Education providers and employers working together to prepare young people and adults for employment is internationally accepted as a key factor in effective technical and vocational education. In the English context, however, we argue that two related orthodoxies have prevailed -- 'employer engagement' and 'skills supply' -- in which education…

The implementation of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act is likely to differ across state and localities, depending on history, previous support for vocational education, organizational patterns, size, and available resources. This paper discusses variables affecting implementation of the Perkins Act in Pennsylvania. Includes five…

According to a 2004 International Labour Organization (ILO) report, young people represent 130 million of the world's 550 million working poor who are unable to lift themselves and their families above the equivalent of the $1 per day poverty line. These young people struggle to survive, often performing work under unsatisfactory conditions in the…

Four basic steps in the planning phase of establishing a new program are detailed. (MU)

This paper provides a non-technical summary of the plans and rationale for eleven CETA-Education Demonstration Projects. It also explains the design of the projects and indicates what is expected of the participating prime sponsors, education agencies, and federal departments. Seven principles relating to the need to alleviate youth unemployment…

A third-party evaluation of the Texas coordinated vocational-academic education (CVAE) program was conducted in 1984-85 to determine the effectiveness of CVAE as a vocational program for meeting the needs of secondary students who are unsuccessful in traditional academic programs. A project advisory committee was established, a review of…

Challenges identified by T. Bailey (1993) as obstacles to youth apprenticeship programs are accurate but do not justify the turn to alternative approaches he recommends. U.S.-style program can be built to overcome these difficulties if employer-worker collaboration can be fostered and institutional bases can be constructed. (SLD)

S. F. Hamilton and the author agree on the potential of youth apprenticeship programs for education but disagree on the strength of the problems facing implementation of apprenticeship models. A two-level reform strategy is recommended to develop an institutional and legal structure and to encourage employer participation. (SLD)

A study compared the effectiveness of public and private sector work experience programs. In five locations equal numbers of jobs were developed in the private and public/nonprofit sectors. To equalize the incentives relative to the public sector, full wage subsidies were provided on an experimental basis in the private sector. Youth were matched…

Although youth apprenticeship models appear to have great potential, the following problems must be addressed before the strategy can succeed: (1) securing employer involvement; (2) assuring and improving the quality of on-the-job learning; and (3) confronting equity issues in public policy in incorporating work into the core educational system.…

In May 2000, the United States Department of Labor awarded sizable Youth Opportunity (YO) Grants to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities. These communities were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of…

The Education in Action project is a cooperative effort between the vocational education community and the Central Kentucky Community Action Council to identify economically disadvantaged youth who need basic academic and life skill training, General Educational Development (GED) training, occupational skill training, and job hunting and retention…

The National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) evaluated and described the vocational education services delivered to special populations under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, the effects of the act in modernizing the vocational education system, the impact of vocational education on academic skills and employment…

During the 1987-88 school year, 12 academy programs were operating in California under state sponsorship, including the two original Peninsula Academies in operation since 1981, and 10 replications of these, called Partnership Academies. The academies are designed to reduce the number of dropouts among at-risk high school youth. They combine a…

The Job Training Partnership Act is intended to establish programs to prepare youth and unskilled adults for entry into the labor force and to afford job training to those economically disadvantaged individuals who are in special need of such training to obtain productive employment. The act is organized into five titles. Title I prescribes the…