Overview
Across the United States, work-based learning (WBL) provides high school students with strong technical foundations as well as the critical durable skills that employers desire.
The goal of high-quality work- based learning is to expose students to new environments and experiences, enabling them to acquire new skills, build a career identity, and chart a path through post-secondary education that aligns with their career goals.
This approach not only enhances student engagement and retention but also provides opportunities for students to earn industry credentials before graduation and develop both technical and interpersonal skills essential for success in the workplace. This experience then helps them create new connections and carve a pathway to a sustainable career.
Research on years of implementation of work-based learning have shown its impact on outcomes and economic mobility for youth.
Nationally, while the call for work-based learning increases, states and districts struggle to implement high-quality work-based learning programs.
At the district level, the most common challenges include competition in the community for access to business partners, equity and access issues for students with barriers, communicating opportunities with students and families, and program sustainability due to funding and staffing constraints.
Additionally, lack of guidance and consistent policy support at the state level can inhibit school districts in implementing this education practice.
Work-based Learning Improves Career Readiness
Introduction
Hennepin West Consortium Ecosystem
With a population of over 1 million people, Hennepin County, Minnesota extends west from Minneapolis into the suburbs. Here, Health Care & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services are the top three employment sectors, and only 9.88% of the population live below the poverty line — lower than the national average.
Job growth is expected to exceed population growth for the next 20 years, leading to opportunity and challenge. While economic growth has been positive since the global decline of the pandemic, this growth relies on a skilled workforce.
As part of a powerful work-based learning initiative, this gap is being met by educational providers in the region.
To increase WBL participation and quality in Minnesota, nonprofit Perkins V Consortiums support high-quality CTE programs and authentic work experiences.
As one of 23 federally funded consortia within the state, Hennepin West Consortium partners with North Hennepin Community College, Hennepin Technical College and ten school districts to advance CTE and work-based learning goals for the 18,000 high school students who participate in the districts’ CTE offerings.
Introduction
While all districts within the Consortium had existing CTE programs, participation in work-based learning was limited.
In early 2020 Hennepin West partnered with the TwinWest Chamber (which then merged with the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce in late 2020) to address the challenge of limited opportunities for authentic work-based learning.
Limited staff capacity within the consortium, chamber and schools challenged any opportunities for growth in work-based learning causing the WBL participation rates to hover around 4% — below the targets set by the state to receive continued federal funding.
Barriers to information about WBL, access for all students to engage with WBL opportunities, and limited support for employers, further impeded progress.
More participants were needed in the program to both meet the state requirements and ultimately build a sufficient pipeline for regional employers.
Implementation
Roadmap to a Regional Work-based Learning Ecosystem
Pilot Activation
A year after the Hennepin West and Chamber collaboration, the laundry list of barriers led the Consortium to reach out to work-based learning intermediary GPS Education Partners (GPS Ed).
Hennepin West staff knew GPS Ed as the intermediary who was also facilitating local internships at the Gustave A. Larson Company, a large, regional HVAC distribution company. Consortium staff turned to GPS Ed to learn how intermediary services might support all of the schools in Hennepin West.
Through stakeholder interviews and collaborative strategy discussions, GPS Ed came to the table with the recommendation of building a regional work- based learning ecosystem.
Two years before the Hennepin West and Chamber collaboration around work-based learning, GPS Education Partners, a national work-based learning intermediary, expanded its partnership with the Gustave A. Larson Company, a large regional HVAC distribution company, to scale internship opportunities beyond Wisconsin and into the Minneapolis region with two additional school districts.
Rather than only working with individual schools
to build capacity, GPS Ed suggested a central management of work-based learning that would provide for a single-point of contact for businesses. This would increase school bandwidth to focus on student recruiting and work-based learning courses.
Consortium members agreed to the plan and in Fall 2021, work began with a small group of schools; Wayzata High School, St. Louis Park and Eden Prairie School Districts.
During the initial months of the partnership, GPS Education Partners focused on three critical levers: building out systems and processes to facilitate high-quality work-based learning, recruiting of local employers into the program and increasing access to work-based learning for all student populations.
This activation phase included a small pilot of 10 students working in manufacturing that provided a critical proof-of-concept for the initiative.
