Work-based learning (WBL) is a popular topic in the K-12 space right now because more of an emphasis is being placed on durable skill acquisition, career readiness strategies, and career and technical education (CTE) coursework. While the concept of an internship is not new, it’s fairly novel for high school students, and work-based learning is being pushed down into early grades, including elementary school where students can explore jobs that they might hold in the future. 

One problem, though, is that many schools are not set up to build and sustain industry partners for students to gain opportunities and experiences from. Typically, this work falls to counselors, administrators, and CTE teachers who might not know how to make connections in the community with businesses and industry leaders. That’s because it hasn’t always been expected of schools. 

The first thing that school officials generally rely on is service learning projects and local companies that are willing to “give back” to the school. Christopher Nesmith, superintendent and work-based learning advocate, says that this is a good place to start, but philanthropy won’t sustain a long-term relationship for quality placements. That said, the following four strategies are useful for making connections and developing a lasting impact on the students, the school, and the community. 

Chambers of Commerce

There are a number of benefits to working with your local, county, and state chambers to connect students to industry partners. In fact, sometimes the school or district can join the chamber, attend meetings, seminars, and presentations and even sit on the board of directors. The chamber is a great way to find out about companies in your region that might be hiring (in the case of paid WBL) or have interest in developing a pipeline through internships. The chamber is one of the fastest ways to make connections and build relationships with a large number of businesses without going to them one-by-one.

Once you’re connected with the chamber, one strategy is to ask to present at their yearly, biannual, or quarterly meetings to describe some of the success stories regarding student placements and to share what the school or district is doing to support college and career readiness. Not only does this garner more interest from new partners, it helps to shed a positive light on the school system in a way that the local business community might not otherwise know about.

High Demand Jobs

One thing that should be partly the responsibility of the school system is to help to fill high demand jobs. This means that counselors and school leaders know what the high demand jobs are in their region and also know what it takes to work at these jobs from a degree, credential, and skill perspective. This is also a two-way street because company leaders who struggle with vacancies are eager to find out how they might influence young people to see themselves in the roles that are hardest to fill. 

Knowing the high demand jobs in your area also helps to shape programs and pathways for students at the school level, including CTE courses and academies that might need to be developed so that students have in-school and after-school classes and activities that match the needs of high demand career paths. Technology tools and other resources are critical for understanding which jobs are in demand, where those jobs are, and the associated career readiness strategies. 

Community Colleges

Community and technical colleges are a great connection for schools as they build their bank of industry partnerships. First, community colleges are often the institutions where students earn credentials–associated with and without degree programs. Second, community colleges often employ adjunct rather than full-time professors, and the adjuncts typically work in the field of study in which they teach. This means that they’re not only connected to the college, but they’re also connected to the workforce. With articulated agreements in place, students can take classes that earn them credit, build their network, and possibly provide work placements for the school. 

When high school programs of study are connected to associates degrees or credentials at the local community college, students benefit by being on campus because they gain access to tools, resources, and equipment that their school might not provide. School leaders should think of the community college as a business partner itself. The partnership between the school and the college benefits the student and helps to bridge the gap between the student experience in school and work experience in the community. 

Pathway Advisory Boards 

One way to sustain community and industry partnerships is through the use of advisory boards. Every program of study, academic academy, and pathway should have its own advisory board. This is the perfect way to maintain the relationship with industry partners while keeping up with curriculum changes that are necessary to prepare students for work-based learning experiences. In other words, the course sequencing and unit plans within the pathway should be strongly guided by or dictated by an advisory board of industry professionals. 

Any organization that provides placements for students should have a seat at the table, including the aforementioned institutes of higher education. For example, the health sciences pathway may have up to 8-10 business partners that take 30+ students annually. Each of the partners and/or the clusters of partners should have seats on the advisory board to collaborate about the curriculum and the course work; these boards don’t need to meet more than 2-3 times per year, but the meetings are essential to gain input and reinforce the two-way relationship between the school and the industries. 

Conclusion 

Developing and sustaining industry partnerships is thoughtful work. It takes time and consideration. An essential aspect of the relationship should include an assessment of how well things are going, how prepared the students are for their placements, and the quality of what the partner provides. Both sides should examine what’s working and what needs attention so that as the relationship grows so does the impact on students, staff, families, and the community. It’s important to think of the school and its surroundings as a web that weaves the fabric of the community together, serves the economy, and consistently evolves to meet the needs of students as they matriculate into their postsecondary goals for life and work. 

If you want access to a thought leader for building and sustaining industry partnerships, pick a time here. 

If you want to see a technology tool that connects industry partners to schools and track student experiences, including work-based learning, schedule a demo here.