DOCUMENT RESUME ED 357 794 JC 930 276 TITLE School to Work Transition: Vocational Education Resource Package. INSTITUTION Evaluation and Training Inst., Los Angeles, Calif. SPONS AGENCY California Community Colleges, Sacramento. Office of the Chancellor. PUB DATE 93 NOTE 27p.; Project supported by funds from the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education and Applied Technology Act (Title II, Part A). Cover title varies slightly. PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Ancillary School Services; Career Counseling; Case Studies; Community Colleges; Educational Resources; *Education Work Relationship; Job Skills; Minority Groups; Program Descriptions; *Special Needs Students; Two Year Colleges; *Vocational Education IDENTIFIERS *California Community Colleges; Secretarys Comm on Achieving Necessary Skills ABSTRACT Designed to assist community college administrators and faculty in enhancing vocational education programs and services, this resource package provides information on school-to-work transition programs within the California Community Colleges (CCC). The opening section of the report discusses the changing demands of the job market and the impact on students' educational needs; describes demographic and economic trends likely to affect the job market and workforce by the year 2000; and reviews the foundation skills and competencies of effective workers, identified in the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Report for educational reform. Next, the report describes Project Adelante at Long Beach City College, providing vocational skills training, assistance, and guidance, to disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and disabled vocational education students. A description is then provided of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement Minority Engineering Program at Sacramento City College, providing arenas for collaborative learning, personal and practical skills development, and a hands-on work experience program for minority students. The final section of the report draws from interviews of staff at CCC institutions and details strategies for successful school-to-work transition efforts, including business and industry input in curriculum development; forming advisory committees; emphasizing cooperative work experience programs; forming long-range partnerships with primary and secondary schools; and implementing instruction which addresses personal qualities and job search skills. A list of program contact people is included. (PAA) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** VOCATIONAL EDUCATION RESOURCE PACKET "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUC'-,TION Once ot Educatonal Research and Improvement MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION L. Goldenberg CENTER (ERIC) )(Trim document has Peen reproduced as reformed (tom the person or orgemzehon ortgmattng 0 Minor changes ha.e been made to Improve reprOduchOn push ty TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view Or OPmOne stated on tors duct, ment do not nCeSSenty represent otfloS INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) OE RI position or policy Chancellor's Office California Community Colleges 1993 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE This publication was supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education under the provisions of the Vocational Education and Applied Technology Act, Title II, Part A, as administered by the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges. However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and no officia ! endorsement by the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges or the U.S. Department of Education should be inferred. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION RESOURCE PACKAGE School to Work Transition Prepared for the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges Prepared by the Evaluation and Training Institute 12300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 420 Los Angeles, California 90025 1993 VOCATIONAL EDUCATION RESOURCE PACKAGES (VERPs) Vocational Education Resource Packages (VERPs) are made available to the California Community Colleges through a special project grant. VERPs are designed to assist community college administrators and faculty in enhancing vocational education programs and services, especially those serving special population students. Each VERP contains information about successful program strategies and ideas currently in use in vocational education programs at the California Community Colleges. VERPs enable the dissemination of various program approaches to interested colleges, and provide resource materials to improve or develop programs which respond to local needs. The VERPs are organized along thematic lines based on the needs of California Community Colleges. This VERP provides information on school to work transition programs. VERP Titles Partnerships with the Public Sector Industry-Education Partnerships Multi-media Instruction School-to-Work Transitions Promising Practices Trends in Gender Equity Staff Development Career Development Grant Writing Rural Programs TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE The special project grant that enabled the development and dissemination of the VERPs also provided for technical assistance. Technical assistance services and workshops are available free of charge through June 1993. The workshops and technical assistance will be provided by community college faculty and other resource people with relevant experience and know-how to share. Should your college wish to have an on-site workshop, or should you desire additional information, please contact: Leslie Goldenberg Evaluation and Training Institute 12300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 420 Los Angeles, California 90025 (310) 820-8521 (310) 207-2964 fax TABLE OF CONTENTS Background 1 Case Studies 5 Approaches to School to Work Transition 11 Resources 22 Bibliography 23 