Issues in Education: Vocational Education

Programs would smooth path from school to work
Article by Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler, St. Petersburg Times, April 2, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - The buzzwords driving education policy this legislative session sound more like Wall Street than Reading Rainbow.

Economic development, research commercialization, work force training.

In crafting new programs and curriculum for high schools and colleges, lawmakers are trying to transform the state's economy.

They want to make Florida "the next Silicon Valley," and to succeed they say they'll need young, educated workers with the kind of specialized skills that businesses demand.

NO DEGREE REQUIRED
Technical courses gain favor for those interested in finding new career path
Article by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2007

Without a college degree, are you condemned to a lifetime flipping burgers?

That's the conventional wisdom. Studies, aphorisms and the press all preach the gospel that a baccalaureate is the only way to achieve success in an increasingly competitive job market. What with outsourcing, technology advances and productivity increases, one might think the only jobs left for those who haven't graduated from college would be service-sector ones such as nurse's aide and janitor -- jobs that don't pay enough to support a middle-class lifestyle.

Truth is, there are plenty of decent-paying jobs that don't require a four-year degree. They include many familiar occupations -- nurse, carpenter, truck driver, plumber. But a number of up-and-coming jobs -- the not-your-father's-Oldsmobile category -- are also on the list: MRI repair person, solar-panel installer, biotech lab assistant, biodiesel technician. You could think of some of the new ones as chrome collar (working as technicians in various fields) or green collar (clean energy, environmental).

Career classes make a comeback
High-tech center, expanded programs fuel enrollment boom
Article by Jay Parsons, The Dallas Morning News, March 12, 2007

After almost two decades flirting with a one-size-fits-all dose of liberal arts instruction, school districts are bringing back – and vamping up – vocational classes.

Classes such as wood shop and auto mechanics began disappearing from traditional high schools in the 1980s, but they're reappearing at district-run trade schools alongside new classes such as advertising design, computer repair, engineering and health sciences.

Academy builds the future
Burlington program blends book learning, construction training
Article by Dani McClain, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 12, 2007

On Wednesdays, Jordan Koster has to get through algebra and journalism before the fun can begin.

I was in school all morning," he said once he reached his Introduction to Construction Trades class at Burlington High School. "I was bored out of my mind."

Koster, 17, is one of 52 students in Burlington's Construction Career Academy, a school within a school that sets students on a path to become anything from bricklayers to electricians to experts in computer-aided design.