This document presents the basics of the career academy, a method of integrating vocational with academic educational systems and of providing a contextually valid education. The first section outlines the problems that the academy systems attempt to address, the four major principles essential for the success of career academies, and the nine…

All programs for the gifted and talented should incorporate visual and performing arts, so that students' natural interests and creative abilities are not stifled. Many gifted and talented high school students not classified as artistically talented can achieve in discipline-based curriculum areas stressing nondiscursive art-making activities.…

The River Bend Tech Prep project was undertaken to develop a tech prep curriculum in high schools in the Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC) district in Illinois to improve students' academic skills and eventual employment opportunities and contribute to the region's economic growth and stability. The following activities were completed…

This publication consists of two parts: an overview of tech prep in Western Wisconsin and the Tech Prep Strategic Plan for Western Wisconsin. The overview combines reduced-size pages (four to a page) with full-size pages that include the following: the definition of tech prep; legislative mandate; rationale; benefits of tech prep; tech prep…

This book suggests strategies for creating meaningful project and work-based learning experiences that were developed by teams of vocational and academic teachers and addresses the support issues necessary to sustain successful efforts. It begins with a description of the design team model and activities of the Vocational Integration with…

This document contains a performance report, a master plan, objectives, and an evaluation plan for a project in which Valencia Community College (Orlando, Florida) is to facilitate increasing cooperation between vocational and academic departments and move toward integrating vocational and academic courses in high schools and postsecondary…

One of the most important educational reforms related to secondary education in Taiwan is the planning of comprehensive high schools. The impetus for their establishment has come from several sources, including increased educational alternatives, integration of academic and vocational education resources to upgrade the quality of education, the…

The educational excellence movement has made an academic curriculum a high priority for all high school students, including the 40 percent who do not go on to college. The joint efforts approach to incorporating basic skills into the vocational curriculum is based on the following assumptions: (1) academic skills are embedded in vocational…

Based on experience with the program in South Dakota, this document contains 54 questions and answers about tech prep, the integrated academic-vocational system of education encompassing 2 years of high school and 2 years of college. The guide provides information on such topics as the following: what tech prep is, how Perkins Act funds are used…

Emphasis of the Industrial Tech Prep Projects in Heartland Community College (Illinois) regions was on planning and raising tech prep awareness among school administrators, teachers, counselors, and private industry. To develop industrial technology tech prep associate degree programs, an organizational structure was designed consisting of…

This publication provides information and materials on the tech prep initiative of the Partnership for Academic and Career Education (PACE). It begins with questions and answers addressing the why and what of tech prep, for whom tech prep is designed, and what the goals of tech prep are. Diagrams illustrate PACE tech prep components,…

Information is provided on tech prep education programs, which are part of a restructuring movement that combines secondary and postsecondary programs to provide technical preparation in a field such as engineering technology, agriculture, health, or business. Information on the following topics is outlined: seven essential elements of tech prep;…

The project report that introduces this document describes how the Partnership for Academic and Career Education (PACE) project developed tech prep/associate degree program agreements between Tri-County Technical College and seven school districts in Anderson, Oconee, and Pikens Counties, South Carolina. The partnership resulted in restructuring…

A study of Michigan's Copper Country Intermediate School District was undertaken to identify ways nine small secondary schools with declining enrollments could increase educational opportunities for students by cooperative sharing. The 6-month study included analyzing data on each school, identifying factors which might constrain cooperative…

A project successfully infused tech prep into the vocational-technical programs of 10 of the 11 high schools in the John A. Logan College district in Illinois. All participating schools revised course syllabi for a portion of their academic classes indicating the use of applied materials. The Principles of Technology class was offered successfully…