RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Area II:
  Institutions, "Systems," Governance, and Policy
• Area III:
  Curriculum and Pedagogy: Innovative and Effective Practices
  in Vocational Education
• Area V:
  Personnel in Vocational Education
• Area VI:
  Accountability and Assessment

Area II:
Institutions, "Systems," Governance, and Policy

Project RII.4
Developments in State "Systems" of Vocational Education and Job Training

At the same time, states have been proceeding on their own. Even if Congress fails to act, substantial changes in the nature and governance of state "systems" is likely, with potentially important consequences for vocational education, job training, adult education, and state economic development activities. However, the variety of these existing state activities is substantial, and there is no centralized information about what states have done, how many real changes have taken place in response to these changes, or whether certain approaches have more promise than others.

This proposal will examine state developments in education and job training "systems"--and federal developments, if any emerge between now and the end of 1997--in order to provide better information about alternative approaches to the governance of work-related education and job training. This project is divided into three major components. The research will have both a descriptive component--uncovering what is going on in different states--and a more normative component, finding examples of what might be "good practice" around the country. This investigation will also establish ties with a number of other national organizations interested in similar questions.

1. The Descriptive Analysis: Developments in the States

2. Identifying Promising Practices

The results of this portion of the study will be a review of some of the most effective practice, with information about the mechanisms of implementing them.

3. Linking with Other National Organizations

A monograph will be written, describing the results of both the descriptive analysis of states, and the efforts to uncover exemplary local practices. In addition, the information from this project will be invaluable in outreach activities designed to improve local programs. Third, collaboration with other national organizations will enable this research to inform the activities provided by a larger network of organizations. Finally, in the event that Congress finally passes consolidation legislation, the results of this project will be helpful in helping states decide how best to respond to the opportunities that consolidation opens to them.

This project will be coordinated with NCRVE's examination of school-to-work programs during 1997, since the efforts in this project to determine what states have been doing in their vocational education and job training are complementary to efforts to determine how they have decided to administer their STW funding.

Project RII.5
Learning and Doing: The Future of Workforce Education and Training

What should national policy for workforce education and training be at the beginning of the 21st century? In its final year, NCRVE will seize the opportunity to address this question squarely and thoroughly. At a minimum, the project will produce a substantial "policy paper" aimed at a wide audience of researchers, policymakers, professional associations, and the interested public. The publication will include a retrospective look at the evolution of the policies and practices surrounding education for work in the United States, and will also describe how "learning and doing" could form a more comprehensive, systematic foundation for organizing education and work in the next century. This product will also fulfill NCRVE's statutory responsibility to prepare an annual report on research pertaining to the transition from education to work.

The work at MPR will be closely coordinated with two other Year Five activities: the policy game being developed at RAND (Project RIII.5) and the concluding work on academic and industry skill standards at Teachers College (Project RVI.1). Two additional Year Five projects will be drawn upon: the study of state systems (Project RII.4) and new designs for two-year institutions (Project DII.1).

Area III:
Curriculum and Pedagogy: Innovative and Effective Practices
in Vocational Education

Project RIII.4
School-to-Work Opportunities in the Middle School: Concepts and Issues

Specifically, this project will do the following:

• Identify literature and research studies related to STW opportunities for middle school students.
  
  
• Identify exemplary locations where STW opportunities for middle school students have been implemented.
  
  
• Conduct interviews with persons at selected exemplary schools and school districts who coordinate STW opportunities for middle school students as well as with representatives of selected national educational organizations.

Project RIII.5
An NCRVE Policy Game on Workforce Education and Training

RAND and others have found policy games and similar interactive exercises to be uniquely valuable in assessing changing situations and increasing shared understanding of potential future opportunities and pitfalls.

A diverse group of some 60-70 leaders will be invited to participate in a two-day policy game. Participants would include state and federal officials, academicians, teachers, employers, and others who have expertise and decisionmaking responsibilities related to education and training for work.

Several written documents will be disseminated though regular RAND and NCRVE dissemination channels: a game report, a discussion guide, and a short issue paper. Research findings from the project will be disseminated through professional meetings.

