To develop a competency-based program, a study was done to identify important life skill competencies needed for job success. Educational constituents concerned with vocational education (students, educators, and community members) rated a set of 138 competencies in six life skill areas: citizenship, consumerism, health, home and family, leisure,…

This publication contains a summary of the literature and research review conducted in order to identify personal/social skills and characteristics important to getting and keeping jobs. Also included are the results obtained from surveys conducted with employees who were graduates of postsecondary vocational technical programs, employees who hire…

By the middle of the nineteenth century American society was becoming restructured according to the concept of career. A new middle class emerged, and within it professionalism became the highest goal. The creation of the university in America provided the necessary matrix for its development, making possible new attitudes about authority,…

An assessment team of three industrial arts educators was sent to Utah to evaluate the Industrial Arts Career Exploration (IACE) program. Since its inception in 1975, the program has been implemented in thirty-eight of the state's middle and junior high schools. The major objectives of IACE are to reorient and expand the curriculum of the…

This report presents six papers resulting from a symposium held June 28, 1977, to debate the validity of three assumptions on education-and-work programs, particularly in relation to youth employment. Question 1, "Who should say what a child should prepare for: the child or the community?", is answered by Peter Schrag and Margaret…

Results of 53 studies correlating 113 school based variables and 149 environmental variables were tabulated and compared to the Goals of Basic Education for Alberta, 1978. School-based variables were represented by five categories: school facilities, personnel, teacher characteristics, classroom climate/practices, and curriculum. Environmental…

An evaluation project conducted at the Dona Ana County Occupational Education Branch of New Mexico State University was designed to compare the effectiveness of Century 21 Shorthand with Gregg Shorthand. Two classes of shorthand students were set up as experimental groups: thirty-five students in Century 21 and twenty-six students in Gregg. Their…

The document comprises the final evaluation report and the fourth quarterly progress report of Operation Breakthrough, an experimental demonstration project to upgrade Spanish-speaking workers in entry-level factory jobs. Ten classes at six sites with a total of 133 students were held; 53 attended at least 50 of the total 150 hours. Classes were…

The present study is the fourth and last in a series that specifically deals with the nations' schools, student achievement, and students' attitudes toward life. This volume employs new methods and categories of analysis to re-examine certain earlier findings such as the lack of any appreciable relationship between achievement level and having a…

The history of school desegregation in Prince George's County from 1953-1973 is documented in this report, presenting a detailed chronology and analysis of the forces and figures that affect realization of children's constitutional rights. Chapters include: an overview of Prince George's County, a racial profile of the schools 1953-64, HEW's…

These two articles focus on opportunity programs in higher education, the first of which notes that the state of the art of designing and delivering these programs is confused, contradictory, and yet encouraging. Positive and negative research findings and program variation contributes to the confused state of the art. Another problem concerns the…

The six-year study examined the impact of various secondary school occupational education programs upon the lifestyle of Massachusetts students, classes of 1969 and 1973. Focusing upon school-labor market relations, the report aims to provide a base for improving policies to prepare and guide students into successful careers. Four substantive…

A 3-year study was conducted to validate the eight-factor Vocational Capacity Scale (VCS), designed for use with the retarded. Subjects were 366 institutionalized mental retardates, both educable and trainable, aged 15 to 30, who were administered the VCS twice, 1 year apart. Social workers and staff worked individually to promote the highest…

This study examined the costs and benefits of alternative high school programs for Alaskan village children. It attempted to determine what actually happens to village adolescents in different high school programs, why it happens, and what, if anything, can be done about it. Research methods studied the effects of 3 types of high school programs…

This study determined the role of self-efficacy on women's selection of math-related careers. Unlike a similar study conducted by Zeldin and Pajares (2000), this study included African-American women. It centered on Banduras (1986, 1987) four sources for self-efficacy perceptions (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasions, and…