The 1994-95 school year was the first year of the MECA (Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction, Automotive) partnership implementation in the Saginaw (Michigan) Public Schools. MECA's purpose was to nurture the potential of youth while placing them in workplace environments that had not been a traditional part of applied learning in secondary…

Iowa's Job Retraining Program was evaluated through a review of operations, surveys/interviews with community college staff, and survey responses from 43% of the business participants. Resulting recommendations were as follows: (1) retaining the program in the Department of Economic Development rather than transferring it to the state's 15…

The Businesses as On-Site Schools (BOSS) program was established as a dropout prevention effort combined with employability training for at-risk high school students. The setting was a vocational/educational alternative center in Florida. Businesses were contacted, and verbal intent to provide on-the-job training and an onsite mentor was…

This document consists of a report on a project to develop a newsletter for adult learners and unemployed and underemployed individuals in Pennsylvania who want to expand their educational training and improve their career opportunities. The ten newsletter issues published for volume 3 are appended to the report. Among the articles are the…

Data on students participating in transitional bilingual education programs (TBEs) in Massachusetts, in the 50 local education authorities (LEAs) with such programs, are reported and analyzed. Information presented, in graphic and narrative form, includes the following: an overview of the status of TBE programs in the state, including patterns of…

These seven papers offer a menu of alternative approaches to apprenticeships and suggests the advantages and disadvantages of each. "Apprenticeship Learning: Principles for Connecting Schools and Work Places" (James Rosenbaum) indicates how fundamental changes in the global economy virtually require improved education of all youth and why teachers…

A qualitative case study approach was used to identify the psychosocial effects of the high-fidelity, virtual reality simulation provided in the college-level air traffic control (ATC) training program offered at the Minnesota Air Traffic Control Training Center and to evaluate the applicability of virtual reality to academic/training situations.…

In an overall plan to assess institutional effectiveness, Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Kansas conducts annual follow-up studies of students who completed career programs during the previous academic year, and also surveys employers of those completers. In fall 1993, surveys were mailed to 768 career program completers, including…

This proceedings document provides the texts of 23 presentations given at a conference in 1994 which focused on policies, materials, programs, and activities being implemented in Alabama to foster the successful transition of youth with disabilities to adult life. An initial paper compares the definition of transition developed by Andrew Halpern…

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the short-term (2-year), intermediate (5-year), and long-term (10-year) impact of earning a high school equivalency diploma by taking the General Educational Development (GED) Tests in Iowa. The random sample of 2,500 GED graduates was drawn from each time cohort (individuals who had passed the GED…

The Los Rios Community College (LRCC) District conducted student follow-up surveys annually from 1984 through 1987 and biennially since then. These surveys are designed to determine the educational goals of the students, current employment and/or educational status, and whether LRCC's offerings had met their individual needs. Each survey…

In March 1994, a study was conducted to determine the perspectives of Illinois community college graduates regarding their preparation for employment, their continuing education goals, and their satisfaction with their major and college services. A total of 6,245 occupational program graduates, including graduates of agriculture; conservation and…

The 18-month Skills Today for Advancement Tomorrow (STAT) program, a partnership among St. Louis Community College, the St. Louis Public Schools' Adult Basic Education Program, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, had the following objectives: (1) provide counseling and training for 370 current Blue Cross and Blue Shield workers; (2)…

In the first phase of a longitudinal study to gather information on quality-of-life outcomes of adult basic education (ABE) programs in Tennessee, adults entering literacy programs at eight sites in rural and urban Tennessee were interviewed using a baseline questionnaire covering socioeconomic, social, personal, and physical well-being. One year…

This proceedings contains 58 papers on rural special education. Papers present the newest and most innovative promising practices for rural special education, current research, contemporary discussions of theory or theory development, and topics of timely concern. The papers are organized in order of presentation, and are categorized in a topical…