Regional Ecosystem Model Success in DuPage County, IL
In DuPage County, Illinois, the County Regional Office of Education (ROE) partnered with
Project Hire-Ed (at the College of DuPage) and GPS Education Partners (GPS Ed) to initiate a community project to support hands-on work- based learning and career exploration for students in the county.
“The reason why intermediaries like GPS Ed are so important is because of the challenges of scaling up such initiatives with 42 school districts in DuPage County. It’s time-consuming and resource-intensive for both businesses and schools. GPS Ed provided us with the “how-to” and the intermediary approach we needed….GPS Ed’s ability to speak the language of both educators and businesses was crucial in making this happen and continuing to move us forward.”
— Dr. Darlene Ruscitti
Regional Superintendent of Schools, DuPage County
Starting with nine students in 2020-21 across three schools and two districts, the program has now grown to include 22 high schools and engaged 178 students over the past 2 years in work-based learning.
With the combination of summer and academic year terms over the next 2-3 years, the region will support more than 250 students annually.
GPS Ed serves as the WBL Intermediary to connect multiple chambers of commerce, industry associations, higher education institutions, and school districts.
By decreasing friction, intermediaries serve a critical role in increasing employer pipelines, local talent and student opportunity
Including Business Partners
With the pilot came a shared vision of what success could look like. Those wins made it easier to talk with businesses about the design of the model that included GPS Ed-built systems and tools to support employer and WBL student success.
GPS Ed worked with regional conveners and the schools to share this vision with employers who saw real talent potential within the WBL programs.
Ajax Metal Solutions, a mid-size metal fabrication company with plants in two states, recognized that introducing high school students to opportunities beyond entry-level assembly work could address the continued need for highly-skilled employees.
Ajax had already been exploring solutions to their talent pipeline needs through supporting the full-cost of higher education for degrees or credentials to upskill existing employees. They also had consistently visited high school job fairs. By leveraging GPS Ed as an intermediary, Ajax found access to better applicants, improved programming, and solutions to barriers that previously kept high school students off the production floor.
“[GPS Ed’s] communication, their presentation on their expectations for the students is above and beyond,” said Brandon Holmes, VP Operations at Ajax Metals. “They care — they really are trying to strengthen the workforce while placing these individual students in a career path that they’re of their interest.”
Expansion To More Schools
The wins of the pilot also encouraged more schools to engage with the regional ecosystem being built. For many schools, joining the effort required support to overcome barriers inherent in school structures.
“It’s been very successful. We are pleased to have them and the resources that they bring to us,” said Jean Rakun, Secondary Perkins Consortium Director. “You know, our goal is to get all ten districts on board; our goal is to serve all students. And they’re helping.”
For example, work-based learning can be challenging to implement within the rigid structures of the typical school schedule and requires careful planning to meet the needs of employers, allow for sufficient immersion, and balance other academic requirements.
One participating school, Wayzata High School, was able to work within these structures by having work- based learning students enroll in a class scheduled at the end of the day. This solution made it possible for students to go off-site earlier in the day to better align with business hours.
Intermediaries Increase
the Success of Community
Work-Based Learning Initiatives by:
Building systems and processes to support the program
Recruiting and supporting employer partners
Increasing access for all student populations
Designing Solutions Together
As national data suggest, Wayzata High School also faced challenges around access to WBL programs for diverse student populations. Within the school, graduation requirements and transportation challenges created barriers for students who wanted to participate in the programs.
Through co-designing with the school both short term and long term solutions were leveraged to increase access. Expectations and quality of opportunities also increased for students with learning differences.
By working alongside employers, the school and GPS Ed helped these students find WBL opportunities beyond basic entry-level, low-skill positions. By supporting the employers, more students accessed the WBL programs.
In addition to collaborating on school structure issues, GPS Ed also provided support through student engagement tools to ensure readiness for professional employment, growth and reflection using employer feedback, and facilitated transition conversations to help students have structured next-steps at the end of their work-based learning experience.
Wayzata High School WBL Coordinator Kyle Swenson leverages these resources while still maintaining creative authority in his class.
Swenson, for example, has his students present information on professional skill development to their peers at the end of each quarter.
Additionally, Swenson conducts site visits throughout the semester, ensuring his students know that this opportunity, while powered by GPS Education Partners, is very much a Wayzata High School-driven experience.
