This book contains 24 articles discussing the transition to employment for noncollege-bound youths in the United States. The book is organized around four major themes: background, reviews of research on students' transition experiences, employers' needs, and government efforts; analysis of programs, including successful ones in western Europe and Canada; and suggestions for improving the transition process. The following articles are included: "Odyssey of the Transition from School to Work 1960-1990" (Barton); "Forgotten No More: The Contribution of the William T. Grant Foundation Commission Reports on Non-College Youth and the Transition from School to Employment" (Melaville); "Expectations for Entry-Level Workers: What Employers Say They Want" (Passmore); "The Educational Reform Movement and School-to-Employment Transition of Youth" (Greenan); "The National Longitudinal Studies: A Window on the School-to-Employment Transition" (Nichols); "Research Review of School-to-Employment Experience" (Silberman); "Experience of High School Graduates in Finding Employment" (Stevens): "The Effects of Part-Time Work Experience on High School Students" (Kablaoui, Pautler); "Non-College-Bound Urban Minority Youth: Issues of Transition" (Cochrane, Mattai, and Huddleston-Mattai); "Improving the School-to-Employment Transition with Lessons from Abroad" (Cheek, Campbell); "Transition Experiences of High School Students Planning to Attend College" (Cargill); "Transition Programming for Individuals from Special Populations" (Sarkees-Wircenski, Wircenski); "Firm Size: The Overlooked Variable in School-to-Employment Transition" (Gray); "The At-Risk Student and Vocational Education" (Hanson, DeRidder); "Special Problems for Rural Youth and Urban Youth in Transition" (West, Penkowsky); "Apprenticeship Training from a Provincial Perspective: Alberta" (Preitz); "A Proposal for Making Transition from Schooling to Employment an Important Component of Educational Reform" (Hoyt); "Improving the School-to-Employment Transition for the Forgotten Half" (Pautler); "Improving Transition Experiences" (Doty); "The Role of Guidance Counselors in Improving School-to-Employment Transition Experiences" (Kozinski); "Curriculum Considerations to Improve School-to-Employment Transition" (Pucel); "Partnerships in the School-to-Work Transition" (Pease, Copa); "New York State's Compact for Learning and Its Role in School-to-Employment Transition" (Marron); and "Career Information Sources for Curriculum Development, Guidance, Vocational Counseling, and Career Education" and "Major Occupational Curriculum Sources" (resource sections listing 218 books, articles, and sources for further information) (Doty). (KC)