Describes how internship and cooperative education programs can help companies "test-drive" candidates before hiring. Outlines the importance of having management commit to such a program, ways to document the program, advice on selecting supervisors and mentors, tips on selecting interns, orienting them, and evaluating them, and evaluating the…

The Community Observation Project in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) has helped more than 100 secondary students with disabilities to learn prevocational skills and behaviors through observation and hands-on experience at 20 local businesses. Details of program implementation, including recordkeeping forms, are provided. (DB)

Career centers in universities are increasingly being merged with other student employment programs, such as internship and cooperative education programs. Experiential education (ex ed) is poised to become the largest service component of the new merged services. Discusses values to students, employers, and career services professionals. (JPS)

Perceives vocational orientation/guidance as a school responsibility. Discusses changing work attitudes, vocational guidance as counseling for life, parents' roles, work experience for 14-16 year olds, continuity between vocational guidance and competent career choice, vocational ethics, and midcareer and retirement guidance. Cites research on…

Six pilot worksite-based projects funded by the Department of Labor are described: preparing for metalworking careers in Pennsylvania; Workforce Los Angeles Youth Academy; Boston's Project Protech, preparation for health care careers; Maryland projects for manufacturing technology careers, high school tech prep, and at-risk youth; National…

Aspiring black journalists have some reasons for optimism, because there are job opportunities in journalism for minorities, with the greatest number of jobs in the newspaper industry. Internships and nonpaying experience can be stepping stones to an eventual career in journalism. Some resources for the would-be journalist are listed. (SLD)

Reviews reasons for incorporating work-based learning (WBL) into higher education degrees and the barriers to achieving this. Notes five key dimensions of WBL. Describes and evaluates environmental audits undertaken in a graduate geography course at Lancaster University (England). Makes recommendations for maximizing the benefits of WBL in…

A placement coordinator and career advisor combined industrial and career counseling expertise in preparing industry placements for British college students, who learned creative job searching, application, and interviewing techniques. Student feedback indicated the program enhanced employability and job search skills. (SK)

This article describes the establishment of Individual Development through Employment, Assessment, and Learning (IDEAL), a summer transition program for adolescents with blindness or visual impairments in Pennsylvania. The program emphasizes independence, work exploration, and social skills development. Data from participants, parents, and staff…

The main thrust of the research effort into workplace learning has been to identify the characteristics of workplace learning as experienced by the learner. The impact of the wider organisational process in which that learning is embedded have been played down. This paper, building on the work of Koike and Darrah, uses research conducted in a…

This study uses data from surveys of U.S. employees to determine whether any trends are apparent in the proportion who say they receive some form of training at work. Discussions of economic change in the U.S. and elsewhere have frequently asserted that work has become more intellectually demanding. This implies that training in workplaces should…

To make a smooth transition to a fulfilling, self-determined adult life, young people who use Augmentative-Alternative Communication (AAC) need effective services that meet their individual needs and make the most of advances in technology. Professionals will provide these critical supports with the help of this book, the first complete guide to…

Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is now an established but relatively under used process in higher education (HE). In our review article, we argue that this is because APEL not only challenges the traditional university monopoly of knowledge but also challenges other established processes and social constructions. Work-Based…

This article profiles Grace Abbott, one of the earlier 20th century American women leaders in Progressivism. Abbott's heritage influenced her lifetime commitment to social improvement. She was born on November 17, 1878 in Grand Island, Nebraska into a family of activists. Her Quaker mother, Elizabeth Griffin Abbott, came from an abolitionist…

This report contains 17 profiles that illustrate the successful strategies, environments, and activities taking place within the School to Work/Vocational Technical Education arena in Arizona. (Currently, there are 130,908 students in 251 schools in the state participating in these programs.) The profiles include many types of activities, from a…