Specialized secondary schools in the United States focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) are becoming commonplace in the United States. Such schools are generally referred to by U.S. teachers as Academies. In a purposeful effort to provide a resource to educators building new STEM Academies, this study provides both a…

Numerous countries suffer from a shortage of technicians and skilled workers, particularly in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), due to a mismatch between the skills and interests of the students graduating from or leaving the current education system and the needs of the labor market. Often, parents and students…

In 2007, the Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) was launched in California's 109 (now 110) community colleges. This initiative responds to an increasing awareness that state policies favoring "open access" also result in the enrollment of large numbers of students who are underprepared to succeed in college-level work. Identified as a key…

Review of previous predictions on entry level of school psychologists by three professional leaders (Jack I. Bardon, Douglas T. Brown, Irwin Hyman) reported at the 1978 National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Convention. In 1994, many predictions materialized including school psychologists having doctoral degrees, rare use of medical…

Career academies now number more than 1,500 nationwide. The concept has roots in colonial times and in the German continuation model. High-risk academy students have lower dropout rates, are more engaged in the curriculum, and continue on to postsecondary education at a higher rate than their nonacademy peers. They also have improved job…

High school reform has moved to the top of the education policy agenda, commanding the attention of the federal government, governors, urban school superintendents, philanthropists, and the general public. All are alarmed by stubbornly high dropout rates, by the low academic achievement of many high school students, and by the large numbers of…

This report uses national data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) to evaluate the effectiveness of the types of school-to-career (STC) programs that were encouraged and supported in California by the grants received by the state from the federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (STWOA). In particular, the…

The career academy is a high school model that integrates school-to-work elements in a personalized learning environment. Academies have these three essential features: a school within a school; partnerships with employers; and integrated academic and occupational curriculum centered on a career theme, occupation, or industry. J. Kemple (1997)…

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…

This report identifies and describes new directions for vocational, or career and technical, education in high schools at the beginning of the 21st century. It synthesizes the thought and opinion of a variety of stakeholders, gathered through interviews and a review of policy-influencing documents and research. It begins with an historical…

After their 1969 inception as an electrical academy in a Philadelphia high school, the number of career academies grew steadily for two decades; since 1990, their growth has accelerated. Until the mid-1990s, they existed only as smaller units within high schools, but numerous high schools have since converted themselves entirely into career…

Career development theories do not typically highlight their relevance to the school-to-work transition process. This issue features articles that examine how several prominent career development theories (person-environment fit, social learning, developmental, and social cognitive) can be brought to bear on this process. Three discussants assess…

Discusses contributions of Krumboltz & Worthington, 1999; Lent, Hacket, & Brown, 1999; Savickas, 1999; Swanson & Fouad, 1999 to the application of career development theories to the school-to-work transition. Concludes with recommendation that theory-building efforts derived from the individual experience of work-bound youth should be included in…

A 5-year longitudinal study was designed to examine diverse and promising programs to integrate career and technical education (CTE) with whole-school reforms in schools serving predominantly disadvantaged students. A literature review focused on conceptual underpinnings: disadvantaged youth; transition points; whole-school reform; and CTE.…

To assess the impact of the National Academy Foundation (NAF) career academy (CA) model, a large-scale, multi-site evaluation was undertaken. Survey and interview data on program experiences and postsecondary outcomes were analyzed from nine CA programs. The study used pre-post evaluation of student data, field visits, and written and telephone…