From Prescriptive to Permissive Planning: New Directions for Vocational Education Policy.

Overview & Synopsis

This book has two goals: to convey to policymakers at the Federal and state levels a clearer understanding of vocational education and what can reasonably be expected of it and to develop an approach to Federal vocational education policy that is more performance, and less process, oriented. Chapter 1 provides a general overview of vocational education today--what is offered, who is served, what is accomplished, and what it costs. Chapter 2 examines the evolution of Federal vocational education policy from its beginnings in 1917 to the most recent reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act in 1984. Chapter 3 develops the argument for adopting a new approach to Federal vocational education policy and describes the elements of "permissive planning." Chapter 4 outlines a performance-based approach to evaluating vocational education programs and discusses how the desired outcomes of vocational education should be defined and measured. Chapter 5 addresses the problem of improving the accuracy and consistency of vocational education data. Chapter 6 presents findings from site visits to local secondary and postsecondary institutions offering vocational education programs to elicit local perspectives on performance-based evaluation. Chapter 7 adds a concluding note on possible future directions for Federal policy in vocational education. (YLB)