SCHOOL TO WORK
OPPORTUNITIES
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
School-to-Work
GLOSSARY
OF TERMS
The National School-to-Work Office
400 Virginia Avenue, SW, Room 210
Washington, DC 20024
The School-to-Work Glossary of Terms was developed by state grantees, the National School-to-Work Office, and MPR Associates.
School-to-Work is a joint initiative sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the Departments or any other agency in the U.S. government.
To order a copy, contact the National School-to-Work Learning & Information Center at 400 Virginia Avenue, SW, Room 210, Washington, DC 20024,
(800) 251-7236.
Published by the National School-to-Work Office, Washington, DC, July 1996.
Introduction
School-to-Work (STW) is a new approach to learning in America's schools that links students, schools and workplaces. Locally-driven and community-based, it is an effort to reform education that combines high-level academic achievement with a graduated understanding of the world of work. A new way of preparing young people for their ultimate entry into the workplace, STW also encourages schools at secondary and postsecondary levels to develop school-to-Work systems cooperatively - together with employers, unions, civic groups, and other public and private sector organizations.
Enacted into federal legislation in 1994, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act provides venture capital to states and communities that compete to bring school-to-work into their neighborhoods. The Act is jointly funded by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education. As school-to-work systems emerge throughout the country, we believe a "common language" may help to describe the elements that comprise them. The School-to-Work Glossary of Terms offers a reference point to a multi-faceted and highly decentralized movement. Like the effort of the local partnerships that bring school-to-work into communities, the glossary's definitions are the result of an intense collaboration between State STW coordinators and their stakeholder colleagues.
Where available, we pulled definitions from the Act. Generally, however, most definitions derived from the meanings the terms have acquired through use. The more complex definitions are illustrated with examples.
JD Hoye
Director, National School-to-Work Office