Across the 50 states, career and technical education (CTE) programs at the K-12 and postsecondary levels have seen enormous policy action - 2013 alone saw at least 78 substantive policy changes via legislation, state board rules and executive orders specific to CTE and workforce development. What are the drivers behind this sudden policymaker…

Educational reform in the United States is perpetually evolving. Much of the recent reforms have concentrated on high-stakes testing and assessment, but a parallel effort has been emerging in the field of vocational and career education. Prompted partly by federal legislation--most recently by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act…

States have been working to increase the rigor and effectiveness of career and technical education to both meet the needs of their students and to address the workforce needs of the state and the nation. This StateNote, while not exhaustive, highlights efforts in the states that appear to be "ahead of the curve" in state policy…

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act (VATEA) of 1990 modified the allocation of federal resources to support vocational education. The intent of the law was to provide support for program improvement and to ensure access for students from special populations. The California State Plan (CSP), designed to meet the…

The proceedings of the 28th annual Legislative Work Conference of the Southern Regional Education Board are presented. Facts and issues surrounding faculty salaries and compensation are discussed in articles by David Spence and Richard Chait. Among trends to emerge from the articles is the fact that faculty salaries in the South have halved the…

Almost seventy years passed before vocational education was recognized in 1977 as a state function in North Carolina's public secondary schools, community colleges/technical institutes, and teacher education programs. Although the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act initiated vocational education, North Carolina education was primarily a local matter until the…

These three essays are intended to provide an overview of southern efforts to help increased numbers of young persons make a successful transition from school to work with a future. The first paper, "Smoothing the Path from School to Work: A Promising Venture in Structural Change in a Southern State," by Peter B. Edelman and Myrtis H.…

This report focuses on a study that examined whether the implementation of the sex equity provision of the 1976 Vocational Education Amendments has resulted in equitable access to and benefit from the nation's vocational education system by women and men, girls and boys. The study focused on such issues as funding mechanisms; federal and state…

On July 19, 1968, a Task Force on Vocational and Technical Education was created by the governor of Ohio to develop proposals for organization, financing, and legislation. Some major problems to which the Task Force gave attention were: (1) the serious gap between the need for and the availability of vocational and technical education, (2) the…

During the debate concerning the reauthorization of vocational education, a number of factors must be considered pertaining to the issue of federal-state relationships regarding vocational education and national purposes for vocational education. While the federal government uses education as a vehicle for addressing a number of social concerns,…

Discusses the discrimination confronted by women students seeking job training in secondary vocational education programs, and the resultant denial of challenging employment opportunities. Reviews the development of federal legislation directed toward alleviating such discrimination. (Author/GC)

A study assessed the governance and administration of vocational and technical education in Utah. To gather data for the study, a team of four vocational educators experienced in vocational governance and administration spent one week in Utah. During that time, the members of the team attended a presentation of testimony on governance before a…

The accomplishments and activities of the National and State Advisory Councils, the implications of the Vocational Education Amendments of 1976, and opportunities and problems now facing vocational education are discussed. The author comments that the amendments (1976) are primarily concerned with defining the Federal role in vocational education,…

Discusses the implications of the requirement of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act (1984) that each state designate a state board of vocational education to serve as the sole state agency for program administration at both secondary and postsecondary institutions. Considers problems, possible solutions, national strategies, and new…

This document, which is intended to assist Colorado's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) staff, educators, students, and students' families, presents the answers to selected questions regarding eligibility for and delivery of cooperative educational and vocational rehabilitation services for youth in transition. The introduction provides…