To meet the need for factual and objective information relating to public schools, this report examines the following perceptions about American education: (1) trends in SAT scores show a decline in the quality of public education; (2) schools are costing more and producing less; (3) reducing the educational bureaucracy will free much money needed…

This paper examines the many external expectations confronting persons with disabilities and the skills required to survive and prosper in school, at home, on the job, and in the community. Data were obtained from 155 regular teachers, 110 special educators, 150 parents, and 55 employers through the use of the School Survival Skills Questionnaire.…

The Job Designs Project, a 3-year federally funded project, provides students (ages 16-22) at an Oregon residential treatment center for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders with supported paid employment in the community. The project has provided job supported employment services to 36 students working in such positions as restaurant bus…

CityWorks is a course offered at the Rindge School of Technical Arts, open to all ninth-grade students in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During the course, students investigate Cambridge's neighborhoods, services, and industries; they make maps, take photographs, draw blueprints, build models, make videotapes, and write oral histories. The focus is on…

This paper reports on an effort to implement systems change in a secondary special education/vocational education program. Initial classroom observations and interviews with teachers identified themes of the existing program, including a perception of constant change, use of a new junior high to senior high transition process, and time pressures…

This report on Switzerland is one in a long-established series of educational policy reviews conducted and published by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The report is divided into three parts. Part 1 "The Examiners' Report," describes and discusses the education system in 6 of the 24 Swiss cantons…

Based on a program developed to help the integration of deaf persons into the world of work, this manual is intended to familiarize adult basic education (ABE) teachers with the special needs of deaf persons. Information is provided to answer questions such as: (1) What is so different about deaf students? (2) What is "deaf culture"? (3)…

The relationship between education and the economy is explained by opposing theories--functionalism and conflict. A way of assessing functionalism and conflict theory is to see if increasing educational attainment increases social equality. Higher educational attainment has occurred but has not led to an equal distribution of income. The extent of…

Changes in the way contemporary organizations conduct business demand a concurrent redesign of teaching and testing methods. Maintaining instructional quality must begin with knowledge of the quality revolution in contemporary organizations in order to meet the demands of these organizations for self-confident, self-directed, self-motivated,…

This report examines the issues associated with school-to-work programs being developed in the U.S. and provides recommendations designed to facilitate the process of developing a national school-to-work initiative. It stresses the nation's increasing need for better-educated workers but notes the low rate (less than 50 percent) of high school…

This directory lists 96 organizations that provide information, services, and/or referral to parents, educators, persons with disabilities, and others concerned with disabilities. Organizations are grouped according to their primary emphasis, as follows: (1) general disability information; (2) information for families; (3) legal rights and…

Approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population is in rural areas and about 10 million students are enrolled in rural schools, comprising 12,000 of the 15,000 schools in the country. Although rural communities and their schools are quite diverse, certain characteristic economic, cultural, and social factors create large numbers of "at-risk"…

The ninth meeting of CEDEFOP (French acronym for the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) is summarized in this report. Attending the forum were representatives of the leading vocational training research and development institutions and ministerial departments from the European Community (EC) Member States and from…

This study examined effects of participation in the Washington State Work Study program on students' career selection and full-time employment opportunities after graduation. The program provides financial assistance to needy students by stimulating and promoting their employment--as much as possible in jobs related to their academic pursuits or…

A follow-up survey was conducted of all clients of Wisconsin's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) services whose cases were closed between October 1988 through November 1989. Of the 9,052 surveys mailed out, 2,498 (27.6%) were returned. The following percentages of program completers reported some kind of work within 6 months of leaving…