Page 674 - Encyclopedia of Business and Finance

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SALES DISCOUNTS Part of the U.S. Department of Education, the Web
site of the Office of Vocational Education (OVAE) states:
SEE Pricing
Career and technical education exists in approxi-
mately thousands of comprehensive high schools,
technical schools, and postsecondary educational
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT institutions. Virtually every high school student
OF 2002 takes at least one vocational education course, and
one in four students takes three or more courses in
SEE Audit Committees; Securities Acts: Requirements for a single program area. One-third of college stu-
Accounting dents are involved in vocational programs, and as
many as 40 million adults engage in short-term
postsecondary occupational training.

Today, eighty-five years after the passage of the
SCARCITY first piece of federal vocational education legisla-
SEE Supply and Demand tion, vocational education is evolving from its
original focus on preparing students for work
immediately following high school to addressing
the needs of all students. With national and state
school reform efforts focused on academic
SCHOOL TO CAREER
achievement and with the fastest-growing occupa-
MOVEMENT tions now requiring some postsecondary educa-
tion, vocational education is seeking effective
One of the purposes of education is to prepare students to
ways to contribute to these goals. (U.S. Depart-
become productive workers. As occupations within the
ment of Education, OVAE)
workforce become more specialized, the development of
specific job skills remains on the forefront for educators. To better prepare highly qualified career and techni-
The changing labor market dictates that educators prepare cal education teachers across the country, the Career and
all students for future success. To ensure that students are Technical Educational National Dissemination Center
adequately prepared, a transition has taken place from provides online resources that enable individuals to partic-
narrow-job-specific vocational programs to programs that ipate in discussion boards and to submit initiatives as well
reflect the modern workplace. New programs such as as teaching and learning strategies. Strategies include poli-
biotechnology, the teaching profession, and logistics blend cies, rubrics, frameworks, techniques, procedures, and
the lines between academic and technical education. action plans. These online resources provide documenta-

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