Work preparation should provide adequate qualifications for sustained labor market participation and lifelong learning that lead to economic self-sufficiency and positive engagement as family members and citizens. Five barriers to productive transitions confront disadvantaged urban youth: changing structure of employment opportunity; skills…

The literature on integration of academic and vocational education was reviewed to identify strategies for school districts planning to integrate their academic and vocational programs. Among the topics examined were the following: reasons for integrating academic and vocational education; meaning of curriculum integration; essential components of…

A research team gathered and disseminated information on effective tech prep policies and practices for developing and evaluating program curriculums in the broad career pathways of allied health, business, and engineering technology in Texas. Data were gathered through interviews, site visits, document analysis, and surveys. Curricular documents…

The Owensboro (Kentucky) Displaced Homemaker Program assists single parents/displaced homemakers in sustaining themselves and their families by enabling them to enter the workforce. Barriers of age, sex, lack of work experience, low self-esteem, low educational attainment, and little knowledge of the work environment affect their ability to enter…

This Vocational Education Resource Package (VERP) was developed to provide materials useful in replicating an exemplary vocational education program for special student populations in the California Community Colleges. This VERP provides information on Career Beginnings, an exemplary program for disadvantaged students, originally developed at…

This report summarizes the work of five Minnesota organizations that received funding on a competitive basis to develop an integrated program of education, job training, and work experience for youth who have dropped out or who are at-risk of dropping out of high school. The report contains the following: (1) a brief description of the legislative…

This annual report includes an introduction on preparing a world-class work force, and three major sections. The first section provides statistics on 1988-89 vocational education enrollments in California by ethnicity, gender, program type, service area, and special need category. The second section provides brief descriptions of the vocational…

This guide to Maine and United States child labor laws and their relevance to school work experiences for youths aged 14 to 18 is intended to provide teachers, guidance counselors, job developers, and job coordinators with basic information on the standards and major provisions of the laws. Chapter 1 tells why the guide was developed; recommends…

The mission of the Student Training at Retail Stores (STARS) project was to develop and implement, with the collaboration of local business and the New York City Board of Education, a 3-semester program (January 1989 through June 1990) of intense occupational, vocational, and career education. Its purpose was to enhance job skills and secure…

This module is one of a series of 127 performance-based teacher education (PBTE) learning packages focusing upon specific professional competencies of vocational teachers. The competencies upon which these modules are based were identified and verified through research as being important to successful vocational teaching at both the secondary and…

Successful rural transition strategies which assist disabled rural secondary students in the transition from school to employment and community integration are described. Effective programs and specific strategies touch on such topic areas as job/career exploration, on-site job exploration, career planning, prevocational training, transition…

The San Diego City Schools (California) has received nearly $500,000 in federal funds to replicate and evaluate the following successful dropout prevention programs: (1) Motivation and Maintenance (M and M); (2) Partnership Academy; and (3) Summer Training and Education Program (STEP). The M and M program is designed to provide a case management…

These national standards are designed to guide local joint apprenticeship and training committees in establishing local apprenticeship programs to train individuals seeking to become skilled in the cement masonry, asphalt, and composition trade. Covered in the individual sections are the following topics: provisions of the apprenticeship standards…

The Connecticut State Board of Education policy known as the Common Core of Learning, outlines the skill, knowledge and attitudinal attainments expected of the state's secondary school graduates. This guide identifies the common core elements that can and should be reinforced through the vocational education curriculum. Information on the common…

This report provides the results of a questionnaire survey of 830 postsecondary vocational-technical students attending state-operated schools in Kentucky. The objectives of the study were: (1) to provide demographic information needed to prepare profiles of typical students by program area; (2) to determine the relationships of economic status…