The research problem was to determine the perceived mean self-concept attitudes of academically at-risk students in Coordinated Vocational Academic Education (CVAE) cooperative education programs with at-risk students in regular academic programs as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale.

This study is an investigation of: the communication skill proficiency of two-year technical-vocational students; the effects of age, ethnic background, and socio-economic index on standardized reading and writing test performance; and of communication skill priorities with respect to content emphasis as perceived by technical-vocational teaching personnel within the Tarrant County Community College system. The purpose of this study is to provide information pertinent to; the development of a functional communication skills program which will complement the occupational student's trade skills; the further development of a pre-technical program currently in operation at Tarrant County Junior College; and the construction of similar programs in other community college systems. This study concludes that the research evidence warrants unique support curriculum programs designed to provide compensatory work and specific training for terminal students in general academic skill areas such as communications.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Under the direction of Barbara J. Mallory. ETD. Electronic version approved: May 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-285) and appendices.

The purpose of this study was to analyze students' specific ITP-related social skills goals, student self-reported social skills, and the relationship between teacher and employer ratings of vocational students social skills and problem behaviors. This study examined (48) vocational students, (24) general education vocational students and (24) special education vocational students in grades nine through twelve. The students' vocational teachers and employers also participated in the study. This represented (144) individual assessment of social skills and problem behaviors utilizing the Social Skills Rating System -Student version (SSRS-S) and the Social Skills Rating System Teachers -version (SSRS-T). The findings indicated no specific social skill goals were deliminated in the students' ITP's. However, the findings did indicate the general education vocational students rated themselves higher, on average, on the empathy subscale than did the special education students. The analysis of data comparing standardized social skill scores, social skill subscale scores, standardized problem behavior scores, and standardized problem behavior subscale scores between teachers and employers for general and special education vocational students indicated employers rated special education students higher on the cooperation subscale only. No other differences were found.

Ett inkluderande arbetssätt kan sammanfattas i att en skolverksamhet ska möta varje elev utifrån elevens förutsättningar och behov. Teori och forskning visar att inkludering är ett komplext begrepp som kräver kunskap för att som yrkesverksam inom skolverksamheten kunna omsätta teori till praktisk handling.Syftet med denna studie har varit att belysa och skapa en medvetenhet kring ämnet inkludering och dess utmaningar utifrån tre yrkeslärares, en rektors och en specialpedagogs perspektiv på handelsprogrammet. De utmaningar jag har fokuserat på handlar om inkluderingsarbete på handelsprogrammet. Vidare har jag i studien analyserat hur de yrkesverksamma inom skolan arbetar med ett inkluderande arbetssätt. Studiens forskningsfrågor har besvarats genom kvalitativa intervjustudier. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av teoretisk bakgrund och forskning med fokus på olika inkluderingsperspektiv enligt de intervjuades utsagor.Studiens resultat visar att inkludering är en utmaning i skolans vardag som handlar om att möta varje elev utifrån deras egna förutsättningar och behov. I studien framkommer även svårigheter inom skolverksamheten i arbetet med inkluderingsperspektivet eftersom skolan tillhandahåller begränsade resurser. Utifrån studiens resultat kan inkludering förstås som ett viktigt begrepp som bör genomsyra skolverksamheten på ett organiserat och strukturerat sätt. Studien visar också att det finns potentiella utvecklingsområden för att på ett bättre sätt i framtiden tillgodose elever i behov av särskilt stöd på gymnasieskolans yrkesprogram. / Keywords: vocational education, vocational students, vocational teachers, inclusion, challenges, business and administration programme An inclusion approach can be summarized as the requirement on schools to meet each student based on that student’s abilities and needs. Theory and research shows that inclusion is a complex concept; this requires professional teachers in schools to have the right knowledge in order to be able to translate theory into practice. The purpose of this study has been to highlight and create awareness of the subject of inclusion and its challenges based on the perspectives of three vocational teachers, one principal and one special education teacher in the Business and administration programme. The challenges I have focused on concern the inclusion work in the Business and administration programme. Furthermore, the study also includes an analysis of how the professionals at the school work with an inclusive approach. The study's research questions have been answered by qualitative interview studies. The results have been analyzed by using theoretical background and research with a focus on different inclusion perspectives based on the interviewees' statements. The results of the study show that inclusion, which is about meeting every student based on that student’s circumstances and needs, presents a challenge for schools in every day life. The study also shows difficulties within the school itself to work with the process of the inclusion perspective as only limited resources are available. Based on the study’s results, inclusion is understood to be an important concept which should be part of all school activities in an organised and structured way. The study also shows that there are potential areas of development in order to better accomodate students in need of special assistance at the secondary school vocational programmes in the future.

Research suggests that depressive symptoms and financial stress are both associated with increased levels of cigarette smoking, yet not every individual who experiences depressive symptoms or financial stress smokes. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether positive and negative religious coping moderated the influence of depressive symptoms and financial stress on current (past 30-day) cigarette smoking over and above the contributions of demographic covariates and nonreligious problem- and emotion-focused coping. Participants were drawn from a larger study comprised of a convenience sample of 1,120 post-secondary vocational/technical school students enrolled in programs such as welding, air-conditioning, and vocational nursing at two different two-year public colleges in Texas. These students are training to work in blue-collar occupations, which have higher smoking rates compared to white-collar occupations. Negative binomial regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. Depressive symptoms and financial stress increased the likelihood of smoking for female students, whereas financial stress decreased the likelihood of smoking for male students. Positive religious coping decreased the likelihood of smoking for females only. Consistent with religious coping theory and as expected, negative religious coping moderated the depressive symptoms-smoking relationship such that negative religious coping exacerbated the impact of depressive symptoms on cigarette smoking among females. Positive religious coping also moderated the depressive symptoms-cigarette smoking relationship for females. Contrary to expectations, positive religious coping exacerbated the likelihood of cigarette smoking among females with high levels of depressive symptoms. Negative religious coping moderated the financial stress-cigarette smoking relationship such that males who reported low financial stress and high levels of negative religious coping had the highest likelihood of smoking in the past month. For females, religious coping was associated with current cigarette use, but did not moderate the association between financial stress and smoking. Even after controlling for demographic covariates and nonreligious coping, positive and negative religious coping influenced the smoking behaviors of vocational students experiencing depressive symptoms and financial stress, and these outcomes varied by gender. Study limitations, implications, and suggestions for future directions in research are discussed. / text

