This study argues that school-to-work programs should be institutionalized in the schools to provide assistance to students without vocational education, who are not headed for college. Such students, it is asserted, are often disadvantaged, minority, and otherwise underserved youth. The report examines the issue of "school-to-work" historically, beginning with the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. It then analyzes contemporary school-to-work programs. Common elements and areas of tension are identified and described. It is argued that planning for the institutionalization of the school-to-work transition must center around one chief point: such programs should be an integral part of the education process. The Job Training Partnership Act is explored, as is the relationship between schools and the private sector. The Boston Compact partnership program is reviewed as an example of a quid-pro-quo agreement between a school system and a Private Industry Council, and the du Pont initiative is examined in the light of the findings of this paper. It is asserted that "no other initiative affords so good a mechanism for stemming the flow of new entrants into the pool of structural unemployment." (KH)