Although there are many how-to manuals on forming business/school partnerships, there is little valuative information on what actually takes place within them. This dissertation, a case study of a school-to-work partnership between an urban high school's business education department and the local business community, affords a practical insight into the dynamics of such a cooperative. A series of in-depth, phenomenological interviews were conducted with student workers and their workplace mentors. Their candid, powerful testimonies reflect the backgrounds, attitudes, and concerns that each brought to the workplace. Their personal voices express the relationships and interactions that defined their work experiences. Additional interviews with key figures in several similar contemporary programs confirmed that business/school partnerships are as complex and sensitive as the personalities of the individuals and the characters of the institutions that form them. Although all of the participants in this study attest to the value and importance of such partnerships, it is also evident that the demands of sustaining a successful program are daunting. This study suggests that implementing the business/school mandates as proposed in school reform legislation will be difficult, if not impossible. The evidence in this study illustrates that predominantly minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds can succeed in an initial work experience, can grow through that exposure, and can then create new personal visions for themselves. Of the twenty-five business students who participated in this cooperative program, over half entered a two or four year college upon graduation; six were offered a permanent position with a business partner. The director of the partnership that is at the core of this study, a committed teacher and a business owner, was available on a daily basis to provide students with personal guidance as they assimilated new experiences, faced unexpected challenges, or redefined new understandings. The overall findings substantiate the value of such consistent individual support for students in their first adventure into the world-of-work.

American employers are concerned that our schools are continuing to produce an increasing number of graduates who are undereducated, unskilled, and unable to cope with the needs of business in this technological age. Schools are struggling to become accountable and must recognize the problems that affect the performance and success of students in and out of school. This study focuses on the perceptions that secondary school students have of the training they receive for entry-level positions, how it affects their performance, and its relationship to the perceptions/expectations and level of satisfaction of employers in the workplace. A Likert-style rating scale was used to measure the students' and businesses' perceptions of the secondary school training. One hundred eighty-students and twenty-eight businesses participated in the surveys. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics--frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersion, Pearson correlations, cross-tabulations, and chi-squares. Four specific research questions guided the study. The analysis of the data indicated that the majority of students show positive perceptions toward their school training for entry-level positions. However, variables such as gender, grade level, ethnic background, academic achievement, and employment status influenced the perceptions held by students. There was a significant and positive relationship between students' academic achievement and their overall perceptions of their school academic training. A large proportion of the participating businesses showed negative perceptions toward the secondary school training for entry-level positions in the workplace. Variable factors such as in-service training and type of product produced influenced the businesses' perceptions. While businesses were satisfied with some aspects of the school training, the overall majority expressed dissatisfaction with such training and complained about spending thousands of dollars annually for in-service training. Data from the study indicate that indeed there is a mismatch between the training students receive in school and the skills needed for successful entry-level employment. The researcher supports the recommendation offered by both students and businesses that School-Business partnerships are needed for improvement of student training and their success in the workplace.