A study examined some of the ways in which vocational education has sought to ensure students a higher degree of preparation in the basic academic subjects at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. Various Ohio programs as well as programs in New York, Virginia, and Michigan were examined. Special attention was paid to Ohio's Program Options…

The study reported in this document was conducted to identify, describe, and assess the potential of innovative approaches to integrating vocational and academic education as one way of helping students to understand the utility of academic learning. Research activities included case studies of five integrated-curriculum programs in California,…

A study was conducted to identify reasons why high school students elect not to enroll in a vocational curriculum. Data were collected via questionnaires sent to all 11th graders in 5 schools selected randomly in Southwestern Ohio (633 responses). Some of the findings of the study were the following: (1) 60 percent of the sample were enrolled in…

The educational reform movement has caused parents, students, businesspersons, and legislators to question the relevance of vocational education. Charges that vocational education has become obsolete have compelled vocational educators to work on improving its image in three areas--function, quality, and style. The vocational education programs in…

As welfare programs have grown more costly, it has become obvious that they merely treat the symptom, poverty, instead of the problem, unemployment. Jobs increasingly require higher levels of skills and better educated workers. Since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has ended the federal guarantee of…

A project to further the integration of vocational and academic education in Ohio used focus groups and surveys to obtain information on the needs of academic and vocational teachers for curriculum to assist them in this integration. Focus groups at nine secondary schools involved administrators and vocational and academic teachers. Their…

Comparison of 529 Ohio rural twelfth graders (69 percent response) and 266 from Georgia (83 percent response) revealed differences in gender; ethnicity; parental socioeconomic status, educational level, and expectations; occupational choice; income expectation; and plans for postsecondary education. Georgia students had higher income and…

A study was conducted to: (1) determine if differences exist in socioeconomic background, academic ability, and curriculum with regard to basic communication skills achievement of high school seniors; and (2) gather baseline information about the level of achievement expected of seniors. The study compared basic communication skills scores…

Tech prep programs integrate academic, occupational, and employability during the last 2 years of high school and the first 2 years of college, combining the best of college-prep academics with the best of vocational and technical education. The Ohio Tech Prep program, jointly administered by the Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Department of…

A study used federal income tax data to examine the long-term earning, unemployment, and interregional mobility patterns among 15,055 persons who graduated from 14 Ohio vocational education programs in 1979. Income data on the graduates' income earned during the 1983 tax year were also compared with U.S. Census Bureau data on 1983 Money Income of…

This guide was developed for Ohio's Work SITE Learning Model, a national demonstration project for the integration of academic and vocational learning. The guide is designed to assist schools in conducting effective teacher worksite externship programs that allow teachers to observe workplace practices in order to glean information about academic…

One of the most successful attempts to give instruction in the trades in the public high school and at the same time to preserve the best of the traditional high-school course is that begun at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The cooperative plan, adopted in imitation of that in use in the college of engineering of the University of Cincinnati, has…

Career clusters are part of a response to changing work and a changing workplace, a way of broadening the focus of secondary career and technical education (CTE). The following are some of the changes in work and the workplace: the nature and structure of work; leadership styles and organizational structures; the knowledge and skills needed;…

This occupational competency analysis profile (OCAP), which is one a series of employer-verified competency lists that were developed through a modified DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) job analysis process involving business, industry, labor, and community agency representatives across Ohio, identifies the occupational, academic, and employability…

A project examined the mathematics and science performance of vocational students in Ohio. Part I of the study achieved the first objective--to report the science and mathematics content contained within the Ohio Vocational Achievement Tests for the 38 program areas. Each of the 38 tests was presented and found to have sound psychometric…