Throwing the baby out with the bathwater: Changing requirements for a successful business education program

There are centrally mandated graduation, promotion, or curriculum requirements for the public schools in all fifty states. Most focus on academic rigor, and this focus has serious implications for programs of vocational education. One such program, a work-study program based on a public education/private industry partnership called the Philadelphia Business Academy, is undergoing significant modifications in response to new state promotion requirements. These modifications are altering many of the program's unique features, particularly its culture, and seem to be causing fundamental changes in the program's nature, operations, and effectiveness.