The school-to-work (STW) movement began in the mid-1980s in response to concerns about the U.S. education system's ability to prepare most students for the "new economy." Despite the fact that most of the STW programs and activities funded by the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 have only recently been established, a fairly extensive literature on the "process outcomes" of STW already exists. That literature has identified the following general principles for designing a successful STW program: (1) primary emphasis on academic achievement; (2) secondary emphasis on labor market success; (3) provision of general work skills and attitudes valued in the market and cultivation of a work ethic that will enable students to take advantage of those skills; (4) provision of specific job skills that are relevant to the local economy and jobs that pay above minimum wage and have promotion potential, as well as appropriate certification of mastery of those skills; (5) provision of computer and other technology skills; (6) mutually reinforcing school-based and work-based learning; (7) emphasis on self-determination and lifetime learning; (8) multiyear programming; (9) channels to immediate employment, additional training, and higher education; (10) job placement in the student's area of concentration; (11) staff commitment; and (12) creative short-run and long-run financing. (7 references) (MN)