National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) studies education systems with strong student performance across the globe to understand what they do, how they do it, and the context and challenges that they face. This brief shares what has been learned about how global leaders think about high school and how they organize time in school…

There are nearly 200 million lower and upper secondary age adolescent girls and boys out of school globally, and if current trends continue, another 825 million children will not acquire basic secondary-level skills by 2030. Global momentum to achieve universal primary education has placed increased demands on secondary education systems to serve…

The overall goal of the "Building State Capacity Summit" series was to enhance successful outcomes for students leaving high school, whether it is matriculation in a postsecondary education or training program, or employment. Young adults who are deaf or hard or hearing face barriers that inhibit these successful outcomes. One way to…

Road safety education is a complex phenomenon which should be viewed holistically if taken into account the interconnectedness of education, infrastructure and enforcement. Effective road safety education is specifically important for learners in the Further Education and Training (FET) band, as they are active contributors to a community. The…

Responding to the challenge of more rigorous and outcome-oriented program evaluation criteria of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), authors take a critical look at the intersection of two standards: Clinical Partnerships and Practice (Standard 2) and Program Impact (Standard 4). Illustrating one aspect of a secondary…

The attempts of the employment community and education to develop the local school-to-work (STW) systems required by the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) have generally failed to result in effective collaboration in the design and implementation of comprehensive STW systems. The first installment of a 5-year study of the STWOA found…

This article looks at the history of special education in Mexico, discusses the emergence of special education programs, and examines a school for special education in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. The school provides vocational training for students with a variety of disabilities and has a partnership with the local maquiladora industry. (Contains 5…

This directory profiles 20 programs that promote post-school outcomes for students with disabilities through inclusive school-to-work systems. Three criteria were used to select the programs: (1) the nomination featured a program or practices that provide transition- or school-to-work-related services or instruction to students with disabilities,…

As part of her Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education course, Verushka Taylor was asked to imagine how issues the Social Contexts of Secondary Education class was reading about and discussing impact upon the work of teachers. To that end, students were asked to think deeply about one of the topics addressed in the semester, and to frame a…

Work-based learning may occur in the following forms: contracted instruction; cooperative education; school-to-apprenticeship; registered apprenticeship; career exploration; service learning; career internships; career academies; school-based enterprises; and clinical experience programs. The following are key components of work-based learning…

In spring 1997, Arizona repeated a spring 1996 statewide public poll that established baseline measures of public attitudes toward school-to-work (STW). Samples were drawn from three constituent groups: parents, businesses, and educators. Over 2,700 Arizonans participated each year. Overall awareness of STW was up significantly among every group.…

This document presents the results of a project to develop new designs for career and technical education (CTE) at the secondary and postsecondary levels in the context of the process and recommendations used in two previous projects that identified new designs for comprehensive high schools and two-year postsecondary institutions. The document is…

Work preparation should provide adequate qualifications for sustained labor market participation and lifelong learning that lead to economic self-sufficiency and positive engagement as family members and citizens. Five barriers to productive transitions confront disadvantaged urban youth: changing structure of employment opportunity; skills…

Reports analyzing vocational-technical education (VTE) in individual member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) were reviewed to identify changes in the role of VTE in the context of technological and structural change, economic crisis, and uncertainty. Major transformations in VTE affecting its organization,…

This document is intended to introduce health occupations educators to the principles of the portable action lab and help them use those principles to create quality learning projects for students preparing for careers in health care. Section 1 outlines the concepts and frameworks of quality project-based learning, which is based on the following…