Akins High School is the newest and second largest high school in the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas. This report describes how the school has used small learning communities and the "HSTW" framework of Key Practices to improve the school culture, personalize the learning environment, improve student achievement and…

The Executive High School Internship Program in Tampa, Florida, involves gifted and talented high school seniors working for a semester as nonpaid administrative assistants in public or private sector organizations. The program's history, recruitment policies, placement practices, and monitoring are reviewed. (DB)

The Northwest Suburban Career Cooperative (Illinois) developed tech prep curricula for drafting/computer-aided design and electronics training program areas. Task forces selected for the two program areas identified the type of curriculum that should be provided to train future employees and the competencies needed by students successfully…

Outlines the Technical Aide (TA) internship program in the Tamalpais Union High School District (Larkspur, California) where students skilled in computer use facilitate technology use within the school. A TA program can provide needed personnel and service in the library as well as highlight library staff competence in technology. Presents tips…

SCIENS is a Middlebury College (Vermont) program designed to excite minority student interest in the natural sciences and to provide students with training and research experiences. The program, encompassing three summers, involves core instruction for high-potential 11th-grade students, summer research in college laboratories, and internships in…

A tech prep program in financial services, called Chicago Academy of Finance, was developed at Jones Metropolitan High School of Business and Commerce in Chicago, Illinois. The program was designed to integrate vocational and academic skills, with an emphasis on critical thinking skills. Of the 39 students initially enrolling in the first…

As the issue of older youth and out-of-school time is gaining new attention across the country in the context of the after-school movement, it is important to remember that there are many programs for teens that operate in the out-of-school hours. This issue of Forum Focus documents a range of promising developments for capitalizing on the…

Twelve members of school faculty and staff participated in a refined competency-based continuation of a pilot program to train individuals to function as placement coordinators in their schools in southern Illinois. Participants enrolled in a weekly placement seminar on campus for the 1978-79 academic year and in a continuous supervised internship…

The Research Apprenticeship Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham stimulates interest in science and engineering careers among bright, highly motivated minority students, by establishing working relationships between high-school juniors and seniors and university research scientists. Discussed are selection procedures, types of…

Career academies are high school programs that frame academic learning around a career focus in order to increase student motivation and achievement. They generally have three defining features: a school-within-a-school structure, a college preparation curriculum with a career theme, and partnerships with employers, the community, and higher…

Teachers who get an "inside look" at business and industry through internships and summer jobs are much better equipped to prepare their students for the rigors of the workplace and postsecondary education. Teacher internships followed by the revision of course content, instructional plans, and assessment strategies can change school and…

The Rural Internship Program provided opportunities for gifted and talented eleventh- and twelfth-grade students to broaden their educational career opportunities by facilitating activities that allowed rural interns to work one-to-one with community leaders in rural Southern Colorado. Program design centered around four interfacing components:…

This document contains nine papers: four briefs that provide ideas, examples, and resources for practitioners, administrators, and policymakers interested in promoting teacher learning in the workplace and the community and five case studies that illustrate best practices and models for conducting professional development programs for teachers in…

A project was conducted to expand college-to-work transition options available to vocational students at Orange Coast College (OCC) and to develop a comprehensive multioption model for community college-to-work transitions. The project advisory committee began working to link tech prep to the project's goals and to establish ties with Orange…