Using the cocurricular career connections (C3) leadership model, this chapter will focus on the potential for off-campus jobs to help a largely underserved group to develop leadership skills. In so doing, leadership educators and student employers can help students be more effective in their work, develop skills that can promote employability…

In its final report, the At-risk Working Group, which reported to the Ontario Minister of Education, described at-risk secondary students as performing significantly below the provincial standard, failing to meet curriculum expectations, and being disengaged from school (O'Connor, 2003, p. 5). In this special issue, authors examine this topic,…

As the nation strives to have all students graduate from high school ready for college and other postsecondary learning opportunities, Americans have to confront the reality that they are far from achieving this goal. The problem is most severe with economically disadvantaged students. For many students, especially those from disadvantaged…

Chinese vocational education is currently in its most optimal development period in history. This article discusses several challenges of different dimensions faced by vocational education in China as it develops, such as scale versus quality, development goals, a lifelong vocational education system, and creating model institutions; and puts…

What if this nation could solve the college graduation gap between whites and many minority and low-income students? Not only would this positively affect the lives of low-income students, minority students, and those first in their families to go to college, it would better prepare everyone to meet the economic and global challenges that threaten…

In this article, the author talks about big questions of meaning and value that young people pose and how to respond to their concerns about big questions. He relates the story of his granddaughter, Charlotte, who, at the age of one, would climb up on the stairs not from choice or whim, but "because they're there." For her, it was not play, but…

Graduating students who can compete in the digital age is imperative but remains an uphill battle in the absence of a strong national technology policy, empowered education leadership, and ongoing dialogue involving business, community, government, and educators. Meantime, in pockets around the country, some states, districts, and schools are…

The new learning opportunities that feed mind, body and soul helps the senior students develop the resiliency and intellectual qualities they need to make a healthy transition to post-high school life. The Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River, New Jersey, has provided creative learning opportunities to seniors, which has planted in them the…

States that addressing transition concerns of students over age 25 as they navigate through community college may provide a counseling perspective that effectively enhances overall student development. Outlines counseling considerations, from assessment (developmental, intellectual, emotional, physical and biological, relational, cultural,…

Stemming from the author's personal experience, numerous conversations with other educators, and information from relevant literature, it is apparent that the majority of students in Ontario have limited access to outdoor, experiential learning through the formal education system. The author believes that investigating the effects of existing…

College student employment programs result in positive learning outcomes. The Leap to Excellence Acceleration Program (LEAP) was designed to provide students with useful training from student employment and to provide employers with a program focused on developing skilled, informed, productive citizens. Development and evaluation of the program is…

Nine articles examine studies in Finnish higher education and the teaching of scientific thinking, with a focus on the relationship between university studies and career satisfaction. Information is presented on the years following the major expansion and reforms in the Finnish higher education system that took place in the mid-to-late 1960s. The…

Career centers in universities are increasingly being merged with other student employment programs, such as internship and cooperative education programs. Experiential education (ex ed) is poised to become the largest service component of the new merged services. Discusses values to students, employers, and career services professionals. (JPS)

Describes a classroom project at Lehigh University which integrates both academics and career development. Freshmen English students wrote letters to alumni requesting career information and prepared a publication called Alumni Career Profiles which became a career development resource. Student and alumni comments are included. (JAC)

Presents an approach to making practical on-the-job work experience of secondary school students part of instruction in social studies. Maintains that social studies classes can serve as a vehicle for students to gain social learning from their work experiences. Includes tables outlining the conceptual framework of this approach. (DB)