Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) has been developed as an experimental program to help high school students bridge the gap between study and experience, between the classroom and the community. The key to the EBCE concept is the adult working in any local community environment who is willing to share occupational knowledge of the real world with an interested student. EBCE is a voluntary, tuition-free alternative program of full-time learning resulting in an accredited high school diploma. It differs from traditional work/education programs by emphasizing broad career and intellectual goals rather than vocational skills, by using experiential education to convey academic learning, and allowing students a greater role in educational planning. Four educational laboratories were selected in 1972 to develop and test pilot versions of EBCE in a variety of economic and social settings: Far West School, Oakland, California; Academy for Career Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Charleston, West Virginia; Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. One of EBCE's future challenges is to help school systems to make the changes needed to accommodate this complex innovation. The forthcoming EBCE dissemination/service plan includes regional demonstration centers, State networks, and interagency cooperation at the national level. (EA)