The School-to-Work Opportunities Act, which was designed to improve student learning, in-school retention, and transition to the workplace, requires the restructuring of secondary education and the extensive involvement of business in preparing youth for the workplace. School-to-work initiatives reflect the conditions of the settings and contexts…

Self-efficacy is mediated by individuals' beliefs or expectations about their capacity to accomplish certain tasks successfully or demonstrate certain behaviors. When individuals have low self-efficacy expectations regarding their behavior, they limit the extent to which they participate in an endeavor and are more apt to give up at the first sign…

From its beginnings in 1906, cooperative education has evolved into a program offered at the secondary and postsecondary levels in two predominant models: (1) students complete multiple cycles of equal periods of academic coursework and paid employment; and (2) students' school day is split between school (usually in the morning) and work (usually…

Work-based learning may occur in the following forms: contracted instruction; cooperative education; school-to-apprenticeship; registered apprenticeship; career exploration; service learning; career internships; career academies; school-based enterprises; and clinical experience programs. The following are key components of work-based learning…

This digest is intended to help vocational educators learn to make the best use of the World Wide Web. Among the vocational education-related websites and uses of the web profiled are the following: a website that Minnesota high school students can use to search for career opportunities and check local classified ads; a website through which…

Because of the changing nature of work in society, higher levels of basic skills in reading, writing, and computation are needed in all occupational areas, whether or not they are related to high technology. Although research on the relationship between job performance and basic skills is not definitive, it is clear that it is more important for…