This final brief in the series focuses on policy options that can foster more innovation and address challenges in career education (CE) program development. It is based on earlier research for a series of reports called "Career Opportunities," aimed at identifying ways that state and system policy can best support the CE mission of the…

The purpose of this study was to analyze a prominent alternative education practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia through an analysis of the Virginia Department of Education's Individual Student Alternative Education Plan (ISAEP) program and the alternative education environment it provides. This was a descriptive study using non-experimental…

The federal government and private foundations for education have established postsecondary credential completion as a national imperative. Washington State's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) model was developed to increase the rate at which basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs,…

In response to trends toward greater accountability expectations for educational programs, a study evaluated the success of the implementation of Ohio's Individual Career Plan (ICP). The ICP is a document initiated by students no later than grade 8 that helps to outline initial career goals and educational plans to reach those goals. A core…

New Jersey GEAR UP has met, or nearly met, its recruitment and retention goals beginning in 1999-2000 and sustaining cohorts through 2003-2004. Student participants are members of low-income families and communities in four urban locations with high unemployment rates and high numbers of children living in poverty. The evaluator finds that New…

This booklet presents the inspirational stories of 31 people who were served by Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs in Illinois. Their stories reflect the mission and success of JTPA in Illinois and illustrate how these 31 individuals with diverse backgrounds--school dropouts, teen parents, former substance abusers, welfare recipients,…

Eight Minnesota school districts took part in a Statewide career education program involving approximately 570 teachers and 20,000 students from grades 1-12. Alternative models were explored at each site and included orientation and in-service training for teachers, curriculum/instructional materials development, dissemination, and community…

A program evaluation assessed the implementation of the Alaska Department of Education's State Plan for Career Education, 1978-1983. Focus was on the degree to which the state plan objectives involving curriculum change, career counseling, special groups, business and industry, home and family, and inservice education were completed. Activities…

A study was conducted to determine the net impact of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) training. (A measure of net impact expresses only those gains due to training and not those due to other reasons.) Job Service applicants were chosen as a comparison group whose recent labor market experiences would parallel those of JTPA participants. All…

As states continue to develop school-to-work programs following the federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA), a critical question regards the causal effects of school-to-work programs in achieving their goals. Rather than relying on published studies that would appear only with long lags, and which would be unlikely to focus on particular…

A study assessed the success of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs by examining current approaches, featuring operational and experimentally based measures, all using the individual as the unit observation. The research used Program Year 1990 JTPA termination and associated program participation records in Illinois and Texas. Two…

An evaluation identified the separate effects that the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare's Employment and Training Choices Program (ET) and the healthy Massachusetts private economy have had on welfare caseloads. The analysis was limited to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) portion of the ET program. Regression equations…

A statewide career education needs assessment was done in Tennessee by surveying all superintendents and samples of principals, teachers, and community leaders. State employment security data and Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) scores for a sample of the state's ninth graders were secondary information sources. The primary conclusion was that the…

The first round of site visits to welfare-to-work programs in Texas examined the nature and degree of program coordination at three sites: El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio. A brief overview of the growing literature on program coordination paid particular attention to welfare-related studies. At the state level, evidence was found of increasing…

This report examines the effectiveness of employment and training programs in Minnesota and discusses the impact of the 1985 Jobs Bill state legislation. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to Minnesota's programs and to studies of employment and training programs conducted nationwide. Chapter 2 studies the use of Job Training Partnership Act funds…