Businesses are increasingly making inroads into the classroom, particularly in underfunded schools. The dramatic rise in commercial activities in schools has sparked intense public debate, triggering a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report and various regulatory attempts at district, state, and federal levels. This digest offers an overview…

Now that the growth period for community colleges is over, and public funding has stabilized or decreased, many colleges are turning to alternative funding sources as a means of financing new projects and maintaining services. Among the funding approaches are the following: (1) grants development, which requires a library of material on funding…

Businesses are working with schools in ways that can affect every aspect of the education process. The most widespread form of business help takes place in the classrooms. School leaders need to be clear with themselves as to how much and what kind of involvement they want businesses to have in their schools. Business leaders can also help schools…

Since the early 1980s, more and more businesses have been motivated to enter into business/education partnerships to improve the academic and technical skills of the future work force. In the one-to-one institutional partnership, the needs of one school and/or one business drive the agreement. As partnerships expand to involve multiple partners,…

This digest reviews the recent history of advertising to children, spotlights controversial marketing efforts, and examines the nature of commercial messages directed toward children in public schools. Because of the increase in children's spending power in recent decades, advertisers have closely targeted children as consumers. Advertising…

Although the goal of universal literacy in the United States refers specifically to the literacy of adults, significant progress toward the goal is dependent to a great extent upon educational experiences prior to adulthood. Encouraging business involvement in strengthening the connection between school and work acknowledges the interrelationship…

Instruction in small business development is particularly appropriate in vocational and career education. Vocational education teaches students job-specific and employability skills and provides opportunities to use them in work experience programs. The profile of the adult entrepreneur reflects characteristics attributed to vocational education…

The National Career Development Guidelines provide a comprehensive program that will lead students of all ages through a sequential process of career development. The guidelines contain 12 competencies that relate to 3 areas of career development--self-knowledge, educational and occupational exploration, and career planning. Splete and Stewart…

Future workers will need to develop global awareness and an understanding of competitive, cultural, and economic factors that influence ways of doing business to work in the international arena. Vocational education, the educational program area specifically designed to prepare students for work, must infuse international concepts into programs so…

Renewed interest in public schools by the private sector led to the idea of "partnerships" between education and business. This digest focuses on partnerships where businesses, government agencies, or university laboratories employ teachers during the summer months as a form of professional development and on the subsequent outcomes that…