(2) to provide general education courses for cultural, recreational, or civic purposes.

Occupational education in the community colleges has been planned to provide the knowledge and skills needed by a student to obtain a job and advance. This objective has been carried out through short-term certificate programs, apprenticeship education, 2-year occupational programs leading to an associate of arts degree, and courses designed to upgrade employment and to lead to job advancement.

Vocational training has been so combined with the other purposes of the community college that the students pursuing vocational education objectives have been indistinguishable from students pursuing transfer programs or general programs. As the result of this blending of curriculum, students generally are not perceived by the community as being "vocational," thus helping to eliminate lingering stigma associated with misconceptions regarding vocational education. Students are not labeled "vocational," but are just "students," regardless of educational goals. Being able to attend a community college with a 2-year occupational objective is becoming more and more popular for the student and increasingly acceptable for the students' parents.

The importance of postsecondary vocational education to the community colleges is clear when it is realized that of the total 1971-72 enrollment of 851,834, 61.7 percent (525,720) of the enrollees pursued some occupational training goal. Approximately 35 percent of the students were engaged in transfer programs and the remainder obtained general education benefits. (See table 2 for postsecondary enrollment data.)

TABLE 2.-ENROLLMENT IN THE REGULAR (PART B) PROGRAM OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES

There are 96 community college campuses located throughout the State and are concentrated in metropolitan areas (San Francisco Bay area-18; Los Angeles area-24; San Diego area-7). However, several small communities of 6,000 or less population in rural, isolated areas of the State maintain full community colleges, and are the focal point for occupational preparation for miles around. The community colleges in California comprise the world's largest system of higher education.

Occupational education in the community colleges is grouped in 10 general areas. Accomplishments in each of these areas are discussed as follows:

The field of vocational agriculture is served by 40 community colleges, an increase of three over the past year. One hundred and fifty full-time instructional staff members served 13,397 enrollments.

Distributive education enrollments numbered 56,762 and office occupations education enrollments were 147,984 in 1972.

The health occupations programs in the 96 California community colleges cover 30 separate occupations. This number has increased from 22 in 1969. Programs are mainly day programs, and the enrollees include both postsecondary and adult students. Five dental assisting programs out of a total of 33 offer extended-day education for working dental assistants. One dental hygiene program out of the eight offers extended-day education. Three of the dental laboratory technician programs offer extended-day education to practitioners. The majority of the 20 inhalation therapy programs offer extended-day education to upgrade persons at the aide level. Of 37 medical assisting programs, 7 offer extended-day education. The nursing divisions in 54 participating colleges offer continuing education on a demand basis for improvement of current practice. All of the associate degree and vocational nursing programs make provision for upward articulation. The 25 radiologic technician programs offer extended-day education upon demand from licensed practitioners and medical persons requiring radiologic safety education.

There has been an appreciable increase in numbers of programs in the following health occupations since 1969:

The other programs have remained constant, and in some cases have been curtailed due to the studied needs of the local communities through the efforts of the local advisory groups and educational committees.

There is a total of 320 program offerings in health occupational programs in the 96 California community colleges. There were 5,803 full-time students enrolled in the 2-year associate degree R.N. program in 54 participating colleges in June 1972, and 1,902 graduated from these programs. There were approximately 5,100 full-time vocational nursing students enrolled in October 1971, and approximately 4,080 graduated in July 1972.

Core curriculums are being tried in the allied health clusters at the majority of the California community colleges. None has been completely satisfactory at this time, but a foundation program for health science is emerging.

The transitional program in dental assisting at Pasadena City College is still in progress, but has only a limited number of high school students who desire to meet the rigorous discipline of this

type of program. Compton College is continuing its readiness program for summer high school enrollees.

Program enrollments in home economics occupational education numbered 44,637 in 1972. The community colleges continued to play a major role in responding to the demands for the preparation of well-trained individuals to be employed in a variety of early childhood education programs. A total of 58 community colleges offered programs related to early childhood development.

Technical education enrollments were 51,742 in 1972. Although specific employment opportunities for graduates of environmental technology programs were difficult to identify, interest in implementing programs remained high. Several local studies have been completed which analyzed opportunities. Recommendations from these studies will provide information upon which to base program implementation and curricula.

With an increasing number of advanced technical training opportunities available, articulation efforts have had to be increased. Results are a better understanding of educational requirements resulting in little or no loss of students' work and credit if they decide to take advanced training.

Trade and industrial occupations education enrollments in the community colleges were 165,774 in 1972.

The State of California Plan for Equal Opportunity in Apprenticeship went into effect in 1971-72. This plan mandates that Joint Apprenticeship Committees (JACs) will bring into their programs a ratio of minority apprentices that is in keeping with the ratios of such minorities in the area of jurisdiction of the JAC. The period for full compliance is the period of apprenticeship in the different trades. Individual community colleges submit an annual ethnic report to the State showing the enrollment of minorities in the various apprenticeship programs.

The acquisition of Federal excess property by many community colleges has greatly increased training opportunities, particularly in trade and industrial education. Equipment, supplies, and materials acquired allowed districts to extend purchases to better serve students.

