Many have called for greater alignment between education systems and the workforce, more equitable access to career-oriented experiences, and new policy approaches that will enable all individuals to successfully enter and thrive in the evolving labor market. Overall, education leaders at all levels must commit to new policy solutions that offer…

In this brief, Owens and Welton provide an introductory overview of career and technical education (CTE) programs in both Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). They report that the State of Illinois, and the City of Chicago in particular, have some of the highest unemployment rates in the country for youth ages 16 to…

If educators and policymakers are to make good on the national commitment to graduate more students from high school prepared to face postsecondary challenges, schools must continue to improve career technical education (CTE), ensuring that students have access to high-quality pathways to success. This brief provides an overview of the evolution…

A summer work experience program for 10th and 11th graders with visual impairments includes a three-week residential-living experience in which students are evaluated in the areas of daily living, orientation and mobility, socialization, vocational abilities, and career planning and a six-week segment in which students work at paid jobs.…

"Walking the Talk" (Lozada) describes summer programs in which counselors enroll in summer school courses; "Teachers for Hire" (McClain) shows vocational teachers participating in an externship program updating their knowledge while earning graduate-level credit; and "Earning and Learning" (Lozada) tells how high school students take college-level…

Iowa high school seniors thought that supervised occupational experience in vocational agriculture was important in developing occupational abilities, according to the research reported in this article. The abilities developed by the experience which were most highly rated by the students are listed. (MF)

The Special Education Vocational Education Program (SEVEP) is a program implemented by the Tucson Unified School District to bring area high school students with special needs together with cooperating employers. Eligible students are identified and pre-assessed regarding individual aptitudes, interests and needs. General instruction may include…

This handbook has been compiled for coordinators of cooperative education programs at the secondary level in Maine. The handbook includes in-school classroom instruction relating to specific jobs and the world of work. Introductory material includes the Maine Association for Cooperative Education Constitution, By-Laws, and 1991 officers. The…

A high school program to prepare severely handicapped students for supported community work changed its original purpose, to develop jobs that would provide full time support work in the community after graduation, to include part-time possibilities. Advantages of incorporating part-time work include eliminating boredom and providing greater…

Drawing from the experiences of 30 students and their mentors in 15 programs, this pamphlet offers descriptions of mentorships, or experience-based workplace learning to help high school students make the transition from school to work. Workplace mentorship is defined. Examples are then offered of the various types of activities at work sites that…

The skills needed to do well in life are different from the skills needed to do well in school. Bringing the skills needed for life and work into the curriculum and pedagogy of high schools is one of the major challenges of this era of school reform. Drawing on examples of effective teaching and learning, this book addresses the question of how…

Six pilot worksite-based projects funded by the Department of Labor are described: preparing for metalworking careers in Pennsylvania; Workforce Los Angeles Youth Academy; Boston's Project Protech, preparation for health care careers; Maryland projects for manufacturing technology careers, high school tech prep, and at-risk youth; National…

This manual is designed to help in the development of community training programs modeled after Project Bridges of the Somersworth, New Hampshire, school system. An introduction briefly describes the program in which high school students spend ten hours per week at community training sites where they work directly with a training site supervisor…

This study assessed the effects of a Brevard County (Florida) high school-based vocational training and community-based on-the-job training program called Brevard's Exceptional Students in Transition (BEST). Results indicated positive improvements in vocational skills and behaviors of participants in the BEST program. (JDD)

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: The Peninsula Academies program helps educationally disadvantaged youth overcome the handicaps of low academic achievement, lack of skills, and chronic unemployment. This is accomplished by providing a high school curriculum that is clearly related to work, training in specific job skills, emphasis…