Although tech prep is becoming widely accepted by educators and the business community, the jury is still out regarding whether its anticipated student, school, and community outcomes are being realized. In theory, tech prep's focus is primarily on school-based learning, whereas school-to-work programs also include work-based learning and linkages…

This paper is a survey of school-to-work transition issues as they have developed in Europe. It contains discussion about the activities, research, and programs of each of four important international organizations, with particular stress on the period after 1975. These organizations are the European Community, the Organisation for Economic…

Although not a new concept, mentoring is being seen as an increasingly important part of an individual's career and work force development, requiring sophisticated skills of those who provide it. Mentoring has been defined as "a relationship in which a more experienced person facilitates the broad development of a less experienced person on a…

School counselors need new ideas to initiate change in school counseling programs. This book presents a collection of innovative paradigms and approaches. Part 1 presents articles on techniques and methods of counseling interventions: (1) Student Rights (C. C. Hogan); (2) At-Risk Students and Violence (L. Giusti); (3) Conflict Management (D. R.…

This paper reviews the literature related to the role of career and vocational education in retaining at-risk secondary youth and motivating them to return to secondary or postsecondary school. Selected literature from nonvocational but related areas of service is reviewed to provide the reader with an overview of the scope of the problem and the…

This booklet reviews the literature on transitional services for youth with behavior disorders, provides examples of successful programs and activities, and identifies key elements of successful programs. Specific sections of the monograph address the following areas: long-term life adjustment; transition studies; vocational assessment; social…

Youth apprenticeship programs differ from the registered apprenticeship that is regulated by federal and state governments. Defined as a "learning program for young people, age 16 and older, that integrates on-the-job training with school-based instruction, that bridges high school and postsecondary schooling, and that results in both academic…

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996 has ushered in a new era of welfare reform. A work-first approach emphasizes self-sufficiency designed to move welfare recipients into the workforce as quickly as possible. The first of two issues related to the current context of welfare-to-work…

Work-based learning may occur in the following forms: contracted instruction; cooperative education; school-to-apprenticeship; registered apprenticeship; career exploration; service learning; career internships; career academies; school-based enterprises; and clinical experience programs. The following are key components of work-based learning…

According to the school-to-work (STW) program philosophy, STW efforts should be comprehensive and begin as early as preschool. At the elementary school level, the developmental process of career education begins with career awareness designed to broaden student knowledge about careers and connect academic learning to the workplace. Developing…

The lifelong process of career development poses special challenges for people with learning disabilities (LD). Literature on employment issues for adults with LD frames on-the-job problems in terms of individual deficits or recasts the issues as a function of the significant societal barriers faced by those who do not fit the norm. Research on…

Career portfolios contain evidence of individuals' knowledge and skills and are useful tools in job search and career change, especially now that employers want generalizable workplace skills not well portrayed by traditional means and students are often inept at communicating their skills and knowledge to employers. Career portfolios contain and…

Technological literacy includes the following elements: (1) the ability to use technology; (2) knowledge about the details of individual technologies and the processes of technology development; (3) a holistic understanding of the historical and cultural context of technology and adaptability based on initiative and resourceful thinking; and (4) a…

Because of the changing nature of work in society, higher levels of basic skills in reading, writing, and computation are needed in all occupational areas, whether or not they are related to high technology. Although research on the relationship between job performance and basic skills is not definitive, it is clear that it is more important for…

The 1998 Workforce Investment Act (WIA) consolidates more than 70 programs and gives states the flexibility to partner with local governments to develop streamlined services providing universal access. Because adult education and postsecondary vocational education are required partners in the one-stop systems being established through Title I of…