Vocational Education Work Programs: Providing Ample Time for Quality Work Experiences in Response to the Virginia General Assembly House Joint Resolution No. 359.

Overview & Synopsis

A study investigated the feasibility and advisability of restructuring Virginia public vocational education programs to provide blocks of time larger than those traditionally provided for on-the-job, cooperative, and apprenticeship training. Data were collected through a review of research and of education-work models; telephone and personal interviews with vocational education administrators, special program directors, Virginia Department of Education staff, and industry representatives; and the examination of nontraditional vocational education programs in the state. Education and industry personnel reviewed and critiqued the first draft of the study's recommendations. The following major recommendations are reported: (1) vocational education should be restructured to include a culminating, supervised on-the-job educational experience not to exceed 20 hours per week while school is in session for those students likely to enter full-time employment immediately after high school; and (2) scheduling supervised on-the-job experience should be a local decision and should include ample time for students to receive quality work experience. Four supporting recommendations were also made, including one suggesting the provision of a comprehensive program incorporating a vocational education component that begins in middle school for "at-risk" students. (The document contains a 24-item bibliography and two appendices, the first describing nontraditional vocational education work programs in Virigina and the second citing facts and statistics that provide evidence of the nature of the "at-risk" problem in the schools.) (CML)