There is agreement that students need stronger basic skills when they leave secondary programs; employeers seek entry-level workers with problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as math, science, and communication skills. Basic skills instruction must be an imperative component of vocational education programs. (JOW)

Describes a program at Pennsylvania's Dauphin County Technical School that has moved beyond providing vocational students with basic communication and mathematics skills and is incorporating vocationally-oriented competency-based instruction into all academic areas. (JOW)

Describes a pilot project in applied academics that involved hiring certified mathemathics and science instructors so that students could obtain academic rather than vocational credit for material that vocational instructors had previously taught. (JOW)

Describes a three-day workshop designed to provide math instructors with an understanding of how the skills they teach are applied and reinforced in vocational education programs. (JOW)