Education for Tomorrow's Jobs (1983) / Chapter Skim
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4. Strengthening Vocational Education: Conclusions and Recommendations
4. Strengthening Vocational Education: Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 63-83
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From page 63... ...
Vocational programs are often conducted in settings different from those of academic or general education. Vocational education teachers frequently gain their occupational training and experience in industry, not in schools of education, as do most academic or general education teachers.
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From page 64... ...
The detrimental effects of this inferior status are nowhere more apparent than in comprehensive high schools everywhere, in which vocational education is often overlooked or slighted in favor of college preparatory education. Some of the problems are overcome in special vocational high schools and postsecondary vocational programs, in which many programs are of relatively high quality and their status is generally higher and more conducive to effective operations.
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From page 65... ...
Junior and community colleges provide an extensive, varied, and highly flexible set of vocational programs. In addition, there are proprietary schools; regional occupational centers; on-thejob training provided directly by industry, CETA, or JTPA centers; trade schools; and apprenticeship programs.
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From page 66... ...
While it is true that strong economies have skilled work forces, that firms consistently rate the presence of a skilled work force as an important determinant of their location decisions, and that vocational education programs increase the skill levels of their students, it does not follow that vocational education programs can create a pool of skilled labor in an economically depressed area. Because the skilled graduates of vocational education programs most often leave distressed areas that cannot provide employment opportunities, a skilled labor pool cannot be developed and kept in place for any period of time.
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From page 67... ...
It is the capacity of the program to meet or adapt to specific needs of employers, not the number of students trained or the pool created, that has the potential to attract jobs. Responsibilities of the Public Education System We have noted the critical need for young adults to master the basic educational skills and work habits required to achieve employability, whether college bound or not, and to attain more specific vocational skills and experiences.
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From page 68... ...
The teaching of basic educational skills is problematic both because of their importance and because of the ill-defined nature of the responsibility for teaching them. Vocational education teachers and administrators can shift the responsibility for failing to teach students who are not competent in the basic skills to other parts of the school system; in fact, teachers of academic and general education most often have not wanted vocational teachers to assume responsibility for teaching basic educational skills.
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From page 69... ...
Fourth, through their supervised work experiences, students establish an employment record that may help them get jobs. Characteristics of Successful Collaborative Efforts Most successful collaborative efforts are initiated locally, but some are organized at the state or regional (within the state)
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From page 70... ...
Some projects involve only one program or school and one business firm, perhaps also with the participation of a labor union or a community-based organization. A vocational education program may, for example, modify slightly its curriculum to adapt to advances in an occupation with the assistance of industry in the form of borrowed equipment, borrowed personnel, supervised work experience for students, or summer internships for teachers.
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From page 71... ...
Presumably, when enough vocational education teachers gain work experience in industry, this barrier can be overcome more easily. Attitudes toward education and training are also critical to collaboration.
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From page 72... ...
Tax incentives may also be used to encourage employers to lend personnel to teach or to help support vocational education teachers in the schools. Coordination of Vocational Education and Employment Training There should be as much overlap as feasible in membership on local vocational education councils and private industry councils and on the state vocational education advisory committees and the state coordinating councils required by the Job Training Partnership Act.
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From page 73... ...
However, the schools can and should provide remediation to students who need help in mastering the basic skills before they participate in work-experience programs. Lack of competence in the basic skills contributes to the problem of access to high-quality vocational programs, which is discussed later in this chapter.
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From page 74... ...
Currently the most common arrangement requires that people participate in apprenticeship programs for a specified period of time, after which they become journeymen. In cooperative education programs, high-school graduation signifies completion.
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From page 75... ...
A significant part of the problem is the deficiencies in basic educational or occupational skills or work habits of disadvantaged students. We believe it would do no good for us simply to recommend stronger basic education and more effective socialization of these students.
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From page 76... ...
The problem of keeping programs current is especially severe at the high-school level, in large measure because of the high proportion of tenured high-school teachers. Seniority, especially as a factor in deciding who is fired in a reduction in the teaching force, contributes to the problem of keeping vocational education teachers current in their occupational fields.
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From page 77... ...
Internships in business should be made available on a regular basis so that all vocational education teachers can periodically sharpen their occupational skills and knowledge. Such work experience should be considered part of in-service training for teachers and should be awarded appropriate credit in a system that requires such.
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From page 78... ...
These costs for any program, while not incurred annually, need to be accommodated by the annual budgets of local and state education agencies. As we have seen, capitation financing formulas for school programs limit the ability of education administrators to allocate funds according to changing priorities or differences in program costs.
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From page 79... ...
They will also need additional money to provide remediation for educationally disadvantaged students. improving Access to Vocational Education Programs Young people who live in economically depressed rural areas or inner cities frequently find it difficult to gain access to high-quality education and training programs.
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From page 80... ...
We have deliberately suggested a relatively high maximum amount for each grant to ensure adequate attention to basic skills as well as to vocational education needs. A vocational incentive grant program could give low-income students a larger choice in vocational programs than they currently have.
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From page 81... ...
The committee recognizes that these two approaches vocational incentive grants and individualized vocational education plans represent significant departures from current practices and is therefore unwilling to recommend national implementation of either model without substantial empirical study. We have far more confidence in the practicality and effectiveness of vocational incentive grants, however, and frame our recommendations accordingly.
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From page 82... ...
Department of Education, should be used to finance this work. Consumer Protection in Vocational Education All training institutions that accept vocational incentive grants or that receive Vocational Education Act funds should be required to provide to any interested party detailed descriptions of their programs, including courses offered, skills taught, requirements for enrollment, and opportunities for work experience, as well as written evaluations of each of their programs.
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From page 83... ...
The most effective vocational programs are deserving of that respect now, and we would like to see all programs raised to that level of quality and esteem.
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