Copies of twelve recordkeeping forms are provided in this record book designed for use by vocational agriculture students in a supervised occupational experience program (SOEP). The forms are organized into three sections: (1) receipts and expenditures (money received, money paid out, cash flow, financial statement, and profit and loss statement);…

Research on the effectiveness of career exploration as viewed by 1100 senior high school students involved in Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) projects in 16 states is reviewed. Results suggest that the learning potential of community experience can be improved in the following six ways: (1) offering challenging work; (2) selecting…

A conference is reported in which experiential education practitioners addressed the utility and acceptability of the policy guidelines for work oriented experiential education developed by a national advisory panel of management, labor, education, and community representatives. The first part of the report contains the full text of the five…

A study was conducted to provide insight into employer participation in Georgia youth apprenticeship programs that offer work experience and learning at the work site. Data were gathered through a survey sent to a random sample of 206 employers, of the 450 employers involved in youth apprenticeship programs in the state. Analysis of the 121…

Many people fail to realize the extensiveness and comprehensiveness of federal and state child labor laws. Although the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act did not detail the legal compliance needed by its state-funded agencies, it clearly indicates that federal and state child labor laws will apply to its employment and employment-related…

One way of revitalizing the liberal arts in community colleges could be through the development of a career program in liberal arts for students planning to enter the work force as entry-level employees in positions that do not require specific vocational skills. The skills required for entry into many careers are those that are also the goals of…

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…

A study tested the claim that work-based learning can have positive effects on academic learning. Data were obtained through interviews with faculty, staff, students, and employers, and observation of classroom-based links to the work-based learning components at three sites involved in a work-based learning project. At the three sites, a total of…

The November 1989 conference described in this document was about social dialogue in vocational education. An introduction summarizes the conference as a whole, pointing out that participants were able to hear reports of the situation in Denmark, Spain, Italy, France, and the European Community as a whole. Summaries of 10 individual presentations…

A comparative case study of education and work programs was conducted from an anthropological frame of reference to determine how each sets up a program culture for learners to achieve program goals. Three variables structured into the original research design of the project were (1) the length of the program; (2) the type of community served, and…

Four units of instruction are provided in this curriculum guide designed for vocational agriculture teachers in planning and conducting classes for students with supervised occupational experience (SOE) placement programs. Unit 1 contains three lessons on starting an SOE program. Lesson topics are placement programs to consider, getting started in…

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between the quality of a supervised occupational experience (SOE) program (in terms of income and scope of program) and level of academic achievement on a test measuring technical knowledge in production agriculture. A fifty-item multiple choice achievement test was administered to…

In the face of chronic youth unemployment, decision makers in many countries are questioning the role and effectiveness of alternance between school-based vocational training and in-company work experience. This notion applies to three very different realities: training courses offered as an alternative to traditional school-based training for…

The case can be made that school-to-work programs can be a college preparatory strategy because they can teach academic skills as well as and possibly even better than more traditional approaches. The skepticism about its potential as a means of preparing students for college is based on misconceptions about its characteristics. Its three basic…

This serial issue focusing on the theme of "School-to-Work." The two articles it contains describe promising practices that benefit individual students who participate. The first article, "Connecting the Dots: Linking School and Work to Accelerate Student Results," examines how schools and businesses are linking up, leading to benefits for…