Nan Stein's report "A Gender At Risk" (1988), prepared for the Massachusetts Department of Education, noted a discrepancy in reference to the economic and gender related consequences of schooling, in particular to the Occupational Education programs. A comparison of female enrollment figures in Massachusetts Occupational Education in 1982 and 1985 indicated that female students continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in some of the more highly skilled and lucrative trade areas. This fact is alarming considering the long term economic consequences for females, or as defined in "Equity, Educational Reform and Gender" (Tetrault and Schmuck, 1985), 'the feminization of poverty'. Female students need to develop skills and competencies that will allow them to compete in jobs that offer competitive salaries and opportunities for promotion. The purpose of this study was to examine selected characteristics of female students enrolled in a comprehensive urban vocational education program during the 1988-1989 school year and to identify factors that influenced their selection process. Research included examination of identified characteristics of female vocational students; reasons cited by the female students for choosing vocational education; and the influence of family and school personnel in the students' selection. Thirty-five female students in a vocational program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, participated in this study. Information was gathered from student records, surveys and interviews. The findings were presented qualitatively and quantitatively. The research documented two primary influencing components. A combination of internal and external factors, including the student's interests and skill levels and the influence of parents and teachers, were the culminating factors effecting the student's decision to select a vocational program. Contributing factors included the students math and reading scores and special education needs. Factors that did not impact the student's choice included socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and single versus two parent homes.

This study was intended to examine the present direction of development and implementation of non-credit management education programs by companies and colleges and universities. This study presented specific information that illustrated that many industrial and service organizations have developed their own management education programs to satisfy their perceived current needs. The research was intended to provide information into the changing needs of management education as well as the deficiencies of academic institutions in successfully meeting those needs. It was intended to assist both business and higher education to understand the long-term needs of management education and the effects that the fulfillment of these needs will have on business, schools of management, schools of education, and divisions of continuing education. A survey questionnaire was developed and sent to 308 businesses. A different survey questionnaire was developed and sent to 60 colleges and universities. The business survey included small, medium, and large sized companies in the north, east, south, and west in both manufacturing and service sectors. The survey of colleges and universities included small, medium, and large sized institutions from the north, east, south, and west including both public and private colleges and universities. The findings indicated leadership/management issues are the critical needs of business in management education programs and that the majority of the companies use in-house programs to address those needs. The finding indicated that there is a need for better communications between business and higher education on the needs of business in management education and how colleges and universities can satisfy those needs. The findings indicated that higher education and corporations have completely different objectives in sponsoring management education programs. It was indicated that the objective of business is to design management education programs to fit specific immediate situations whereas programs sponsored by higher education are broader in context and are not designed to fit specific immediate situations. The findings also indicated that management education programs have an impact on business and higher education and a cooperative effort can result in a positive benefit to each other.

Advancing technology demands workers who are equipped with the higher-order cognitive skills of analysis and problem-solving. Opportunities for upward mobility are increasingly reserved for those who possess the ability to learn how to learn. Recent studies have shown, however, many of our students do not master these higher-order skills, and they graduate unprepared to meet the challenges of the changing workplace. Although traditional vocational education attempts to prepare students for work, high school shops are devoid of the vitality of real-life worksites. If vocational students became interns in their field, they would have the opportunity to serve as apprentices in the types of real-world problem-solving and decision-making systems they will enter as adult citizens. In order to create this environment for hands-on experiences, I initiated a school/business collaboration between the Culinary Arts Department of a large, urban vocational/technical high school and a large food services organization and reported the outcome of my efforts in the form of a case study. Throughout the process of establishing the partnership, I kept detailed fieldnotes and journals, which later provided the basis for analysis and assessment of the collaborative experience. Through interviews with student interns, the director of food services in the partner corporation, the culinary arts teacher, and the coordinator of cooperative education, I have attempted to examine the school/business partnership program from several viewpoints. Student interns reported their experience in the corporation made them feel independent and mature. Their supervisor noted employees enjoyed "taking the students under their wings." The Culinary Arts teacher and co-op coordinator agreed the partnership program cultivated essential life skills in student participants. Analysis of the project from the perspective of Dewey, Rousseau, or Pestalozzi, leads to the conclusion that apprenticeship-type programs, through their experiential nature, can contribute to the development of the kinds of cognitive and personal skills sought by employers in the 1990s. Although school/business partnerships cannot be regarded as cure-alls for the problems in our schools, they can provide young people with opportunities to develop values and skills through meaningful activities in internship or apprenticeship programs. For a summary of the lessons I have learned from this particular partnership, please see the first page of the appendix.

