Figure 1. Key "All Aspects" Factors*

Listed below are several factors that distinguish "all aspects". The first five factors are considered essential to "all aspects", whereas, factors six through eight are highly recommended since they have been shown to enhance the benefits "all aspects" offers to students.

  1. "All aspects" encompasses a broad "industry" or field within the workplace. Illustrative fields include agriculture, business, construction, communication, community services, health, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation.
  2. Curriculum content and focus includes instruction in a wide range of industry or field-wide functions, concerns, issues, and technological knowledge and skills. Illustrative of the areas are community issues, environment issues, economic issues, finance, health, labor issues, leadership, management, planning, safety, technological knowledge and skills, and underlying principles of technology.
  3. Instruction includes strong emphasis on developing problem solving skills and basic and applied academic skills in technological settings. Academic studies focus on mathematics, oral communication, reading, writing, science, and social and behavioral sciences instruction.
  4. Students are provided with extensive experience in and an understanding of those aspects of the broad industry of field they are exploring and/or preparing to enter.
  5. Students completing the instruction are able to link their school studies and related experiences directly to a broad industry or field including the functions, concerns, issues, and technological knowledge and skills associated with that industry or field.
  6. Teachers actively collaborate with each other in determining content and experiences, planning instructional strategies, and teaching in a manner that integrates instruction and emphasizes contextualized, applied learning.
  7. "All aspects" is available to all students (in the school district, school, magnet school, academy) regardless of their future education and employment plan and aspirations.
  8. "All aspects" is creatively and effectively combined with educational reforms to produce a comprehensive school-to-work system.

* Included in the above statements is some information extracted from the Perkins II and School-to-Work Opportunities Acts.