To engage all learners, schools must offer career-pathway courses that combine academics and deeper learning. Gene Bottoms, until recently head of the Southern Regional Education Board, describes a transformation he believes must happen in US high schools--adopting curriculums that include intellectual rigor in career and technical education (CTE)…

This summary offers highlights of a conference hosted by the Southern Regional Educational Board-State Vocational Education Consortium, a 6-year effort to develop, apply, evaluate, and promote strategies to strengthen the basic competencies of high school students enrolled in vocational education programs. An introduction provides summaries of…

Dr. Bottoms discusses the type of leadership required of the American Vocational Association's Guidance Division to produce a comprehensive developmental and integrated program of career guidance in terms of what the program should entail and how it should be achieved. (bP)

This paper is based on the premises that comprehensive career development programs for kindergarten through post-secondary and adult education must be developed in order to meet individual and societal needs, and that for many youth, career development experiences represent a core around which other school experiences might be organized and made…

This excerpt from "Designing Challenging Vocational Courses: A Guide to Preparing a Syllabus" presents a step-by-step process for designing challenging vocational courses and preparing a syllabus to communicate course expectations to students. (Author)

What would happen if schools offered all students the same challenges and opportunities that some schools now offer only their "best" students? The Southern Regional Education Board addressed that question in 1987, when it developed the High Schools That Work Model. Blending challenging college-preparatory content with modern vocational and…

After 2 years of promoting more integration of academic and vocational curriculums, the Southern Regional Education Board identified 15 educational practices that may raise the basic competencies of vocational students: (1) positive practices can be collected and implemented; (2) vocational completers from pilot sites requiring competency tests…

The authors propose a redesigned curriculum to fit the broadened definition of vocational education. (Editor)

This book traces the High Schools That Work program from its inception and reports on practices that are helping schools effectively integrate academic and vocational education. Examples are included to illustrate what can be accomplished. Chapter 1 describes the program's goals, key practices, key conditions, and success. Chapter 2 shows how…

This guide discusses the purposes as well as priorities and potential of the Exemplary Programs and Project Section of the 1968 amendments to the Vocational Education Act, describes considerations in developing exemplary programs at all educational levels, and suggests administrative strategies for program and project implementation. Some major…

This document is intended to help high school vocational-technical teachers design courses that result in high-quality learning for all their students. The book's seven chapters detail this process for designing courses that achieve the following results: model the concept of quality; produce independent learners; develop active participants in…

Recommendations for improving general and vocational education in the high schools are as follows: (1) providing clearly stated state and local school board policies establishing the purpose of vocational education; (2) upgrading the content of vocational courses; (3) providing students with access to higher level academic content taught through…

The Southern Regional Education Board-State Vocational Education Consortium conducted a Fall 1992 forum as part of ongoing staff development for High Schools that Work leaders. It was devoted to the changing nature of the workplace and the need for upgraded standards of what to teach and what to expect of students in high school vocational…

While strongly supporting the passage of the Youth Act of 1980 (S-2385), the American Vocational Association (AVA) contends that improvements are needed in the bill in order to effect optimal linkages between employment and education agencies toward solving the youth unemployment problem. Specific changes would (1) further the potential of…