Young male vocational students are in academia described as being less interested by politics and social issues and having less knowledge regarding democracy than other students. A culture of resistance is the appellation of the specific culture that emphasise the relations between young male vocational students. Deliberately arranged teaching with deliberate qualities has shown a positive impact on students’ learning as well as being a way of working with moral issues in school. The purpose of this study is to make researches into whether deliberately arranged teaching has an impact on  the political and social interest amongst young male vocational students. A questionnaire was conducted before and after the Civics A (social studies) course. Individual interviews, where the students’ ways of expressing themselves in regards to politics and social issues were in focus, were carried out. The deliberately arranged teaching was conducted once a week during one academic year. The students were then responsible for the content as well as ensuring that they abided by the set rules for the conversation. Limited alterations regarding the students’ interest for politics and social issues were identified in the questionnaire. However, the interviews revealed that some of the students have changed their way of looking at politics and their interest has increased. The culture of resistance that usually distinguishes the behaviour of vocational students in regards to core subjects was not found as a dominating factor. The students taking part in focus groups expressed a positive response to the deliberately arranged teaching stating it was the part of the course they enjoyed the most. To be able to express their views and listen to others was highly appreciated by the students who described themselves as serious and ambitious during classes. The teachers felt that this teaching style meant that there was a focus on relations and that the didactic question about content in the course were more complicated to execute.

Denna studie bygger på en fältstudie i två klasser på gymnasieskolans Byggprogram. Intresset är riktat mot hur ett antal ungdomar, vilka samtliga är pojkar och i varierande grad är ointresserade av så kallade teoretiska studier, förhåller sig till kärnämnena. Mer precist är syftet att analysera deras förhållningssätt till kärnämnena som en del av deras identitetsskapande i relation till dessa ämnen. I studien ses skolan och klassrummet som en social arena där mycket annat än formell undervisning pågår och är relevant för ungdomar när de befinner sig i skolan. Den teoretiska förankringen för studien består i ett interaktionistiskt perspektiv på identitet, bland annat influerat av Richard Jenkins. Därutöver utgörs den av ett genus- och klassperspektiv, samt motståndsteoretiska utgångspunkter. Metodologiskt ansluter sig studien till den etnografiska traditionen. Data som analyseras är observationsdata, intervjudata och inspelade samtal mellan eleverna. Analysen visar bland annat att ungdomarna använder sitt kommande yrke och sitt ointresse för skolarbete i teoretisk tappning som utgångspunkter när de pratar om sin utbildning, olika ämnen eller sitt agerande i relation till skolarbetet. Analysen visar också att ungdomarna både är konforma och oppositionella gentemot kärnämnena. De anpassar sig efter skolans makt att bedöma deras studieinsatser, men gör bl.a. motstånd mot den ordning lärare söker åstadkomma och den tristess och påfrestning som de menar att kärnämnena medför. Till sina konsekvenser innebär denna form av motkultur ett identitetsskapande som avviker från ideal som låg bakom införandet av kärnämnena, vilket innebär ett motstånd mot en statlig påverkan på deras liv, så som denna påverkan kommer till uttryck genom utbildningssystemet. Mot bakgrund av deras kombination av motstånd och konformitet tolkas deras förhållningssätt till kärnämnena emellertid som motsträvighet än som ett renodlat motstånd. / This study is based on a field study that was conducted in two classes in a vocational programme (the Construction Programme) at a Swedish upper secondary school. The main concern of the study is how the pupils, all of whom are boys who are indifferent to varying degrees to so-called theoretical studies, relate to the academic subjects (or core subjects) of their education. More precisely, the aim is to analyze their attitudes towards the core subjects as part of their identity work. In this respect, the school setting is viewed as a social arena in which much more than formal education is going on and has relevance for the pupils when they are in school. The theoretical framing of the study is based on an interactional perspective on identity, primarily influenced by Richard Jenkins. Additionally, a gender and class perspective as well as theories of resistance are used to understand the views and actions of the boys. Methodologically, the study draws on an ethnographic tradition. The data consist of observations, interviews and recorded conversations between the pupils. The analysis points out that the pupils use their future work as construction workers and their indifference to theoretical schoolwork as important starting points when they talk about their education, different subjects or their own actions in relation to their schoolwork. The analysis also stresses that the boys employ modes of both conformity and opposition in relation to the academic subjects. They adjust to the power the school has when it comes to assessing their schoolwork, but they also resist the classroom order their teacher is trying to achieve and the stress and strain of everyday life in the academic subjects. This forms a counter culture, the consequences of which imply identity work that to a large extent differs from the ideas that conditioned the implementation of the core subjects. In this respect the pupils are also resisting governmental steering of their lives as it is expressed in the educational system. However, since the boys have modes of both conformity and opposition in their attitudes towards academic subjects, their overall attitude towards this part of their education is interpreted as a form of reluctance rather than full-scale resistance.