School-to-Work: What Does Research Say about It?

This document contains six papers on research about the school-to-work transition. Following an introduction (Nevzer G. Stacey), the first paper, "Determinants and Consequences of Fit between Vocational Education and Employment in Germany" (J. C. Witte, A. L. Kalleberg), concludes from a nationally representative longitudinal study of 16,000 individuals in 5,021 households that only about 50% of German men and 60% of German women have jobs fitting their prior vocational training. Discussed in "Financing Apprenticeship Training: Evidence from Germany" (D. Harhoff, T. J. Kane) are the following reasons why German firms support apprenticeship programs despite their high cost: cultural factors, union support, the high cost of firing, and low apprentice wages. The paper"School-to-Work Opportunities: Issues in State and Local Governance" (S. P. Choy) describes federal and state policies directed toward developing transition programs to prepare youths for high-skill, high-wage careers and transforming workplaces into learning sites. Outlined in "Industry-Based Education: A New Approach for School-to-Work Transition" (G. Hoachlander) is a model school-to-work program. The final two papers, "Profile of Target Populations for School-to-Work Transition Initiatives" (S. P. Choy, M. N. Alt, R. R. Henke) and "Opportunities or Obstacles? A Map of Federal Legislation Related to the School-to-Work Initiative" (M. T. Moore, Z. Waldman) discuss state programming options in view of federal legislation targeting specific population groups. Most papers include substantial bibliographies. (MN)