Post-recession Federal policy initiatives, such as secondary/postsecondary career pathways and gainful employment higher education accountability standards, prioritize the alignment of education practices with market-driven outcomes. Using longitudinal student record data merged from college and state K-12 data systems with the Unemployment…

Effective business-education partnerships can have the following benefits for special populations: additional resources in resource-poor areas, employment opportunities, increased personal attention, improved facilities, and better teacher morale. Partnerships should complement, not replace, existing educational programs. (SK)

Employer attitudes toward Wisconsin's Youth Apprenticeship Program were examined through a survey that was sent to 260 of the 733 employers involved in the Youth Apprenticeship Program in 1996-1997. Of those employers, 149 (57.3%) returned usable replies. Overall, the employers were very pleased with the Youth Apprenticeship Program's design and…

In order to identify and develop procedures for complying with the impact requirements of Public Law 94-482, Project IMPACT studied five problems: (l) how to define impact, (2) how to assess impact, (3) how to show cause and effect relationships between research and development (R&D) activities and changes in the vocational education…

Since 1988, state governments have been required to collect quarterly from private sector employers gross earnings by Social Security numbers, industry of employment, and county of employment. A study was conducted of 13 states' efforts to use this wage record database as a tool for improving educational accountability and assessing the impact of…

A 6-month study was conducted of Illinois job training, rehabilitation, and vocational education programs serving handicapped persons by the Illinois Vocational Education Task Force. From a list sent to 225 vocational and special education directors, Comprehensive Employment and Training Act prime sponsors, and rehabilitation services officers,…

As part of Project IMPACT's efforts to develop procedures for complying with the impact requirements of Public Law 94-482, a case study was made of the Illinois Network of Exemplary Occupational Education Programs for Handicapped and Disadvantaged Students. The purpose of the Network was to expand the quantity and quality of special needs…

Illinois-funded Project IMPACT was designed to identify and develop procedures for complying with the impact requirement of Public Law 94-482, with regard to the effect of vocational education research and development on vocational education programs. The study addressed itself to three problem areas: (1) how to define impact, (2) how to assess…

As part of Project IMPACT's efforts to develop procedures for complying with the impact requirements of Public Law 94-482, a case study was made of the Illinois Occupational Curriculum Project (IOCP). The top-down study traced the IOCP from its developers to its users and documented measurable changes in the 1971 versus the 1979 curriculum…

Three aspects of equity embedded in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 were examined through a review of the research literature: access, program effects, and student outcomes. The analysis suggested that access to vocational education programs for disabled students improved in recent years, disadvantaged and poor students…

A study examined the extent and nature of the services provided to in-school limited English proficiency (LEP) youth who were enrolled in Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)/Youth Employment Training Program (YETP)-vocational education linkage programs in four areas of Illinois. Included among data collection instruments and…

As part of Project IMPACT's efforts to identify and develop procedures for complying with the impact requirements of Public Law 94-482, a case study was made of Illinois Career Education Projects at the awareness level. First, the Career Development for Children Project (CDCP), which produced career awareness curriculum materials for elementary…

A detailed formative evaluation was conducted on a series of seven competency-based inservice modules designed for use by currently employed vocational and special educators. The topics of the module series focused on instructional development and on coordination of services and programming for special needs students in secondary programs. A…

A study examined the processes used by the Illinois Department of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education in evaluating vocational education programs and services aimed at limited English proficiency (LEP) students in Illinois. Data collection procedures used in the study included the following: (1) participant observation, document analysis,…

A study examined the processes used by the Illinois Department of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education in evaluating vocational education programs and services aimed at limited English proficiency (LEP) students in Illinois. Data collection procedures used in the study included the following: (1) participant observation, document analysis,…