As part of an effort to develop a skill-based education program for students that relates academic skills with workplace skills, the Community College of Rhode Island developed a working instructional model consisting of 6 areas, or strands, and 31 skills. The model is directed at students in grades 9 through 12 and recognizes the importance of establishing an educational continuum from elementary to postsecondary education. The six strands in the model are: (1) career occupational skills, including exploration, planning, preparation, maintenance, advancement, and transferable skills; (2) personal skills, such as attitudes toward self and team work, ethics, values, empowerment, accountability, daily living, and decision making; (3) interpersonal skills, such as communication, leadership, team work, conflict resolution, diversity, and internal/external customer relationships; (4) applied technology skills, including information access, information analysis, and computer literacy; (5) skills in understanding and working through systems, including government/political systems, social systems, economic systems, and organizational structures; and (6) critical thinking process skills, such as problem identification/resolution, information access, decision making, obstacles to problem resolution, and reflection. For each skill, a brief description, the targeted grade level, and suggested activities and assessment methods have also been developed. By implementing the skill-based instructional model, institutions can provide a sequential and cumulative program which is linked to the workplace and focuses upon life-long learning. (TGI)