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Other Work-Based Learning Programs

How does YA compare to other work-based learning programs?

Work-based learning experiences expose students to different types of jobs and help students learn and apply skills necessary to the working world.  Concurrently, these experiences give students the opportunity to acquire attitudes, skills, and knowledge for work and other life roles by participating in actual or simulated work settings related to in-school instructional programs. All of these activities are aimed at the infusion of workplace experiences into the academic environment to assist students in developing work behaviors that will make them more employable.

There are a wide variety of work-based learning choices offered through school districts. Discussion with your guidance counselor will help you to choose the one that best meets your needs and career goals.

Work-Based Learning Options

• Service Learning
  • Active, unpaid, participation in organized academic and practical activities
  • Conducted in and designed to meet the needs of their communities
• Job Shadowing
  • 3-6 hours per week
  • Student spends time, one-on-one, with an employee observing daily activities and asking questions about the job and the industry
  • May also given the opportunity to do hands-on activities at the workplace
• Internships
  • No common definition for Internships across Wisconsin.
  • Some school districts use the term in place of cooperative education
  • Others use it to describe a work-based learning program like “cooperative education”
  • Others use the term to mean unpaid work-based experiences where a student “samples” a particular industry or business for a period of time by working on a single project or a number of different projects
• Cooperative Education
  • Provides students with work experience
  • Any business, industry or job
  • “Individualized Training Plan” for the student is developed in lieu of using state endorsed competencies
  • No state certificate of proficiency upon completion
• Employability Skills Certificate
  • Skill proficiency developed in core employment skills identified by the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) in a school supervised work-based learning experience
• *Cooperative Education Skills Certificate
  • A one-year, school-supervised, paid work experience for high school juniors or seniors
  • Proficiency attained in standard statewide skills
  • Combination of related classroom instruction and workplace learning
  • Prepares student for further training at either a postsecondary educational institution or at a business or industry
• **Youth Apprenticeship
  • A one or two-year, school-supervised, paid work experience for high school juniors and seniors
  • Proficiency attained in standard statewide skills
  • Combination of related classroom instruction and workplace learning
  • Prepares students for further training at either postsecondary educational institution or at a business or industry
• School-Based Enterprise
  • Students engage in productive endeavors at the high school or for the school district
• Youth Leadership
• Specific leadership skills are developed with a mentor at school, work, and in the community

Program Comparison: YA** and Cooperative Skills Education Certificate*(Skills Co-op)

• The program chosen should best meet the goals and needs of the students and the resources of the school district.

Both programs prepare students for a career
Both programs are rigorous, relevant, and EXCELLENT

• While very similar to each other; there are some differences:
  • YA is 1 or 2 years; Skills Co-op is only 1 year
  • YA requires 450 hours of work per year; Skills Co-op requires 480 hours of work per year
  • YA skills must be obtained at the worksite; Skills Co-op skills may be obtained at the worksite or in the classroom
  • YA related classroom instruction is taught by YA qualified instructors at high schools, Technical Colleges, online or through an employer; Skills Co-op related classroom instruction is taught only by a Career and Technical Education teacher certified in that specific co-op
  • YA skill attainment assessed by the employer mentor; Skills Co-op skill attainment assessed by the instructor or employer

YA and Other Work-Based Learning Programs (DPI Information)

Source: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Wisconsin Workbased Learning Guide, 2009