This interdisciplinary career orientation guide for Grades 7 and 8 provides general instructions for structuring a vocational education program, its implementation and evaluation, and a rationale. The student-centered career development activities will focus on: (1) an introduction to the world of work, (2) information on occupational clusters,…

This report is the second in a series describing the background, theory, and progress of the Differentiated Staffing Project in the Eugene, Oregon, School District. The report discusses the Organizational Development Training Program, its rationale, its activities, and its relationship to the Unitized Project. It describes the main ideas of OD…

Examines general education and vocational education as the main foci of post-compulsory education in the light of curriculum planning. Perspectives (academic, pragmatic, and polytechnical) on general education are shown to be rooted in more elaborately formulated theories than are perspectives (employment-based and school-based) on vocational…

This guide is designed as a community-based resource for women who are interested in developing leadership skills in group facilitation, community building, and community action. It provides an integrated feminist anti-oppression learning framework that links social justice issues and the questions of race, gender, class, and all other forms of…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a method to improve student motivation and academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of seventh and eighth graders from a middle school in a small midwestern community. Motivational problems were documented by means of academic grades, homework contract referrals to the…

In fall 1993, administrators and faculty at the Crabappple Middle School in Roswell, Georgia, implemented the Multi-Age Team (MAT) program, creating multi-age teams of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. The projects' main goal was to enhance self-esteem. Additional goals included implementation of interdisciplinary, thematic instruction;…

This paper presents the preliminary results of ongoing case study research in the Learning through Collaborative Visualization Project (CoVis) testbed. The goal of CoVis is to promote project-enhanced science pedagogy. The project focuses on three areas: (1) project-enhanced science teaching and learning; (2) developing communities of practice;…

This book assesses the current state of adult education, including the traditions out of which adult education comes, its current problems, and its possible futures. It begins with an overview of Ivan Illich's theory and explains its significance for adult education. Part 1 examines the main historical traditions in adult education, including the…

The National School-to-Work Office in collaboration with the National Association for Gifted Children, the Council for Exceptional Children, the Association for the Gifted, and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted have identified 11 gifted education/school-to-work (GT/STW) models that are either best practices or unique…

A new curricular approach called Entrepreneurs in Action! was developed to encourage development of entrepreneurial thinking, including thinking "outside of a structured setting" and demonstrating creativity in problem solving. The effects of the Entrepreneurs in Action! program on the development of entrepreneurial thinking among…

A project carried out in New South Wales and South Australia examined ways in which Year 10, 11, and 12 students experience workplaces. A questionnaire administered to students in 13 schools received 1,451 responses. Case studies in five schools included interviews and focus groups with students and teachers. Interviews and focus groups with…

The role of generic skills in the lives, work, and employment of 127 dislocated workers in a broad cross-section of job categories in five areas of Australia were examined through individual interviews, focus groups, and a survey questionnaire. Selected findings are as follows: (1) generic skills are developed in all areas of human endeavor,…

Research in Australia on evaluating the application of action research as an action learning tool and its impact on the learning of students, educators, industry, and training providers, explored how that learning, in turn, has impacts on research, learners, educators, and the community. In the field of social and community services, in…

A research study in Australia examined the nature, extent, and methods of workplace learning for school students. Following a literature review that found that the proportion of school students who work part-time is increasing but that there is relatively little research on the learning outcomes of either work experience or work placements,…

The next step in the school-to-career (STC) movement is to build upon its significant successes in today's policy and political environment. The School to Work Opportunities Act 1994 codifies a reform agenda to promote academic achievement and economic opportunity for young people during and after high school. Its general principles are that most…