BACKGROUND It is becoming commonplace for instructors, administrators, and industry representatives in California and elsewhere in the nation to call attention to the many students who finish their formal education without being sufficiently prepared to take their place in the workforce. This is the central problem to which "school-to-work transition" refers. It is a problem which, in the words of David Gardner, "becomes more acute as the knowledge base continues its rapid expansion, the number of traditional jobs shrinks, and new jobs require greater sophistication and preparation."' Numerous community colleges in California are taking creative steps to smooth this transition and facilitate movement from the educational arena into the world of work. Statistics point to the need for creative solutions in the com munity colleges to the problem of the school-to-work transition: By the year 2000, the workforce will be older, more female, and more disadvantaged. At the same time, the workplace will require more highly skilled workers. By the year 2000, a median of 13.5 years of education will be required for new jobs. An estimated 75% of jobs will require education or technical training beyond high school.2 Of the twenty fastest growing occupations of the 1990's (including nursing, computer science, law enforcement, office-machine service and repair, engineering technician, banking and insurance) all will require some form of postsecondary education and training, but only two of these occupations will require a four-year degree. Numerous attempts have been made to more precisely define the skills and qualities which prepare a student for work. In one notable example, the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Report for educational reform identifies three foundation skills and five competencies that are needed for solid job performance. These skills are listed below. 'David P. Gardner et al., A Nation at Risk. 2Source: National Alliance of Business, 1986. 1 7 SCANS Skills FOUNDATION SKILLS -- Competent workers in the high-performance workplace need: Basic Skills -- reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking, and listening. Thinking Skills- -the ability to learn, to reason, to think creatively, to make decisions, and to solve problems. Personal qualities -- individual responsibility, self-esteem and self-management, sociability, and integrity. COMPETENCE--Effective workers can productively use: Resources--They know how to allocate time, money, materials, space, and staff. Interpersonal skills--They can work on teams, teach others, serve customers, lead, negotiate, and work well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds. InformationThey can acquire and evaluate data, organize and maintain files, interpret and communicate, and use computers to process information. Systems--They understand social, organizational, and technological systems; they can monitor and correct performance; and they can design or improve systems. Technology--They can select equipment and tools, apply technology to specific tasks, and maintain and troubleshoot equipment.' 3 Brock et al. Learning a Living, xiv. 2 The disparity between the educational level of many students currently making the transition into the workforce and the full range of skills and personal qualities for tomorrow's job performers called for by the SCANS fr Report cannot be ignored. Many community college educators and administrators have questioned the ability of community colleges to adequately address any of the five competencies outlined by the SCANS report until the educational institution adopts a more applied and contextual approach to learning. According to these educators and administrators, students in all fields require exposure to the real world of work in order to develop workplace competencies. These sentiments are echoed in the SCANS report which asserts that the most effective way of learning skills is "in context," placing learning objectives within a real environment rather than insisting that students learn in the abstract what they will be expected to apply. The two following case studies illustrate the efforts of community colleges to apply these principles and others in order to facilitate the transition from school to work of the students involved. CASE STUDIES Project Adelante, Long Beach City College Project Ade lante was initiated in 1991. Funded by a grant from the Carl D. Perkins Vocational & Applied Technology Education Act, the project targets the disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and disabled post- Amnesty population of Long Beach. The purpose of Project Adelante is to provide vocational skills training, assistance, and guidance to this special population group, to the end that they may more successfully transition into the workforce. The post-amnesty population represents twelve percent of the state's workforce, and the city of Long Beach has the fourth largest amnesty population in the state.4 Long Beach City College provides a number of different college services and special assistance to post-Amnesty vocational education students, for example: Basic skills courses on English (ESL), math, and science Technical classes Free ESL texts Forty-hour certificates of instruction in English and civics Citizenship classes and testing Academic and vocational counselling Career planning College support service information Community service and job referrals Bilingual personnel. Long Beach City College's efforts have produced the highest amnesty education student retention rate in the state. The college has served over 7600 amnesty students since 1988. Students eligible for placement in Project Adelante receive vocational training in programs such as aviation maintenance, automotive, auto body, diesel, electro-mechanical, machine tool, sheet metal, and welding. In addition, linkages and partnerships have been developed with `All material drawn from Ana Torres-Zayas, Skills Training for Post-Amnesty Students: PROJECT ADELANTE Final Report. 5