Using cognitive science as the knowledge base for the discussion, this paper reviews why many school learning situations are ineffective and introduces cognitive apprenticeship models that suggest what effective learning situations might look like. Five wrong assumptions about learning are examined: (1) people transfer learning from one situation…

Skill requirements for the economy are changing. Whereas many jobs in industries such as insurance and banking once required high school graduates to do clerical work, computerization has changed the requirements. Job functions are combined, and many jobs now require college graduates to do analytical work. Although these skill changes require…

Economic changes and demographic realities may require fundamental changes in what individuals need to learn, how and when they need to learn it, and who needs to learn it. Examination of three strands of research should clarify these issues. The first strand consists of research on changes in the nature and structure of work and in the capacities…

This digest describes efforts to improve academic learning for middle level high school students to be applied practically to develop workplace competence and flexibility by integrating academic and vocational education. Following an introduction describing the need to prepare students for working life is a paragraph describing generally the…

Comprehensive high schools have developed into systems serving the high-achieving, college-bound students and the students who need remediation in basic skills, with little attention being paid to the large number of students who fall between these two levels. Little attention is paid to educating students for midlevel jobs that require more…

The United States has no coherent strategy for helping noncollege-bound students develop the competence for middle-level jobs. The need for more emphasis on the needs of noncollege-bound students became apparent during the 1980s as less-educated workers began encountering more wage and employment difficulties and as occupations requiring…