Individualized and self-paced instruction was initiated in many program areas of industrial education. Several colleges have developed multimedia individualized packages, and utilize an openentrance, open-exit teaching method. To facilitate development, colleges in several areas of the State have organized consortiums. Packages are exchanged freely among members and are sold for minimal costs to colleges outside the group.

Enrollment in public service programs, including criminal justice education, was 46,371 in 1972. The most significant increase in enrollment was in government supervision and management programs, with a 462 percent jump. Other programs with a sizable increase in enrollment were instructional associate, 55 percent, and instructional media technician, 60 percent. New programs added to the list were gerontology and therapeutic recreation activity leader. Through a statewide advisory committee under the sponsorship of the Articulation Conference, an articulation agreement that allows a student to progress from the associate degree social services program

to the school of social work education at the 4-year colleges was developed. The California Society of Parks and Recreation and the State staff sponsored an articulation agreement recognizing the recreation leadership program as the basic foundation for a 4-year recreation major.

The criminal justice education program in the community colleges was located on 74 campuses and had an enrollment of 41,569 students in 1972.

The State staff, together with the California Association of Administration of Justice Educators, developed and published basic outlines for a new five course core curriculum in criminal justice education. Three new criminal justice manuals were developed by individual community colleges on a project basis.

Fifteen inservice instructor training programs were conducted for criminal justice personnel in cooperation with the University of California at Los Angeles; 450 instructors completed this program. An estimated 13,100 instructional manuals on criminal justice were distributed.

Disadvantaged Students

Vocational education expressly designed to assist disadvantaged persons to achieve success in regular vocational programs is being conducted both as an element of part A (102,b) and part B of Public Law 90-576. Part B programs for the disadvantaged apply to all secondary school districts and community college districts receiving regular entitlement funds for part B purposes. Part A programs, however, are funded on a competitive basis under criteria established to maintain original congressional intent for the use of part A funds.

Prior to 1968, defined disadvantaged persons were involved in vocational education to an unknown degree. Now the level of participation is known by reason of special attention to this category by Public Law 90-576. Defined disadvantaged are now identified and assisted on an individual, prescriptive basis rather than a program or formula basis.

Concurrently with developing methods of defining the disadvantaged, special education programs, services, and activities had to be designed to enable disadvantaged persons to achieve vocational education objectives that would otherwise be beyond their reach. These programs, services, and activities were allowed to include special instructional programs; prevocational orientation programs; remedial instruction; guidance, counseling, and testing services; employability skills training; special transportation facilities and services; special educational equipment, services, and devices; and reader and interpreter services.

If certain disadvantaged persons could not benefit from regular vocational programs to any extent, even with program modifications or special supplementary educational services, those persons could be provided with special programs of vocational education if such programs met with the requirements of the California State Plan for Vocational Education.

Disadvantaged persons could be served in nonprofit proviate schools through the use of part A funds, provided that certain con

ditions were met, including administrative control supplied by the local public educational agency involved. Local educational agencies could request up to 100 percent of the excess costs of the proposed projects. In addition, the projects had to be described in the local overall plan for vocational education. Project proposals that offered programs, services, and activities to disadvantaged persons residing in the geographic target areas that had high rates of youth unemployment and high rates of school dropouts were given particular attention in the selection process.

The number of disadvantaged served during 1972 in the high schools, community colleges, and adult schools was 174,487 or 14.1 percent of the total number of students in vocational education programs. This number is expected to rise to 184,682 in 1977.

A 1972 study of 28 districts selected at random indicated that major impact has been made in the effort to keep would-be dropouts in school, and more important, to retain them in vocational programs where they will have the opportunity to acquire salable occupational skills.

Handicapped Students

The Vocational Amendments of 1968 (Public Law 90-576) recognized the need to involve more handicapped students in the regular program of vocational education. To insure this involvement, Congress stiupulated that at least 10 percent of the Federal allocation of vocational education moneys provided to local educational agencies be earmarked for handicapped students.

In 1972, the number of handicapped students receiving special educational assistance to help them succeed in a regular vocational or consumer education class was 17,179, or about 1.4 percent of the total vocational education enrollment. Handicapped students were classified typically into one of seven categories: Mentally retarded, hard of hearing, deaf, speech impaired, visually handicapped, emotionally disturbed, or other health impaired.

Before 1968, no attempt was made to compile discrete records concerning handicapped students served by vocational education; they were aggregated with other groups in a special needs, category. In 1968, special needs enrollment was 958 for all programs. If threequarters of this number were handicapped students, a liberal estimate, they would represent only 0.07 percent of the total enrollment in vocational education in 1968. The assumption can be made that the handicapped have greatly benefited from earmarked funds. Projections to 1977 indicate 53.251 handicapped persons will be served in California.

Adult Education

Vocational education continues to take a prominent place in adult education in California. The 39 percent of Ŝtate enrollment in vocational education comes from the adult education sector. Both the community colleges and the secondary schools-adult education-offer full- and part-time programs of occupational preparation-refer to table 3.

School and college districts offering adult-level vocational programs are able to design curricula and programs to fit local needs