Aligning for Student Success: The Role of Work-Based Learning

Investing in Work-Based Learning (WBL) within your integrated plans can build stronger community engagement, enhance career readiness, address academic disparities, and drive student success. WBL integrates real-world experiences with academic learning, creates meaningful career connections, boosts student engagement, and supports the common goals of the Integrated Guidance (IG) programs. WBL also builds strong community engagement by bringing community members into the school as active participants and taking students out to the community as active contributors. By embedding WBL within your community engagement, needs assessments, and strategic planning, districts can unlock significant benefits for their students and communities. WBL can also play a role in advancing the vision across Oregon’s Student Success Plans for every student to graduate college and career ready and transition successfully. We hope this guide helps advance the role of WBL in fostering student success, assisting you in aligning WBL with the common goals of the IG.

Start with Effective Planning

The integrated application requires planning ahead for the spring deadline. Please refer to the Integrated Guidance website for more information on the full process. Click each arrow ( right-pointing triangle ) below to find strategies that you can use to embed WBL in your planning process and application.

Community Engagement

- Engage with local businesses, industry leaders, community organizations, CTE advisory committees, CTE teachers, CTE Regional Coordinators, counselors, families, and students to gather input on their experiences and needs related to WBL.
- Use surveys, focus groups, and community forums to ensure diverse perspectives are included.

- - What opportunities do students have to participate in high quality WBL experiences connected to their classroom learning and goals?

- - What barriers prevent students from participating in WBL?

- - What needs for support must be addressed to facilitate student success in WBL?

- - What opportunities are provided for business and industry partners to support WBL experiences that are aligned with their workforce needs and objectives, while also addressing the career goals and future success of students?

- - What challenges or barriers do business and industry partners face in partnering with schools or supporting WBL?

- - What opportunities exist to enhance relationships and communication with business partners to expand and better support WBL?

- - What support and resources are available to help teachers and other staff members provide high quality WBL experiences, and what additional support might be needed?

- - Do students, teachers, business and industry partners engaged in WBL have suggestions for improving the value of these experiences?

- - What needs exist in the community that students can help solve?

- - What are the best ways to identify local businesses, industries, and organizations that might be interested in partnering to support WBL and students' career interests and goals?

Needs Assessment

- Collect and analyze data from your community engagement regarding WBL.
- Assess the quality of WBL offerings based on the WBL rubric.
- Review disaggregated CTE WBL participation data and Perkins Performance Indicator 5S3, Program Quality: WBL to identify gaps in participation. Apply the steps in targeted universalism as outlined in Appendix B of the IG. Additionally, consider reviewing participation across career areas, types of WBL experiences, paid/unpaid, WBL settings, etc.
- Use an equity lens and engage with your District Equity Committee to ensure that WBL experiences address the needs of all community members, especially focal student groups.
- Review policies and procedures for mechanisms to streamline and support ongoing collaborations between educators and other school staff and business, industry, and community members.
- Listen to community members about how they would like to contribute to schools and what would make them feel welcome as they support learning.

Outcomes/Strategies/Activities

- Based on your community input and needs assessment, develop clear outcomes and strategies for integrating WBL into educational programs.

Example Outcome

Increase access to Career Connected Learning for all students.

Example Strategies

Build deeper school-community-business partnerships.

Increase WBL participation, particularly among focal student groups, in the six approved WBL types.

Craft policies and processes to make it easier for teachers and community members to collaborate.

- Identify specific activities that align with your strategies and support the overarching goals of the IG.

Example Activities

- - Hire a CCL Coordinator to facilitate partnerships between schools and employers and build WBL opportunities.
  - Bring CTE teachers, business and industry partners together to create project-based WBL experiences linked to industry needs.
  - Explore steps to create a Registered Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program.
  - Provide transportation to internships to reduce barriers.
  - Provide professional development for teachers on integrating WBL and WBL best practices.
  - Establish a regional framework to streamline background checks, insurance requirements, and other logistics to create a consistent and welcoming experience for business partners interested in engaging in WBL.

