The Career Intern Program (CIP) is an alternative high school designed to enable disadvantaged and alienated dropouts or potential dropouts to earn regular high school diplomas, to prepare them for meaningful employment or postsecondary education, and to facilitate their transition from school to work. CIP components are instruction, counseling, hands-on career exposure, diagnosis/assessment, and climate. While CIP sites were, at times, plagued by such problems as low morale and poor attendance, evaluation of the actual implementation of CIP at four sites, assessment of the impact of CIP on participating interns, analysis of factors related to CIP's success, and examination of the effectiveness of CIP as opposed to other programs for the disadvantaged dropout indicate that CIP has been quite effective in meeting its objectives and that it can be successfully replicated in new sites. Recommendations for improving CIP's design included increasing staff salary scales to decrease the high staff turnover rate, modifying the summer program to allow students more time for gainful employment and to alleviate transportation problems, and developing sanctions for unexcused absences. (Related reports devoted to CIP implementation, costs, structure, and outcomes and a comparison of CIP with similar youth programs are available separately through ERIC--see note.) (MN)