Area V:
Personnel in Vocational Education

Project RV.3
The NCRVE Initiative on Teacher Education

During 1997, several synthesis and culminating dissemination activities will be undertaken to extend the work begun in 1996. These activities serve several useful purposes, including (1) summarizing NCRVE's work to date and its implications for improving and reforming educator preparation programs; (2) identifying and tracking reforms in teacher preparation that have been initiated by other groups; and (3) identifying potential research, development, and dissemination needs related to preservice and inservice professional development. The activities include the following:

1. Complete the syntheses of relevant NCRVE research (begun last year) in order to provide a basis for developing new design and implementation features for teacher education and professional development initiatives. The syntheses will produce at least one refereed journal article and an NCRVE brief which will posit a set of design principles for expanded community- and workplace-based professional learning.
   
   
2. Continue to monitor, critique, and disseminate information on current reform efforts being advanced by various national organizations. To date, information on these teacher education reforms have been compiled into a large database and matrices have been prepared illustrating the common ground and unique positions of the organizations.
   
   
3. Plan and conduct a Local Barriers and Resource Assessment Survey designed to identify the status of professional learning community development nationwide. Survey results will inform efforts by state agencies, colleges and universities, and others interested in promoting high quality, continuous learning opportunities for preservice teachers, inservice professionals, university faculty members, and staff development leaders. The findings and recommendations emerging from the survey will be published in an NCRVE brief in the spring.
   
   
4. Extend the search for promising programs and practices that are aligned with the general design principles for connecting professional learning communities to workplaces. To date, 15-20 programs and practices have been abstracted and the search for others will continue. Five to six innovative programs and practices will be visited. Detailed documentation profiles will be prepared. In-depth case studies of programs will be undertaken.
   
   
5. Sponsor a National Conference or Seminar focused on connecting professional learning communities to workplaces and out-of-school learning sites. This conference will provide interested professionals and policymakers with opportunities to develop their expertise in constructing professional learning communities.
   
   
6. Symposia are planned for sessions at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association--Teacher Education Division, the American Vocational Association, the American Association of Community Colleges, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.

Area VI:
Accountability and Assessment

Project RVI.1
Next Steps Toward the Integration of Academic and Industry
Skill Standards

Having worked closely with school-to-work educators, policymakers, and those involved in the development of industry skill standards, NCRVE is in a good position to move forward in an effort to develop a strategy for integrating academic, technical, and generic skills. Our 1996 Skills Standards Conference, Integrating Academic and Industry Skill Standards proved successful. After spending two days forging new relationships and evaluating the existing standards, it became clear to the participants and NCRVE staff that a follow-up conference is needed to develop actual integration techniques and prototype curricula.

Given the importance of this issue, this activity will organize this follow-up two-day conference. Similar to last year's conference, the conference will be structured as a working conference where participants develop the applied curricula necessary for integration using the standards as they now exist. Participants will include educators, in addition to policymakers, industry leaders, employers, and employees in fields relevant to the standard projects that we have chosen.

The following are the substantive issues, arising from last year's conference, that we will address in the conference:

1. Facilitation of the much needed communication and coordination that began last year between academic, industry, and policy leaders. This year we plan to push participants to produce tangible products from their efforts.
   
   
2. The tangible products from the conference will be in the form of actual outlines and examples of applied curricula that integrate academic, industry, and generic standards, using a scenario-based approach to educate and train students and workers.
   
   
3. We will look at the potential of creating standards that can serve both workplace and general education needs without diluting them.
   
   
4. Specific implementation issues will be addressed from the employer, educator, and policymaker perspective.

Project RVI.5
Southern Regional Education Board Technical Assistance Summary

In 1997, MPR Associates proposes to conduct a summary evaluation of what has been learned about the HSTW sites during our seven-year involvement in the SREB effort. We are primarily interested in assessing which sites have and have not made significant progress on the performance criteria adopted by the consortium, why some have succeeded and others have not, and how these findings could be generalized to other sites (inside and outside the HSTW network) seeking to develop a challenging high school curriculum of integrated vocational and academic education.

To carry out this work, we will perform three subtasks: (1) analysis of quantitative data already collected on HSTW sites, (2) case studies of selected sites, and (3) a final report.