Budget

Once the community engagement and needs assessment have shaped the outcomes and strategies for integrating WBL into educational programs, the following funding sources can support the implementation of the planned activities:

- Perkins funds aligned with CTE Programs of Study to promote WBL (within Perkins parameters)
- High School Success funds for enhancing student engagement and expanding CTE
- General school funds to create opportunities for all students
- Student Investment Account funds to increase WBL participation among underserved students

Embed WBL within your Integrated Application

The integrated programs target four common goals: Equity Advanced, Engaged Community, Well-Rounded Education and Strengthened Systems and Capacity. Please refer to the IG guidance for more information on each of these goals. Click each arrow ( right-pointing triangle ) below to will find strategies that you can use to embed WBL into your district’s integrated application.

Equity Advanced: WBL can improve opportunities for all students, particularly those who have historically experienced disparities, by providing experiences tailored to meet their individual goals and reducing barriers to promising careers.

Application Guidance

- - Needs Assessment Summary: Explain how your community input, needs assessment, and WBL data informed specific decisions for your plan and budget, particularly in relation to incorporating CTE in the process.
  - Equity Advanced: Highlight any planned activities aimed at providing access or removing WBL participation barriers for prioritized focal student groups, including opportunities for students preparing for careers that are non-traditional for their gender. Discuss where your WBL activities aim to advance the recommendations in the Statewide Student Success Act Plans.

Well-Rounded Education: WBL strengthens students' post-secondary readiness by bridging the gap between academics and careers. Through real-world experiences, students reinforce academic learning, develop practical skills, and gain career clarity. WBL also supports social and emotional learning by fostering self-confidence and communication while building valuable professional networks for future success.

Application Guidance

- - Well-Rounded: Describe the WBL experiences that are available. Identify planned supports to ensure students engage in high quality WBL experiences. Describe your plans to expand WBL access and opportunities.

Engaged Community: WBL helps create stronger connections between schools and the community, resulting in increased engagement and support. Deep connections guide students towards meaningful, high-wage, in demand careers, allow businesses and industry to meet workforce needs with local talent, and ultimately, build and sustain communities.

Application Guidance

- - Engaged Community: Describe your improvements and barriers in partnering with business and industry in support of WBL.
  - Evidence of Engagement: Share a community engagement artifact related to WBL; such as responses from a business partner survey, posters created during a meeting showcasing the strengths and challenges of schools and business partners in implementing WBL, or meeting minutes from CTE advisory committee meetings where disaggregated WBL data was reviewed and discussed. Identify the partners involved and how their input informed the planning related to your WBL strategies and activities.

Strengthened Systems and Capacity: WBL strengthens educational systems by fostering partnerships with businesses, industries and communities - creating sustainable models for student success. WBL supports teachers with real-world contexts for learning and industry collaboration. With a focus on continuous improvement, WBL experiences can be refined based on student and employer feedback, participation data, and improved student outcomes, ensuring they remain relevant and responsive to evolving needs.

Application Guidance

- - Strengthened Systems and Capacity: Discuss WBL offerings as a component of career preparation and training that supports transition from high school to postsecondary education and/or workforce. Share your scope and sequence for providing all students with career awareness and career exploration activities that help prepare them for successful WBL experiences. Describe how students receive guidance and are supported in documenting evidence of their skill development and progress toward achieving the goals in their Education Plan and Profile, based on their WBL experience. Identify planned educator support to ensure CTE programs deliver equitable, high quality WBL experiences, including incorporating a collaborative continuous improvement cycle. Describe how parents and students are informed about WBL.

By supporting Work-Based Learning, districts can effectively address the common goals of IG programs, fostering equitable access to high quality education and Career Connected Learning for all students.

For questions or further support, please contact:

Brandie Clark, Work-Based Learning Specialist

Oregon Department of Education

Brandie.Clark@ODE.Oregon.gov

971-239-8662

Join the Work-Based Learning movement! Visit our WBL Endorsement Dashboard to show your support for WBL and help us ensure all students can access equitable, high-quality WBL experiences.