Making Work-Based Learning Work: Practical Guidance for Districts and Schools

District administrators establish conditions that make high-quality WBL possible across schools and programs through actions such as the following:

• Dedicate district- and site-level staff positions for WBL coordination, with manageable caseloads, to establish and sustain WBL opportunities and relationships.
• Identify and remove structural barriers related to transportation, financial constraints, and scheduling.
• Create clear policies for work permits, liability, and compliance with labor laws for minors. Regularly share them with CTE leaders and CTE teachers.
• Develop systems for tracking WBL participation and completion data that are used to inform decisions and share outcomes with stakeholders.
• Use program review processes to evaluate WBL quality, not merely participation and completion data (e.g., student surveys, employer surveys, exit interviews, ongoing communication with employers).

• Identify key staff to bring to the conversation (e.g., CTE leaders, school counselors, career specialists, and CTE teachers).
• Survey CTE teachers, school counselors, and career specialists about the barriers they face.
• Conduct a WBL infrastructure audit to determine whether the district has adequate staffing, funding, and policies in place.
• Consider ways to allocate funds for WBL (e.g., transportation, coordinator time, materials).
• Create or adopt a WBL policy handbook addressing legal compliance.
• Work with CTE leaders to provide externship opportunities for CTE teachers, counselors, and college and career readiness staff to observe and experience practices and work in industries relevant to their programs.

District- or school-based CTE leaders, such as WBL coordinators and CTE directors, serve as the bridge between district infrastructure, employer partners, and classroom instruction. This bridging role is critical but challenging: building and maintaining industry partnerships is a major time commitment.

How CTE leaders can connect students to WBL:

• Establish clear and specific opportunities for employers to engage with students, such as guest speakers, site tours, informational interviews, mock interviews, job shadowing, internships, mentorships, and advisory board participation.
• Provide clear guidance for employers on their role and strategies for mentoring high school students. Create opportunities to share developmental characteristics of adolescents, legal requirements, and safety protocols with employers.
• Create student placement processes based on interests and pathways, not merely availability of WBL experiences.
• Maintain ongoing communication with employers and teachers throughout student WBL experiences. Establish communication protocols with scheduled check-ins and create feedback forms for midpoint and final evaluations.
• Collect feedback from students and employers and use it to improve the program. This could include student reflective journals with guided prompts, employer evaluation rubrics focused on specific skills, pre- and post-WBL student skill self-assessments, and focus groups or exit interviews with students.

• Schedule a meeting with school counselors and career specialists to discuss collaboration on WBL.
• Identify 2–3 new employer partners this semester using a "Partnership Menu" approach, which describes partnership opportunities of various intensity.
• Create a referral process through which counselors can recommend students for placements.
• Host a WBL showcase where students present their experiences to the community.
• Review current WBL offerings to determine whether students are progressing through the continuum or concentrated in one area.
• Work with district administrators to provide externship opportunities for CTE teachers, counselors, and college and career readiness staff to observe and experience industry practices relevant to their programs.

CTE teachers shape students' readiness for WBL and help them construct meaning from their experiences.

How CTE teachers can facilitate WBL experiences:

• Help students understand expectations for their workplace, including professionalism, communication, and safety.
  • Dedicate instructional time before WBL to address workplace expectations and norms; professional email, phone, and in-person communication; appropriate dress and behavior; industry-specific safety protocols; and strategies for self-introduction and asking questions.
  • Create a "WBL Readiness Checklist" for students to complete before placements.
• Create explicit connections between WBL experiences and career pathways. Help students explore whether career clusters align with their interests and connect their experiences to local labor market data and postsecondary options.
• Integrate WBL with classroom learning before, during, and after placements.
• Provide structured opportunities for students to reflect on WBL experiences using journals, discussions, presentations, and peer discussion circles.
• Support students in articulating their WBL learning and skills development for resumes and interviews.

• Connect with your school counselors and career specialists to share planned WBL opportunities and discuss how they might support WBL based on their availability.
• Collaborate with other CTE teachers in your pathway within your school and district to exchange existing WBL opportunities, employer connections, and resources. If needed, reach out to a counselor, district administrator, or CTE leader to identify and connect with other CTE teachers.
• Choose one course to pilot a progressive WBL pathway.
• Start small. For example, if you currently offer guest speakers, add one job shadow or site tour opportunity.
• Integrate structured reflection. Even 15 minutes of guided discussion can produce meaningful results.
• Request the support you need from district administrators and counselors (e.g., time, transportation, contacts, student matching).

High-quality WBL requires coordination across more than district administrators, CTE leaders, and CTE teachers. School counselors and career specialists are often a missing piece.

As part of their core responsibilities under the ASCA American School Counselor Association National Model (ASCA. n.d), counselors are charged with career development: helping students explore strengths, connect classroom learning to the world of work, and plan for postsecondary pathways. This makes them natural partners for CTE leaders. Counselors already conduct career interest inventories, understand students' postsecondary goals, and maintain community connections through college fairs and advisory groups. 

Research shows that counselor effectiveness on educational attainment is similar in magnitude to teacher effects, with particularly strong impacts for low-income students (Mulhern, 2023). Although not singularly focused on WBL, the findings highlights the important role counselors play in helping students navigate education and career decisions. Yet counselors are frequently excluded from WBL planning. 

Regular communication among CTE leaders, CTE teachers, and counselors helps ensure students receive both appropriate opportunities and the support to derive meaning from them.

How CTE leaders and CTE teachers can partner with counselors:

• Share available WBL opportunities with counselors early so they can identify students whose interests align with placements.
• Include counselors in employer partnership conversations, which helps employers understand that students are being thoughtfully matched rather than randomly placed.
• Notify counselors about which students participated in WBL, enabling them to provide follow-up support.

How counselors can strengthen WBL coordination:

• Co-facilitate sessions on workplace professionalism and soft skills. Provide individual check-ins with anxious students before placements and career counseling sessions afterward to help students process whether an experience confirmed their interests or suggested a different direction.
• Help students translate WBL experiences into college application essays and resumes, a skill that benefits students both immediately and in the long term. 

• Contact CTE leaders or CTE teachers to discuss how you can support WBL efforts.
• Review career assessment data to see which students have interests aligned with available WBL opportunities.
• Offer to facilitate pre-placement workshops on topics such as professionalism, resume building, or career exploration.
• Help students connect WBL experiences to their postsecondary planning (e.g., college applications, career portfolios).
• Advocate for protecting your time for proactive career development work rather than administrative tasks.