A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

High school programs ought to help students see how what they're learning can open up a world of career opportunities beyond high school. Realizing that, a growing number of schools, employers, community colleges, and other community partners are joining forces to build bridges from school into the workplace.

These bridges, or school-to-work programs, offer job-site training and work experience in a variety of settings, coordinated with rigorous academic learning. They're designed to prepare students for advancement to postsecondary training or education, or directly into jobs that lead to high-wage, high-skill careers.

As your community builds such programs, you will want to include at least three essentials: work-based learning in a broad industry area, school-based instruction, and "connecting activities with businesses and industries." You'll also want to make these programs integral to, not separate from, your GOALS 2000 effort.

To strengthen the three features -- and to coordinate school-to-work programs with your comprehensive GOALS 2000 plan -- your community and schools may want to examine:

• Existing Vocational and School-to-Work Efforts. Do our schools already have tech-prep programs, career academies, cooperative education programs, youth apprenticeships, or other efforts that could serve as building blocks for developing strong school-to- work programs? What are we doing to strengthen and build into the programs the three essential features: work-based learning, school-based learning, and "connecting activities"? Are businesses involved in helping to strengthen these programs? Are the efforts of sufficient size to prepare all students -- not just 5, 10, or 15 percent -- with promising futures?

• Standards. Are our school-to-work programs preparing students for skilled careers by helping them meet high academic standards and occupational skill standards? Are we using those standards to improve the performance of our school-to-work programs and of students participating in them?

• Work-Based Learning. Do our school-to-work programs offer a planned sequence of work-site experiences with employers, and in various other settings in the community? Do these experiences expose students to all aspects of the business or industry they're studying? Do students not only learn the aspects of the industry they're studying but also acquire general workplace competencies? Does their work-based learning build on and extend the knowledge and skills they're learning at school? Are students paid for their work experience, whenever possible? Is work-based learning successfully moving students toward high academic standards as well as skill standards?

• School-Based Learning. Is the "school-based learning" component of our school-to-work programs designed around high academic and technical skill standards? Does it include career exploration and counseling, and instruction in a career major (which the student selects no later than 11th grade)? Do most of our school-to-work programs include at least one year of postsecondary education? Do they include periodic evaluations to identify students' academic strengths and weaknesses? Does school-based instruction challenge students to solve problems, perform tasks, and work in situations drawn from the career area for which they're preparing? Is it designed to help students apply what they're learning to the occupational area? Does it help students reach the high standards developed by our state?

• Connecting Activities. Are academic teachers, vocational teachers, and work-site mentors meeting regularly to continuously improve instruction and tighten coordination between what students are learning at school and what they're learning at the work-site? Are students being matched with appropriate and quality work-based learning opportunities? Are teachers, work-site mentors, and counselors getting the training they need?

• Planning and Development. Are vocational and academic teachers, employers, and other school-to-work partners involved in our GOALS 2000 planning process? Does our GOALS 2000 plan aim to continuously improve the three key school-to-work ingredients -- work-based learning, school-based learning, and connecting activities?

• All Students. Do all students have access to these school-to-work programs -- including both male and female students, disadvantaged students, students with diverse racial, ethnic or cultural backgrounds, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians, students with disabilities, students with limited English proficiency, migrant children, school dropouts, and academically talented students? Do they get the extra assistance they may need?

• Results. How well are our school-to-work programs meeting our objectives? Are students, upon completing high school, going on to some form of postsecondary education or getting good jobs? How can school-to-work programs be expanded by adding businesses, industries, or work opportunities, if needed? Upon completing the program, are students actually ready for entry- level employment in higher-skill, good-wage careers? Are they developing the kinds of skills that will prepare them to pursue a range of career options and make them attractive to employers? Are they getting jobs that will lead to advancement in a broad occupational area? What work experiences are do employers providing to give students a taste of many aspects of the industry? Are students in our programs who decide to go to college adequately prepared? What do colleges say?

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