Transition From School to Work: Linking Education and Worksite Training
HRD-91-105
Published: Aug 02, 1991. Publicly Released: Aug 12, 1991.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request and a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on U.S. apprenticeship-type programs, focusing on cooperative education (co-op) programs that assist youth in the transition from school to work.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Education | To strengthen cooperative education programs, the Department of Education should develop national data and conduct evaluations of high school cooperative education programs to help refine and improve program structure, as well as seek opportunities to promote and expand high-quality cooperative education in our nation's schools. |
The Department of Education completed the following efforts: (1) A series of seven "Omnibus Surveys" were sent to secondary and postsecondary administrators to determine the availability of cooperative education and other school-to-work programs. The surveys are being analyzed; (2) grants were awarded to demonstrate successful programs to help vocational education students make the transition from school to work. The grants are being monitored by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education; (3) a series of fact sheets on school-to-work transition issues was distributed to the public; and (4) a national conference on linking education and work raised the visibility of school-to-work programs, including cooperative education, and resulted in a report "Combining School and Work: Options in High Schools and Two-Year Colleges."
|
| Department of Education | To strengthen cooperative education programs, the Department of Education should request states to encourage schools to provide students with completed training plans, together with school and employer assessments, as a form of certification of students' skill attainment. Schools should consider the applicability to training plans of common skill standards being developed under the leadership of the Departments of Education and Labor. |
The Carl Perkins II Act authorized the Business and Education Standards Program to create national standards in industries and trades that could be used at the state and local levels to design occupational training programs. The Department of Education awarded grants to nine new projects under this program. Together with the Department of Labor, Education held hearings on developing industry-based skill standards and certification. The Institute for Educational Leadership, an Education grantee, conducted a multiphased study reviewing skill standards and certification programs in the United States.
|
Full Report
Public Inquiries
Topics
Aid for educationCareer planningCommunity collegesEmployment assistance programsForeign governmentsHigher educationLabor forceVocational educationWork-study programsStudents