The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a locally developed career orientation program which was infused with the social studies and the mathematics-science-health curricula of the fifth, sixth and seventh grades in Danville, Virginia. The students of two schools, Edwin A. Gibson Middle School and Irvin W. Taylor Middle School, made up the total stratified population for the investigation. The problem addressed was: "Does the career orientation program, as designed, improve the career development and heighten the academic achievement of the middle school students?" A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used. The instruments used to collect the data were the Career Maturity Inventory and Science Research Associates' Achievement Series. The data were analysed for the three distinct grade levels and used to test eight null hypotheses; five of which related to career development and three which related to academic achievement. None of the null hypotheses could be rejected therefore, no evidence was found which would support the effectiveness of the career orientation program. During the treatment period, however, the program implementation was monitored and the curriculum recommendations were found to have been used less by teachers than had been anticipated. While the career orientation program, as implemented, did not seem to enhance career development nor heighten academic achievement, it also did not seem to be detrimental to the normal progress of the fifth, sixth and seventh grade students studied. / Ed. D.

Ed. D.

The study investigated the events that led to the establishment of the exemplary job placement projects,the organizational process of the projects in the secondary schools, the objectives most difficult to accomplish, and the current status of the projects. This study resulted from the awareness that no single accumulation of materials exists on exemplary job placement projects in Virginia's secondary schools. A review of the literature revealed that early job placement efforts for school students began with the work of individual teachers, settlement workers, vocational bureau counselors and community organizations. In 1914 the Placement Bureau of Roxbury, Massachusetts, which had been established by a civic group, was the first placement office to be incorporated into the public schools (Brewer, 1942). In the early 1960's, attention was drawn to the high unemployment rate of youth. In an attempt to reduce the high level of youth unemployment, Congress passed the 1968 Vocational Education Amendments (P.L. 90-576) which provided for exemplary activities to bridge the gap between school and work. In Virginia, the Vocational Education Staff, State Department of Education, chose to develop exemplary job placement projects to help students in the transition from school to work. By means of interviews and document analysis, the following findings relevant to the four major research questions were obtained. Findings of the study show that five events led to the development of the exemplary job placement projects: (1) a resurgence of interest in vocational education and placement as a part of the comprehensive vocational program; (2) a need for skills re-training due to a shift away from a manufacturing economy; (3) a demand for education to assume an equal responsibility for assisting students to enter the world of work as had been done with college bound students; (4) the equality of educational opportunity movement; and (5) a grass roots movement to upgrade public education (Caruthers, 1983). Eleven projects were organized across the Commonwealth within a three year period. The projects were funded for a three year period on a diminishing basis. Procedures and guidelines for organizing the projects were mailed to project directors. In-service workshops provided a time for sharing and developing materials. Eight project objectives established by the State Department of Education, Vocational Division were to: (1) assist in the placement of dropouts; (2) assist in the placement of high school graduates; (3) assist in the placement of students on part-time jobs; (4) assist students to advance in positions; (5) work closely with cooperative education coordinators; (6) work closely with guidance counselors; (7) advise students about continuing education opportunities; and (8) make provisions for preemployment training. The most difficult objectives to accomplish, according to project directors, were assisting in the placement of dropouts and preemployment training. Six of the eleven exemplary job placement projects are still in operation. Four projects were discontinued at the end of the three year funding period and a fifth project was phased out in 1982. / Ed. D.