Public schools, colleges, and universities all strive to prepare students for the workforce or further education through career development activities and career education. Research shows many high school students have had insufficient exposure to and have inadequate information about career related tasks and duties. Studies also show that many college students begin their college career unprepared with the process and goals of beginning to make career and educational decisions. It is sensible to question career development programs within public schools systems when so many students in high school and college report little confidence in making career related decisions. Although many experts have studied and agree that career education is important in high schools, alternative high school programs have not been the focus of a research study. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the effectiveness of a career intervention program with junior and senior high school students enrolled in an alternative education program. This study specifically aimed to determine if students experienced increased levels of career decision self-efficacy following completion of the career intervention. A second component of this study was to measure students' perceptions of educational barriers before and after the career intervention to evaluate if the program was effective in reducing perceived educational barriers. Career decision making self-efficacy was measured using the 25 item Career Decision Self-Efficacy scale-Short Form (CDSE-SF), and perceived educational barriers were evaluated with the 84 item Perception of Educational Barriers scale (PEB). Students reported significant overall increases in career decision self-efficacy following the career intervention used in this study. Of the subcategories of the CDSE-SF (e.g. accurate self-appraisal, goal setting, occupational information, problem solving, and planning), only the goal setting category had significant increases. Students' perceptions of educational barriers to career development at the termination of the intervention were found to have declined but not significantly. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]