The book deals with postsecondary vocational education and the training of the middle-level worker and his occupational role in our society. It suggests that vocational schools and community colleges must combine in some kind of new institutional configuration and postulates an occupational core approach to vocational programs. The first part of the book attempts to provide a comprehensive description of vocational education and its overall role in education. Also included is an analysis of the role of the middle-level worker in society and a description of the paraprofessional. The second part looks at the important aspects of educating and training the middle-level worker, describes sources of education and training, and reviews the major characteristics of students who prepare for middle-level jobs. The third part shifts from present concerns to considerations for the future: curriculum planning, assessing the need for new programs, modernizing existing programs, selecting faculty and administrators, applying institutional research to curricula, utilizing vocational schools and community colleges, improving the status of occupational education, and statewide articulation and its relationship with State master planning. The book concludes with a plea for two-year colleges to become more occupation-oriented. (Author/PR)