This article presents a case study of a particular instance of business involvement in education, the industry-sponsored non-profit National Academy Foundation (NAF). While in the USA participation by employers in schools and educational programmes has increased in the last decade, the federal funding for such partnerships through the School-to- Work (STW) Opportunities Act is ending. NAF’s efforts pre-date the federal STW legislation and have been especially effective in recruiting and retaining employer support for high-school-based career academies. Combining data from fieldwork and a telephone survey of 192 employers involved in the NAF programme, the authors explore the characteristics of participating employers, their contribution to local education experiences, and the incentives and disincentives to their involvement. The findings demonstrate that sustained, quality employer involvement in education is possible; possible indications of what accounts for NAF’s success are also given. This study should help inform policymakers and practitioners as to potential challenges and benefits of institutionalising a large-scale employereducation partnership. © 2002 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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