Career and technical education (CTE) programs (programs that teach students specific workplace skills aligned with the labor market) may track data for lots of different reasons: to comply with funding requirements, to manage their services and continually improve, to measure their progress toward their goals, and to evaluate whether they are…

A study of 17 dropout prevention programs identified these common characteristics of successful programs: (1) multiple strategies integrated within a single program, (2) placement in environments dissimilar to traditional schools, (3) concentration of resources on a small target population, and (4) emphasis on vocational education and work…

Summarizes recent studies on Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) and discusses their implications for program developers and EBCE personnel. Stresses the positive results of EBCE and outlines the success of this approach for special populations (gifted, migrant, and disadvantaged youth). (Author/GC)

The booklet, part of a project to identify successful secondary programs serving special education students in Nebraska, describes 12 programs. The 12 programs were selected from 27 nominations on the basis of service delivery approach, disability served, and success. The 12 sites were visited and staffs were interviewed. Eight programs are…

A year-long study evaluated the scope and quality of pre-16 work experience in England and Wales. Its main aims were to map out work experience provision, assess program quality, and examine the impact of new funding. The research included a survey of area work experience coordinators, six detailed case studies, interviews with teachers from 30…

The Ways to Improve Schools and Education (WISE) Project sought to enhance school productivity by more effective use of community resources. WISE worked with three sites: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin, Texas; and Oklahoma City, in 1983-84. In 1985, three more sites were added: Little Rock, Arkansas; Jackson, Mississippi; and New Orleans,…

The methodological difficulty of evaluating alternative programs in specific, measurable terms is described. Based on an alternative program at Talawanda High School in Oxford, Ohio, the writer attempted to develop a model for evaluating an alternative program. The following evaluation procedures were selected: (1) attendance and grades prior to…

In the 1990s, federal education legislation and policies have encouraged state and local efforts in educational reform and placed a new emphasis on education for and about work. These initiatives have engaged the active participation of a broad range of partners and have spurred a variety of locally customized programs and practices. Nationally,…

This paper focuses on changes necessary for apprenticeship to meet society's current needs in terms of: providing an educational environment, meeting the needs of the European economies, and matching the aspirations of young people. Section 1 provides a narrative account of an apprentice working as a coach finisher in the Great Western Railway…

This report presents a broad overview and assesses the effectiveness of the summer 1984 pilot of the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP). Chapter I provides a general introduction. These three program objectives are cited: increase participants' level of achievement, increase their ability to make responsible decisions about sexual…

Work-Based Learning (WBL) has been at the heart of school-to-work initiatives in the 1990s. Local partnerships funded by the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act are placing high priority on developing WBL opportunities for students. However, there is still controversy about whether work really contributes to students' education, and results of…

This report examines local school-to-work partnerships in Pennsylvania and summarizes the lessons that can be learned from them. It includes information on how local partnerships work, functions of local school-to-work partnerships, and partnership activities such as establishing educator in the workplace opportunities, making business…

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) program as it was presented n five formal conferences with 230 education officials from Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. More specifically, the study attempted to evaluate EBCE along the guidelines…

Presents the four components that must exist before any on-the-job training program can be successful and discusses twelve specific problems of cooperative training (at the secondary level) that present the greatest problems to on-the-job training coordinators. (SH)

A study was designed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of Supervised Occupational Experience (SOE) in Montana and the extent to which vocational agriculture teachers were using it to enhance their students' education. The student population consisted of 144 vocational agriculture students who had submitted records on SOE projects. All…