Vocational Education through Cooperative Work Experience. Final Report.

Overview & Synopsis

A project was conducted to investigate the current status of secondary-postsecondary articulation of cooperative work experience programs, to identify impediments to the process, and to formulate recommendations for its enhancement. Sixteen New Jersey community colleges having a cooperative education program were included in the study. The chief administrator and the cooperative education operating administrator at each institution were asked to respond to a questionnaire which asked for two types of information: (1) actual activity in their cooperative education program which collaborated with a complementary system in their county, and (2) their attitudes and opinions toward general concepts and specific changes concerning articulative activity. A jury of ten professionals in appropriate related fields reviewed all aspects of this project. A follow-up letter, telephone call, and campus visit occurred at two-week intervals. After data on the returned questionnaire were analyzed, it was concluded that a working state plan for vocational education articulation between secondary and postsecondary institutions does not exist in New Jersey. (Responses on individual facets of the questionnaire are reported in detail, along with data tables. The survey instrument itself is appended, along with a bibliography.) (CT)