oss all the programs include a safe andorderly environment, a businesslike attitude among students and teachers, high expectations of allstudents, and strong linkages with business and industry, among others. Such programs can serve asmodels for other educators serving at-risk students.Similar success has been achieved by other efforts to develop integrated, career-oriented curriculafor both vocational and academic subjects. One example is the Educational Excellence throughCareer-Vocational Education project (Leising et al. 1989), which provided technical assistance,guidance, and inservice programs to reshape school philosophies, develop comprehensive guidanceplans, and review curriculum in all areas. Among the outcomes of the project were these: dropoutrates decreased from 16 to 11 percent; attendance rates increased by 1.8 percent; teen pregnanciesdropped by 50 percent; and suspension days decreased by 84 percent.Tech prep. Another new approach to education is the tech prep concept--a continuum of articulatedcourse offerings spanning the last 2 years of high school and the first 2 years of college (William T.Grant Foundation 1991, pp. 25-28). Tech prep programs typically include a strong careercounseling component, genuine school-college collaboration and articulation, applied academics inbasic subjects, and extensive involvement of local employers. Many states are setting uprequirements for tech-prep programs, following the lead of the federal Carl D. Perkins Vocationaland Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. HOW CAN THE BENEFITS OF CAREER EDUCATION BE MAXIMIZED?The benefits of career education can probably best be maximized by working with educators in otherdisciplines. Not all educators are aware of the advantages of career education for their students--andfor themselves. Academic educators need to understand, for example, that career education is not athreat to their disciplines; rather, it is a powerful tool that they can us...
