

This publication is a collection of 45 integrated project plans developed by teams of secondary academic and career and technology teachers, school administrators, industry partners, and postsecondary educators over 3 different meetings in 1997. The projects all center on linking at least one academic discipline (English, mathematics, science, and…

A project successfully infused tech prep into the vocational-technical programs of 10 of the 11 high schools in the John A. Logan College district in Illinois. All participating schools revised course syllabi for a portion of their academic classes indicating the use of applied materials. The Principles of Technology class was offered successfully…

Vocational-technical education was lifted from relative obscurity to a place of prominence in the ongoing debate surrounding school reform. Historically, three major competing policy forces forged vocational education programs--unique needs of the local community, policies and purposes of each state, and overarching goals of federal programs.…

To fulfill an eligibility requirement of the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, an assessment was conducted of the public vocational-technical programs offered in Iowa. Existing data and reports were reviewed, state staff were interviewed, and site visits to community colleges, area educational agencies, and high schools…

An analysis compared the high school and post-high school experiences and opinions of students from the classes of 1983, 1986, and 1989 in a five-district area served by one area vocational-technical school (AVTS) in rural west-central Pennsylvania. Responses were examined overall and a comparison made by graduation year secondary program of…

In 1991, the state of Arkansas passed state requirements for the establishment of a tech prep core curriculum for high school programs. The Arkansas program will be developed around the 2+4+2+2 theory, but will mostly focus on the 2+2 plan integrating academic and vocational education. The goal will be to advance the competencies of academic and…

This collection of seven essays covers the subject of relevance in vocational education from several perspectives. Topics of the essays are the following: (1) vocational education and the curriculum; (2) the counselor and vocational education; (3) vocational education and employability skills; (4) student reentry into the curriculum; (5) remedying…

As schools attempt to foster smoother transitions for youth into the workplace, differing realities must be considered. A school-to-work opportunities system cannot be restricted to those occupations meeting an elusive definition of "high wage." Three possible workplace learning opportunities are as follows: the high-skill, high-wage workplace;…

A study evaluated the labor market outcomes of individuals with various types of postsecondary educational experiences. In particular, it examined differences among three groups: students who pursued technical education programs; those who pursued academic programs; and those individuals who did not pursue any type of postsecondary education. The…

Although there is no fixed definition of youth apprenticeship, a consensus is emerging on four basic components: student participation, educational content, location of instruction, and credentialing. Except for some recent pilot projects, no youth apprenticeship programs in the United States have all four components, but educators have some…

This book describes the tech prep/associate degree initiative and illustrates its characteristics and promise through examples of collaborative efforts. Chapter 1 introduces a model or vision for tech prep and shows how it has grown from its vocational education roots to encompass a much broader educational spectrum. Chapter 2 addresses nine basic…

This report presents findings of a Florida task force that focused on the integration of career, technology, and economic concepts into the academic curriculum. It contains the mission statement for the public school experience, lists student outcomes to be assessed at high school graduation, and defines career development and economic,…

This document, the Department of Education's standard educational program classification system for secondary and postsecondary schools, supersedes all previous editions. The manual is divided into seven chapters, each of which contains, in numerical order, the complete list of currently active Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP)…