The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 requires that public elementary and secondary school systems be held accountable for achieving high levels of educational proficiency for all students. While achievement testing is the central component of state accountability systems under NCLB, these systems must include graduation rates as an academic…

The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the Meaning and Value of Work Scale were administered to a sample of disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged, male and female, eleventh grade students in Kansas City, Missouri, to investigate the extent to which students' perception of self and work differed. Study results were displayed and discussed. (MF)

Explores the background and context of the Australian federal government's new postcompulsory education and training policies. Examines the social, economic, and political context surrounding policy development and the "stitching together" of competing interests. The resulting policy directions, linking goals to equity issues, represent…

Challenges identified by T. Bailey (1993) as obstacles to youth apprenticeship programs are accurate but do not justify the turn to alternative approaches he recommends. U.S.-style program can be built to overcome these difficulties if employer-worker collaboration can be fostered and institutional bases can be constructed. (SLD)

S. F. Hamilton and the author agree on the potential of youth apprenticeship programs for education but disagree on the strength of the problems facing implementation of apprenticeship models. A two-level reform strategy is recommended to develop an institutional and legal structure and to encourage employer participation. (SLD)

For 25 years, the Trinidad and Tobago nongovernmental organization Servol has bridged differences of class and ideology to forge private and public partnerships that build up the nation by investing in youth given up for lost. Servol has expanded the culture of philanthropy, promoted corporate support of trade schools and apprenticeship programs,…

In May 2000, the United States Department of Labor awarded sizable Youth Opportunity (YO) Grants to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities. These communities were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of…

Can public policy devise effective strategies that seek to capitalize on the educational and developmental potential of private-sector entry-level jobs? What is the feasibility of using the secondary labor market in a formal way to promote skill development in youth? Can youth develop useful and transferable skills in these jobs? How can these…

From September through November 1986, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) conducted a follow-up survey of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) 8% program participants in the 1985-86 school year. The DPI is responsible for administering half of the JTPA 8% Education Coordination and Grants for economically disadvantaged youth, ages…

This module provides strategies for educators who want to assess employer needs in their communities. In addition, it provides guidelines for organizing and using the information once it is compiled. The guide includes a list of definitions and uses a question-and-answer format to discuss the best method for assessing employer needs, deciding whom…

As a part of its mandate for equal access to vocational training for special needs individuals, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1984 stipulated that if disadvantaged individuals require separate programming to enable them to participate in vocational education, federal funds may be used to pay 50 percent of the cost…

The topic of this paper, the first in a series based on actual practice in education/work related programs, is educational collaboration between the school and Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs. The information in this paper is intended to contribute to the formulation of better policy and to aid practitioners engaged in…

An integrated overview of the processes involved in the establishment of a vocational program of study for the disadvantaged student is provided in this paper. Occupational analysis, the first step in the establishment of such a program, is discussed and divided into three steps: (1) major job tasks; (2) sub-tasks; and (3) specific job functions.…

Collaborations between high schools and colleges have emerged during the 1980s as a means to increase enrollments and academic success of low-income minorities in higher education although their benefits have yet to be clearly demonstrated. This review surveys the literature on the effectiveness of these collaboratives. The report is comprised of…

Disadvantaged secondary school students with special reading needs can be motivated in the reading room. The school year can start with "popcorn" reading involving materials that are funny, interesting, and exciting. The teacher reads to the students or the students read silently, using materials on the students' independent rather than…