To promote and evaluate initiatives designed to address concerns over preparing American youths for employment, the U.S. Department of Labor sponsored the School-to Work/Youth Apprenticeship Demonstration, which began in 1990 with grants to six programs. In 1992, grants were extended for 5 of these programs and added for 10 other programs. This…

The reasons for the deterioration of the inspection grades awarded for work-based learning (WBL) provision in England were examined. The main data collection activities were as follows: (1) a statistical analysis of the Training Standards Council (TSC) and Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) inspection grades in 1998-2001; (2) a qualitative review…

This anthology of 58 pieces originally published in the "Journal of Experiential Education" focuses on the value of experiential learning and the need to incorporate direct experience in formal education. Chapter 1 summarizes and reviews the findings of "A Nation at Risk" and other major national reports on education. Chapter 2…

This document, the third of five volumes that comprise the final report of the National Assessment of Vocational Education focuses on program improvement. Chapter 1 describes the education reform movement and assesses its effects on vocational education. It discusses current reforms that states are undertaking to improve preparation of students…

To raise vocational completers' academic achievement through school reform, the High Schools That Work (HSTW) network of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) promotes 10 key practices for raising academic achievement. The impact of these key practices was examined in a study of how 424 schools adopted them in the following six clusters:…

This document is intended to provide New York schools, business/industry representatives, and others with resources to develop or further refine work-based learning (WBL) strategies or components. Section 1 presents background information on the following topics: (1) the scope of WBL; (2) foundations for the development of WBL; (3) categories of…

A 3-year national assessment of vocational education (VE) examined various issues related to improvement of VE programs, their academic and employment outcomes, participation of special population students in VE, and Perkins funding and administration. The assessment established that most secondary VE is still very traditional and that Perkins…

This document examines issues in schoolwide application of career academies. Part 1 reviews the three defining features of career academies: (1) a career academy is a small learning community in which a cluster of students share several classes each year that are taught by the same team of teachers over a period of 2-4 years; (3) each academy…

This proceedings includes the following papers: "Multimedia Case Studies--Business Reality for Students" (Agneberg); "Interactive Development and Design--A Business Approach" (Agneberg); "Ethics Instruction for Workforce Development" (Arnold); "Career Development Focus in Lincoln County" (Beam);…

This report contains descriptions of 34 best practices of North Carolina high school/community college Tech Prep (TP) consortia from a 2000 review. All consortia were allowed to choose their best effort or accomplishment completed or in operation at the end of 1999-2000. Among the practices described were: a comprehensive career development…

This document presents tools and guidelines to help practitioners transform their high schools into institutions facilitating community-connected learning. The approach underpinning the tools and guidelines is based on the following principles: academic rigor and relevance; personalized learning; self-passage to adulthood; and productive learning…

The evolution of eight Tech Prep consortia since reauthorization of federal Tech Prep legislation in 1998 was examined in a 4-year longitudinal study. Cross-consortium changes were identified through field visits and personal interviews between 1998-2001 with a wide range of stakeholders, especially administrators, faculty, and students.…