There is widespread agreement on the goal of preparing every high school student for both postsecondary education and a lifetime of fulfilling work, that every graduate should be "college and career ready." The authors' view is that career readiness and college readiness entail many of the same skills, bodies of knowledge, and…

Work-based learning (WBL), an important part of the 1990s "School to Work" movement, is a core component of the Linked Learning strategy which is now shaping efforts to improve secondary education in California and around the nation in cities such as Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia. WBL can include not only classic internships and…

Work-Based Learning (WBL) has been at the heart of school-to-work initiatives in the 1990s. Local partnerships funded by the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act are placing high priority on developing WBL opportunities for students. However, there is still controversy about whether work really contributes to students' education, and results of…

Reviews the debate and existing evidence on the quality of work experience programs for high school students and calls attention to the possible advantages of using the school itself as a student work site. Describes two student-run, school-based restaurants and surveys their graduates' attitudes and career outcomes. (KH)

Discusses work-based learning and explains some of its dimensions. Describes the range of purposes this method may help students achieve and various ways of structuring work-based learning. Assesses the quality of teaching and learning in the context of work. (Author/CCM)

Describes two critical dimensions of work-based learning (WBL), firm-based versus school-based, and "learn-and-stay" versus "learn-and-go." Recommendations are offered for the design of new WBL in the light of empirical findings on the employment patterns of young people as they grow older. (SLD)

This study uses data from surveys of U.S. employees to determine whether any trends are apparent in the proportion who say they receive some form of training at work. Discussions of economic change in the U.S. and elsewhere have frequently asserted that work has become more intellectually demanding. This implies that training in workplaces should…

This report summarizes the findings of a two-year study on high school students' use of options that provide alternatives to the usual curriculum. Questionnaires were given to juniors and seniors as well as counselors in 29 public high schools in the San Francisco (California) Bay region in 1978. The survey posed questions about students'…

School-based enterprise (SBE) can be defined as any school-sponsored activity that engages a group of students in producing goods or services for sale to or use by people other than the students involved. The advantages of SBEs include the following: deeper understanding of academic subject matter through application in a practical context,…

Reviews studies on the demand for learning at work, trends on currently working students, and the effects of both school-supervised and not-school-supervised work experiences. Concludes that labor market demands and the number of students currently working present an opportunity to use work as a deliberate learning experience. (FMW)

Examines the effects of school-supervised work experiences on the work attitudes of high school students. Finds that students who report less conflict between their jobs and their academic achievement express more motivation and less cynicism. (FMW)

Paper I: Using information from the national 1973 Quality of Employment Survey, the following assertions are examined relative to white employees: (1) Employees with more years of schooling and experience can obtain more agreeable and better-paying jobs and (2) among workers with equal schooling and experience, those with more agreeable jobs must…

In countries where young people have been relatively successful in both achieving high academic standards and making smooth transitions to employment, employers have taken major responsibility for their training. Now the emergence of a more "learning-intensive" economy poses new challenges. In response to the perceived insufficiency of traditional…

Work-based learning (WBL) differs from work experiences gained in regular youth jobs because WBL is intentionally structured to promote learning by linking work with school. Five main purposes of WBL have been identified: enhancing students' motivation and academic achievement; increasing personal and social competence related to work in general;…

This digest briefly reviews the ways that working affects students, and describes ways that schools can partner with businesses to increase the educational benefits of working. The economic payoff for students who work in high school is well-established, including a positive association between the amount of high school work experience and…