These three newsletter issues describe what pilot sites sponsored by the State Vocational Education Consortium are doing to improve the academic competencies for general and vocational students. The first issue summarizes the activities occurring in pilot sites, including establishing higher expectations for general and vocational students, reading for learning, academic and vocational teachers working together, guiding students through a program of study, and restructuring the large high school for students in vocational studies. The second issue examines three aspects of the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress data comparisons: black and white students, females and males, and high achieving and low achieving sites. Among the issues raised are the the following: the achievement gap between black and white students, significantly higher scores of female students in reading, significantly higher scores of male students in mathematics and science, and perceptions of students at low achieving sites that academic teachers are not interested in them. The third issue outlines the following findings about integrating academic and vocational education: (1) the quality of high school experiences had a major impact on students' achievement; (2) sites making the greatest gains in achievement had a core group of teachers who bonded together and focused their mission on the outcomes of reading, mathematics, and science, raised expectations for students, and had strong action-oriented leaders; and (3) a major effort to improve secondary schools should focus on a few outcome goals, have a focus at the school building level, and have strong state leadership. (YLB)