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Vocational-technical education in Massachusetts: An examination of the African-American experience and prospects for change
Abstract
This descriptive study presents strategies and recommendations that, if adopted and implemented effectively, can lead to a significant increase in the acknowledgment of the importance of vocational education in Massachusetts' Black communities, as well as lead to an increase in the number of minority youth expressing interest in vocational technical education. This will lead to prospects for change. A closer look will be taken at the quality of education being offered in various vocational technical schools and programs especially by minority parents, educators, and civic leaders. The pressure for quality in vocational education will be very great in Massachusetts' Black communities; this means that educators, civic leaders, and parents will begin to ask more and harder questions regarding decisionmaking, allocation and use of resources, and the quality and profile of the teaching profession in vocational technical education in Massachusetts. An important expectation to be noted here, based on what some union officials have stated about vocational education and Blacks, is that the union community wants to cooperate with minority leaders and parents who are seeking to make vocational education work for their youth. This study began with the theme that vocational technical education can be a creative and exciting "public policy glue" tying together demography, the economic needs of Massachusetts, and the educational needs of Black communities. It raised the awareness of the importance of vocational education in minority communities through various forums and meetings; it brought together a network of individuals and organizations which could be the basis of renewed interest and attention to the role that vocational education can play in the economic development of minority communities, and in the improvement of the quality and relevance of education in these communities. Finally, the study resulted in several concrete strategies and recommendations which, if implemented effectively, could lay the foundation necessary to guarantee a significant presence of Blacks in the world of vocational education in Massachusetts.
Subject Area
Inservice training|Vocational education|Minority & ethnic groups|Sociology|African Americans
Recommended Citation
Moore, William Joseph, "Vocational-technical education in Massachusetts: An examination of the African-American experience and prospects for change" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9233114.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9233114