This guidebook was designed as a planning aid for districts participating in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) Career Academy Program, a partnership among the United States Department of Defense, the United States Department of Education, individual school districts, and the business community. The program personalizes instruction through schools-within-schools and provides leadership and vocational and academic training to at-risk youth. The program emphasizes high school graduation through academic instruction; critical skills development through a career-field focus; and citizenship, leadership, responsibility, values, and discipline through the JROTC course of instruction. Following the introduction, chapter 2 describes the academy model (its theoretical basis and overview) and chapter 3 discusses the roles of various participants. One table is included. The appendix contains an implementation timeline. A list of National Center for Research in Vocational Education publications is included. (Contains 10 references.) (LMI)