In this essay, we discuss issues related to the integration of career exploration in our nation's middle schools. We discuss the theoretical and empirical basis for career exploration at the middle school level and identify selected barriers to its effective implementation, namely with regards to career advising and parent involvement. We also…

This qualitative study sits at the intersection of two trends in vocational education. The first trend is a narrative approach to understanding cooperative education learning; the second is a movement away from career development theories toward the view that individuals use work experiences to help construct their lives. Both trends view learning…

Career pathways align vocational and academic education within career clusters and provide students new options from grades 9-14. They must have the following elements: industry breadth and depth; opportunities for many populations; career options at entry, technical, and professional levels; and alternative delivery options and academic and…

Ohio's Occupational Work Adjustment (OWA) program is a one- to two-year ungraded vocational program for fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds who have been identified as potential dropouts from the regular educational program. Begun on a pilot basis in 1967, OWA served over 80,000 students in 499 programs during the 1981-82 school year. The goal of OWA,…

This publication contains over 80 descriptions of grant-winning entrepreneurship education programs offered in Ohio public schools. Each program description contains information on some or all of the following: sponsoring school(s), project title, purpose, target population, program format and content, site and time of program offering, project…

The document is a collection of materials related to the development of a State career education continuum for Ohio, specifically the development of resources for offering vicarious, simulated, or hands-on career exploration experiences to ninth and tenth graders within a unified theoretical framework. Introduced by general discussions of…

The success or lack of success of the students who participated in the experimental pre-postsecondary programs conducted in four Ohio areas in 1974-75 was assessed. The program rationale was the need to offer students in grades 11 and 12 a diversity of pre-postsecondary programs to prepare them for postsecondary occupational or baccalaureate…

This Ohio Competency Analysis Profile (OCAP), derived from a modified Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) process, is a comprehensive and verified employer competency list for an occupational work adjustment program. It contains units (with or without subunits), competencies, and competency builders that identify the occupational, academic, and…

This publication offers guidance on how to provide high school students who have developed an individual career plan (ICP) in Grade 8 with additional opportunities to explore and verify their educational and career goals and to formally review, revise, and add to their ICP document annually. Suggestions are made related to career planning teams.…

This publication provides materials to assist in the individual career plan (ICP) process in grades 6-8. Suggestions are made related to career planning teams. Focus is on 12 key topics, all necessary for a middle-grade student to consider before developing an ICP. The topics are self awareness; self assessment; career information; exploration;…

Cultural factors that influence 14- to 17-year-old boys in southwest Ohio to become involved in the juvenile correctional system include the following: (1) lack of a structured family environment; (2) lack of empathy; (3) self-centeredness; and (4) a misplaced sense of masculinity. Treatment of the whole person in correctional residential…

This document, which was written for Ohio cosmetology teachers and academic teachers who instruct cosmetology students, presents projects that were developed by a team of highly skilled cosmetology and academic teachers with input from workplace representatives. Section 1 presents the following materials to help teachers provide students with…

This booklet, which is part of a series demonstrating the scope of employer involvement in school-to-careers, highlights the efforts of six manufacturing employers and three "intermediary" organizations connecting workplace experiences to classroom learning for secondary education students. The introduction presents a series overview and…