This document is designed to help local Florida communities and applied technology educators restructure their applied technologies programs to support development of the essential skills described in Florida's school-to-work initiatives. Among the topics discussed are the following: principles of Florida's School Improvement and Accountability Initiative; visioning (the importance of a local vision, applied technology vision statement); goal 3 standards as common processes and abilities for applied technology's content areas; applied technology strands, standards, and benchmarks; learning and teaching (new approaches, teaching to student diversity); curricular connections through instruction (models for curricular connections in instruction, organizational models for instructional integration, interdisciplinary units); assessment; the learning environment; professional development; and applied technology program improvement. Appendixes constituting approximately 60% of this document contain the following: Florida's applied technology vision, mission, and aim statements; Florida's School Improvement and Accountability Act goal 3 connections between student and teacher roles and standard outcomes; applied technology's "all aspects of the industry" developmental framework; applied technology's sample performance descriptions; instructional strategies for a 21st century applied technology classroom; English-as-a-second-language teaching strategies for all students; strategies for at-risk students to improve learning; and Florida state standard connections between applied technology and academic skills. (MN)