The time has come to start to improve students' job experiences and to improve the relationship between the work and school experiences. In rural and agricultural economies, student work was so important to the family that the school year was fashioned to accommodate it. As the nation became more urban, student employment for pay and student employment in family business replaced agricultural work. The fast food industry provided new opportunities for students to earn through part-time employment. At present, there is general separation between the student's world of school and the world of part-time employment. The total separation between part-time work and the classroom can be improved, although it cannot be made ideal. Experience-based education can be enhanced if schools know where the students work and what they do, and employers learn how their students are doing in school. Communication between employers and the school about the educational progress of student workers would help link the school and work processes to ensure that students got the most benefit from both. With cooperation between schools and businesses, student employment could become a contributor to youth development. (SLD)