Assessing the Coordination of Vocational Education with Other Federal Programs. Working Paper.

This paper outlines the issues involved in coordination of services provided under the 1990 amendments to the Carl Perkins Act with those provided under the Adult Education Act, Job Training Partnership Act, National Apprenticeship Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Wagner-Peyser Act. It presents questions that could be addressed to state and local education officials to assess the extent of coordination of vocational programs with other federal programs. Section I describes the provisions related to coordination in the Perkins Amendments to clarify what federal legislation requires. Section II outlines different conceptions and models of coordination, distinguishing between the kinds of coordination that take place at the local level and those that come from state governments. Section III reviews existing research that, in theory, can be used as "benchmarks" to assess trends in coordination. The final section outlines the methods and general issues that guide the development of questions. Appendixes include 16 references and 4 sets of potential questions--both closed-ended and open-ended--designed to be administered by conventional survey methods to the state agency responsible for secondary vocational education; to the state agency responsible for community colleges, technical institutes, and other postsecondary institutions; to local education agencies; and to local postsecondary institutions. (YLB)