This first of the two-part proceedings of an Australian Conference on Youth schooling and unemployment contains the texts of 26 research papers. Focus of the papers is on educational practices and specific problems in educational research. Topics covered in individual reports include student perceptions of specific courses; quantification in case study research; analysis of views on work and unemployment among dropouts; social background, aspirations, and educational achievement; vocational preparation and employment of phisically handicapped students in regular settings; technological change and female entry into non-traditional work areas; keeping pupils on the task; designing and implementing a meta-analysis; predictive validity of a class inventory; relationships between student characteristics, motivational and process factors, and effective career development; state response to youth unemployment; and the relationship between psychological differentiation and questioning behavior of teacher trainees. (The second part of these proceedings is available separately through ERIC--see note.) (MN)