To qualify for the grants provided through the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, states/localities must develop school-to-work systems containing three core elements: school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities. Parent involvement in those activities is both valuable and necessary. Research has provided extensive evidence…

Career education is moving away from addressing careers as a single choice in time, or as one unit or course in a curriculum. This digest discusses the infusion of skills (research, thinking, questioning) into the regular school curriculum and describes one such infusion program. Research indicates that instilling these skills into education…

This manual, produced and used in a project of the Central Oklahoma Area Vocational Technical School, provides direction for developing and implementing a school-to-work curriculum for secondary students. Based on the Central Oklahoma Vocational-Technical Model, the guide contains the following 11 sections: (1) blueprint for getting students ready…

This handbook for parents describes the transition planning process for youth with disabilities. The handbook is divided into four sections: an overview of the who, what, where, when, why, and how of transition; consideration and evaluation of future options for the young person; home, school, and community activities that can be immediately…

This booklet offers profiles of 55 successful individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. The profiles identify how long the person has had a hearing impairment and the cause, their educational background, and the field in which they are employed. The profiles describe successful role models and are designed to help in career exploration for…

A study was conducted to determine a relevant curriculum for the electronic engineering technology programs of junior colleges in Taiwan that would meet workplace demand. Using a revised DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) technique, a duty-task profile of electronic technicians, which contained 12 duties and 73 tasks, was first constructed. Based on…

This monograph presents a compilation and analysis of published reviews of 142 commercially available assessment instruments and practices relevant for use in transition planning for students with disabilities. An introductory paper describes the data collection and analysis process involved in the review of instruments. It notes that analysis of…

The New Youth Entrepreneur curriculum is a series of 12, youth-oriented educational modules containing instructional materials, learning activities, and checkup exercises designed to teach students key elements of entrepreneurship. This document is the eighth module, and provides students with strategies for solving common problems involved in…

Recently, some employers were polled to find out which skills are most important for young people working at their first jobs to have. This guide discusses how parents can help children prepare for the work world. Employers are interested in the academic skills of young people and use job application forms and interviews to evaluate them. They…

This annotated bibliography lists 148 fiction and nonfiction books for third-grade readers of varied reading levels. Many of the books, however, are suitable for a wide variety of ages, and many picture books are also included. The bibliography contains short chapter books, novels for third-grade readers by popular authors such as Beverly Cleary…

This paper examines utilization of the Plan for Achieving Self-Sufficiency (PASS), a work incentive available for persons receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), designed to parallel the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act transition plan requirement. The PASS program allows persons receiving SSI cash assistance to set aside income…

Emphasizing the central role of community colleges in workforce development, this two-part monograph reviews the status of workforce development initiatives at the national, state, and local levels and provides descriptions of 10 exemplary programs at community colleges across North America. The first part focuses on the status of and operating…

Recent data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) were used to examine the validity of the traditional human capital model, which predicts that training lowers starting wages and increases wage growth. The primary data sample was restricted to those 4,309 members of the NLSY sample who were working for pay and not enrolled in…

Designed for businesses, this handbook provides a step-by-step process for establishing long-term relationships with education that are mutually satisfying and beneficial. These 11 steps are discussed: define why you want a partner; gain upper level commitment from your business/organization; clarify what it is you want and what you can contribute…

Tech prep has been considered "dead" by some commentators, but that assessment is usually made only in cases in which tech prep was merely a new label for an unchanged course or program. In many cases, tech prep has become more widely implemented and accepted as real changes have been made. Many of the concepts of tech prep will remain even if the…