The positive experiences of one disaffected teenager in an Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) Program demonstrate the characteristics of an emerging program significantly different from the traditional high school; these characteristics include: a clinical mode of operation based on study and diagnosis of student needs; flexibility; cooperative analysis to select learning experiences for "goodness of fit;" individualization; a curriculum which defines only areas in which knowledge or proficiencies must be attained; a systemic approach which relates all the parts to the student's life-goals; use of media and technology; and a record system serving the developmental needs of the program. Community involvement, integrated guidance and counseling, and coordinated teamwork are other important characteristics of the program. Essential problems result from the fact that it is only a partial model, rather than a complete plan for the continuous education of children. The Comprehensive Career Education Model (CCEM) is not competitive with EBCE; they can exist within the same organization and can be mutually reinforcing, once several diverse problems are resolved. Chief among these is the stabilization of EBCE, and its incorporation into the public schools as the developmental stage is completed and the program enters phases of normal funding and mass participation. (Author/AJ)