Crisis Issues in Vocational Education and Training.

Overview & Synopsis

These three papers were delivered as part of a conference panel that was intended to alert advisory councils to the precarious situation of vocational education in the United States today. The first paper, "Crisis Issues in Vocational Education and Training" by Charles R. Doty, makes a case for establishing a program to finance full-time study for potential leaders of vocational and technical education at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. In his paper entitled "Recommendations for Vocational Education to Be a Partner in New Jersey Educational Reform," Elric A. Cicchetti discusses the benefits to be derived from establishing a commission to study the issues and concerns of vocational education, formulating a policy to allow students to obtain academic credit for training received in vocational courses, developing programs for articulation between secondary and postsecondary vocational education and between industrial arts and traditional academic programs, and expanding inservice training for vocational instructors. The final report, "Vocational Educators Respond to a Perceived Educational Crisis" by Conrad C. Shuman, begins with the argument that there is no crisis in education that is any different from any seen in the last 30 years and ends by reaffirming the need for vocational education to reexamine its links with and relevance to the business/industrial communities and to update its equipment, methods, and staff accordingly. (MN)