College & Workforce Readiness

Career Education Is ‘for All Kids': How Work-Based Learning Can Engage Students

By Alyson Klein — April 03, 2023 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Work-based learning experiences can be a powerful way to help students envision themselves as professionals and make connections between what they are learning in school and the skills they will need for future jobs.

“My experience has been that it’s a very powerful engagement strategy,” said Jon Cerny, the superintendent of Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools in rural Nebraska during an Education Week K12 Essentials Forum on March 16. His district allows every senior to spend their Fridays either doing an internship or other work-based learning experience or taking online courses.

Some students are coming away with possible job opportunities, he said. “We’ve had students at hospitals where the doctors or nurses are [asking] ‘When are you going to graduate? We want you to come back.’”

The experiences also help students better understand how their coursework will matter in the working world. “I’ve had students in manufacturing who said, ‘Now I understand why I took geometry,’” Cerny said. Once students see those connections, they “work harder in those classes, because now they understand the importance it’s going to have in their real life work.”

Internships can also help students figure out what careers they want to pursue and which ones to shy away from, Beth Benson, the workforce development coordinator for the New Albany and Union County school districts in Mississippi, said during the forum. Her two districts allow more than 70 students to do a 100-hour summer internship in a field that interests them, covering their pay of $8.50 an hour.

“One of our girls went to work at the department of human services. She thought she wanted to be a social worker,” Benson said. “And after just one day, she was like, ‘please, let me do something else.’ And I’m like ‘it does take a special person to be a social worker. And I’m glad you didn’t just spend four years going to college getting that degree and realizing after that you don’t like it.’ That was a win.”

Benson’s advice to districts that want to start their own work-based learning programs: It’s OK to start small. Her program went from 13 participating students to more than 70 in about five years, she said.

Educators should also realize it’s not a problem to pull a student out of an internship if it is not going well, she said. “We don’t want to let the business down because two years from now we might want to place another kid that will be wonderful there.” But she conceded “it might be a hard lesson for that child to get pulled out of their internship.”

Cerny emphasized that it doesn’t make sense to encourage only students who aren’t planning to go to college to get on-the-job training in high school, Cerny said.

After all, he explained, even when employers are hiring for positions that require post-secondary education, they would rather take on workers who have had some hands-on experience in their field, even if it was through a high school internship.

“I think people are starting to come to the realization that vocational or career technical education isn’t just for some kids, it’s for all kids,” Cerny said.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Promoting Integrity and AI Readiness in High Schools
Learn how to update school academic integrity guidelines and prepare students for the age of AI.
Content provided by Turnitin
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
What Kids Are Reading in 2025: Closing Skill Gaps this Year
Join us to explore insights from new research on K–12 student reading—including the major impact of just 15 minutes of daily reading time.
Content provided by Renaissance

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Spotlight Spotlight on CTE and Beyond: Expanding Opportunities for Students
This Spotlight will help you explore innovative approaches to CTE, real-world learning experiences, and more.
College & Workforce Readiness Q&A College Board's CEO on How AP Courses Are Changing for the AI Era
College Board CEO David Coleman on AP’s shift toward career readiness, AI’s impact, and new courses in cybersecurity and business.
7 min read
College Board President David Coleman attends an announcement event on March 5, 2014, in Austin, where College Board officials announced updates for the SAT college entrance exam.
College Board President David Coleman spoke with Education Week last month about the organization's move to design AP courses with input from the business community.
Eric Gay/AP
College & Workforce Readiness Not Your Parents' CTE: How Career and Technical Education Is Evolving
School districts are redefining CTE to expose students to a broad range of potential careers.
5 min read
Hard hat on a stack of books, next to a wrench and screwdriver.
iStock/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness These AP Classes Were Designed to Attract Students of Color. Did They?
New data show two new Advanced Placement courses helped boost participation among Black and Latino students.
3 min read
Data shown on a computer screen.
iStock/Getty