these opportunities exists in spite of the system rather than because of it. They were products of a few inno- vative teachers or a visionary principal. Often when their founders left their school, their innovations disappeared as well. In addition, the quality of design and implementation found in programs using a career pathways approach has been uneven at best. Fre quently, "academies" or "pathways" are little more than names super- imposed on traditional curriculum and teaching methods.