"Accelerating Opportunity" responds to the nation's growing need for improved pathways from Adult Basic Education (ABE) to credentials of value in the labor market. It builds on promising practices developed in "Breaking Through," an initiative of Jobs for the Future and the National Council for Workforce Education, and…

In the 1980s, interest in collaboration between vocational education and the private sector was stimulated by changes taking place in the economy and society (changes such as a maturing society, the lure of the sunbelt, the computer revolution, declining superpowers, rise of minorities, foreign competition, progress of women, and medical…

In developing a vocational education training program, provision must be made for articulating the occupational program and its courses and units with employment opportunities in the occupation. The first step in gathering and organizing data needed in developing an occupational training program is an organizational analysis. The organizational…

Survey and interview responses from a nonrandom sample of 116 paraprofessionals and 68 administrators described the need for and the content of a proposed undergraduate program in transitional services at California State University Long Beach (CSULB). All participants were employed to help handicapped youths and adults move from education to…

Companies commit 2 to 5 billion dollars annually to employee tuition assistance plans, and an estimated 17 to 24 million employees are eligible for some form of tuition assistance. Despite these figures and despite widespread interest in the tuition-aid idea, a low 3 to 5 percent of eligible employees currently take advantage of the educational…

A study obtained early information on the effects of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 on states' efforts to develop and implement effective systems of school-to-work transition. Systems in eight states were studied: California, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. State leaders understood the need…

This report focuses on the organization of guidance provision through a Personal Guidance Base for low achievers aged 16 to 18. An introduction outlines the background to the concept of a local Personal Guidance Base to which young people can turn as they move from school to adult and working life, and identifies its main elements. Opportunities…

This monograph presents a summary and analysis of case study reports on three highly used tuition assistance programs. The programs are those of the Education Fund of District Council 37 of AFSCME; Polaroid Corporation's Tuition Assistance Plan; and the Education Opportunities Plan of Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The case studies describe the…

This final report concludes a three-year project to identify the program impact on 125 youths and adults who took vocational education in eight locations in Illinois. The longitudinal case study began in 1978-79 when the subjects were still enrolled in their vocational programs. Many of the students who became case subjects for the study were…

U.S. high school students' lack of preparedness has serious implications for the economy and prosperity. For most of the nation's history, manufacturing workers with modest formal education could earn decent wages. For roughly 60 percent of the jobs in today's labor market, at least some postsecondary education is needed, and that percentage is…

This paper summarizes major experiences and practices of information development units of state-based career information systems which produce accurate, current, and localized occupational and educational information for career planning. It is intended as a guide for states considering setting up a similar system and for staff members in presently…

This report presents findings regarding design and implementation of school-to-work (STW) efforts in Job Corps Model Centers. Following an introduction, Chapter two argues that Jobs Corps constitutes a natural context for implementing STW systems because its traditional practices to some degree provide a solid foundation on which to lay STW…

This planning guide begins with an overview of school-to-work transition. Section 1 also provides an overview of federal and Georgia state legislation and describes current school-to-work transition efforts, such as tech prep education, youth apprenticeship, cooperative education, entrepreneurial ventures and school-based enterprises,…

A study analyzed the role of state governments in implementing federal education and job training policies and in designing and implementing their own policies. A framework was developed for understanding policy instruments used to promote education and training objectives: mandates, inducements, capacity-building, and system-changing. Each type…

This report presents findings of an investigation of the design of programs and systems that prepare young people for work in Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. An introduction and overview of investigating programs and options for youth employment preparation are followed by a discussion of indicators embodied in a high quality program in…