ERIC Number: ED369852
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1994
Pages: 9
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
School-To-Work: Opportunity or Barrier? ASPIRA Issue Brief.
Mireles, Christina; Ramirez, Elizabeth Weiser
This report examines the issues associated with school-to-work programs being developed in the U.S. and provides recommendations designed to facilitate the process of developing a national school-to-work initiative. It stresses the nation's increasing need for better-educated workers but notes the low rate (less than 50 percent) of high school graduates who pursue a postsecondary education, and even lower rate (25 percent) of those attaining a 4-year degree, with Latinos experiencing the lowest educational levels in the country. School-to-work initiatives are viewed as a possible answer to the dilemma, but neither educators nor business people have been very effective at developing a model of one. Concerns about the school-to-work model revolve around the following areas: (1) too much emphasis being placed on the vocational aspect of the program; (2) too little flexibility for changes in occupational focus without harming academic progress; (3) the potential for displacement of current workers; (4) problems with access to the program, particularly for Latinos; (5) the existence of discriminatory hiring practices against school-to-work graduates; and (6) a lack of employment opportunities. Descriptions of five promising school-to-work models are provided. (Contains 12 references.) (GLR)
Descriptors: Career Choice, Compensatory Education, Disadvantaged Youth, Education Work Relationship, Educational Needs, Educational Planning, Educationally Disadvantaged, Ethnic Groups, High Schools, Labor Market, Minority Groups, Program Development
ASPIRA, Association, Inc., National Office, 1112 16th Street, N.W., Suite 340, Washington, DC 20036 (first copy free; additional copies, $0.50 each).
Publication Type: Reports - General
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Policymakers
Language: English
Sponsor: Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., St. Louis, MO.
Authoring Institution: ASPIRA Association, Inc., Washington, DC. National Office.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
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