Vocational-Technical Education and School District Organization.

Overview & Synopsis

As a basis for establishing criteria for guidelines concerning effective and constructive school district organization in the four states of the Great Plains School District Organization Project, a past president of the American Vocational Association provided data on the purposes and organization of vocational and technical education for utilization by those with advisory or decision making responsibilities about the educational structure in each state. The following fields are discussed separately: (1) agriculture, (2) home economics, (3) business and office education, (4) distributive education, (5) trade and industrial education, and (6) technical education. These conclusions were reached: (1) Vocational and technical education, as essential parts of a modern public curriculum, should enroll from 500 to 1,300 secondary and out-of-school youth and adults in a vocational education center, (2) Vocational education programs deserve the support of business, industry, and the public, (3) Suburban and rural communities should join together to provide a sufficient student base and tax base for vocational education, and (4) Residential programs are preferable for sparsely populated areas, as opposed to a comprehensive program pattern for large cities. (AG)