Statement of the problem. The problem addressed in this study is whether special needs students progress in their prototype designation faster in a comprehensive or vocational school system. This issue is critical because within the past ten years an increasing number of special needs students have become a sizeable percentage of the students in vocational school systems. Methodology. The methodology utilized in this study was the survey method. An instrument was mailed to 65 randomly identified comprehensive school systems and 65 vocational school systems. The computer language BASIC was used to generate the list of comprehensive school systems. A vocational school system is identified as one which has five or more vocational course offerings. The approach was to utilize the "sample of the whole" method. There are 65 identified vocational school systems in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to the utilization of the survey instrument, the researcher conducted on-site interviews in six school systems; three comprehensive and three vocational. These were chosen due to their marked tendencies of significant movement of special needs students from the prototypes of 502.1-502.4. The on-site interviews was also undertaken to supplement the data generated by the survey instrument. Results. The survey generated responses from 13 comprehensive school systems and 19 vocational school systems. Within prototypes 502.1 and 502.2 (least restrictive) there were 8,423 special needs students from the comprehensive sector and 17,805 from the vocational sector. Within prototypes 502.3 and 502.4 (most restrictive) there were 5,488 special needs students from the vocational sector and 4,798 from the comprehensive sector. Conclusions. The conclusions of this study were as follows: (1) Increasing number of special needs students in the least and most restrictive prototypes were found to be in the vocational sector; (2) Increasing number of students from the vocational sector were mainstreamed; (3) More students in the comprehensive sector remained in their prototypes over a four year period of time. In general, the study determined that special needs students achieved placement in the least restrictive prototype settings in the vocational delivery system at a quicker pace than their counterparts in the comprehensive sector.

As a model program, this study utilized high school students who tutored elementary students in computer assisted drafting (CAD). The tutors (called interns) offered various aspects of Technology Education to fifth and sixth graders (called youngsters). All youngsters were classified as gifted. In addition to high intelligence, each had some learning disability. Consequently, they were both gifted and learning disabled, or G/LD. Using a case study method, this study compared five author formulated propositions to data from observations and interviews. Proposition I. Changing schools. By utilizing existing resources, teachers can bring about positive changes in school policies and procedures. The study examined a staff-initiated, adapted change in an existing classroom practice which gave school staff a sense of ownership and, therefore, encountered little of the resistance that frequently accompanies imposed changes. Proposition II. Cooperative education. College-bound students have fewer opportunities to participate in off-campus learning experiences than do non-college-bound students. Although scheduling and other difficulties work against easy implementation of cooperative education programs for college-bound students, the study demonstrated that such programs can be successful. Proposition III. Building relationships. The interns, as positive role models, provide a vital component in the affective development of the G/LD youngsters, many of whom tend to be isolates. Classroom observations indicated that the youngsters admired, respected, and confided in the interns regarding personal matters. Proposition IV. Technology and values. Fear of job loss, coupled with the fear that technology is beyond human control, causes people to distrust and/or fear technological change. The interns expressed concern regarding jobs, the environment, and, the threat of war. None expressed fear of technology or felt that it was beyond human control. Proposition V. Seeking new teachers. Because few capable students are interested in teaching careers, the study attempted to present a positive image of teaching, thereby cultivating an interest in the profession. Prior to their involvement in the study, all of the interns indicated having little or no interest in teaching. At the end of the year-long study, these views remained unchanged.

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences existed between vocational administrators' perceptions of vocational education with business and industry leaders' perceptions in Tennessee. The investigator's concern in this study was to determine the extent of differences between vocational administrators' perceptions of vocational education and perceptions of business and industry leaders in Tennessee. Forty-nine hypotheses were formulated to be tested at the .05 level of significance. The Business Industry Survey used was developed and validated by Walter H. Timm. The survey format was designed to allow responses to the importance and level of knowledge for certain identified Industrial Skill topics needed by entry level employees. The topics were: Math, Measuring, Blueprint Reading, Hand Tools, Power Tools, Stationary Equipment, Materials, Electricity, Hydraulics and Pneumatics, Finishes, Fasteners, Bonding, Communication, Free Enterprise System, and Safety. From the results of the data analysis and interpretation, significant differences were revealed in 36 of the 49 hypotheses tested. Findings are reported as they pertain to each of the hypotheses originally formulated. A summary of Survey Section I, General Questions, showed that administrators and business leaders demonstrated agreement that entry level employees would need either introductory or intermediate/proficient level skills. The summary of Survey Section II, Importance Rating, showed that administrators rated the importance significantly higher for 13 of the 15 topics (Math, Measuring, Blueprint Reading, Stationary Equipment, Materials, Electricity, Hydraulics and Pneumatics, Finishes, Fasteners, Bonding, Communications, Free Enterprise System, and Safety). For the remaining two topics (Hand Tools and Power Tools), the vocational administrators and Business/Industry leaders agreed on their importance. The summary of Section III, Levels of Knowledge desired, showed that administrators rated the level of knowledge desired significantly. Major findings indicated a significant increase in the number of programs being offered, the number of participants and the various ages of the participants. The community school established earliest utilized the services of volunteers to a greater extent than the more recently organized schools. There are significantly more community schools with full-time director/coordinators than part-time director/coordinators. Statistically, newspapers and word-of-mouth are the types of media being used by community schools to develop public awareness to the community education program.

This dissertation, through the utilization of inferential statistical analysis, analyzes the perceptions of administrators, faculty and students from selected regional vocational education facilities regarding the effect of environment on a student's ability to learn. Surveys were used to gather the perceptions of the administrators, faculty and students of the selected schools. The information gathered was then processed, tabulated and analyzed to ascertain whether or not the perceptions of the three groups differed significantly. The five target schools identified were regional vocational technical high schools in the greater Boston area.

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