“I think [GPS Ed] is really good at listening to us and finding exactly what each school needs,” said Swenson.
Growing Pathways
Finally, as post-secondary institutions are key stakeholders in a regional work-based learning ecosystem, GPS Ed also collaborated with Hennepin West Education Consortium members: Hennepin Technical College and North Hennepin Community College.
An intentional component of the regional ecosystem is pathways from high school to career with options for training and education along each career path.
To ensure post-secondary engagement in this ecosystem, GPS Education Partners collaborated with both local colleges to create early credit options for students in the consortium.
North Hennepin Technical College created a path for students in IT internships to leverage their work-based learning experience to get credit toward the college’s computer science transfer program.
Hennepin Technical College’s admissions staff and faculty from their manufacturing and engineering technology department worked with GPS Ed staff to build credit for prior learning opportunities that allow high school students to get credit for their work-based learning experiences.
The momentum behind regional career pathways also influenced Hennepin Technical College to become a sponsor of adult, registered apprenticeships — giving residents in the area access to increased on-ramps to high-demand careers.
Vision
Sustaining & Enhancing for Ongoing Success
The last two years have focused on the activation of pilots and building inclusivity with all stakeholders.
Now, as the consortium initiative focuses on building capacity, nine out of ten school districts partner with GPS Education Partners to implement high-quality work-based learning.
With 60 students participating in 2023-24 and an expected 125-175 students in 2024-25, the consortium will have 12% participation in work-based learning; double the work- based learning targets set by the state.
Currently, 11 out of the 12 high schools are engaged with the initiative connected to 15 different employers (with a goal of 45 employers for 2024-25).
CTE Pathways with WBL opportunities have grown from manufacturing and IT to also include culinary, auto mechanics, health sciences, construction and early childhood education.
The success of this initiative rests on a sustainable integration of districts, higher education, employers and community (ex. the Chamber and the consortium). Once the capacity-building phase is completed, the initiative will enter the final phase to sustain and enhance the program. This phase includes identifying a braided funding strategy for sustainability.
Also in this phase, GPS Ed will take a more supporting role as the collaborative builds the capacity to self- manage — allowing GPS Ed to support additional regional and national initiatives.
Vision
Sustaining & Enhancing for Ongoing Success
The last two years have focused on the activation of pilots and building inclusivity with all stakeholders.
Now, as the consortium initiative focuses on building capacity, nine out of ten school districts partner with GPS Education Partners to implement high-quality work-based learning.
With 60 students participating in 2023-24 and an expected 125-175 students in 2024-25, the consortium will have 12% participation in work-based learning; double the work- based learning targets set by the state.
Currently, 11 out of the 12 high schools are engaged with the initiative connected to 15 different employers (with a goal of 45 employers for 2024-25).
CTE Pathways with WBL opportunities have grown from manufacturing and IT to also include culinary, auto mechanics, health sciences, construction and early childhood education.
The success of this initiative rests on a sustainable integration of districts, higher education, employers and community (ex. the Chamber and the consortium). Once the capacity-building phase is completed, the initiative will enter the final phase to sustain and enhance the program. This phase includes identifying a braided funding strategy for sustainability.
Also in this phase, GPS Ed will take a more supporting role as the collaborative builds the capacity to self- manage — allowing GPS Ed to support additional regional and national initiatives.
Conclusion
Work-based learning rates hover at about 4.6% nationally, with approximately 128,000 students participating from the 3 million CTE concentrators in 2022 (with data accuracy impacted by only some states recording WBL participation rates).
Through the GPS Ed partnership with the Hennepin West Consortium, participation rates will be higher than the national average.
More importantly, the pipeline for high-need employment areas connected to a family- sustaining wage will be widened — increasing regional economic benefit and equitable employment for a higher number of high school graduates.
Intermediaries like GPS Ed play a critical role in successful complex community initiatives like Hennepin West.
Next Steps
Students around the nation need access to high-quality WBL experiences to support the economy at large and to connect each individual to a secure and sustaining career.
Evaluate the workforce needs in your community. How are local high schools supporting this need?
Reflect on any existing or potential WBL program. What are the barriers to success or implementation?
Partner with an intermediary such as GPS Education Partners to build a high-quality and sustainable community-based WBL ecosystem.
Why GPS Ed’s ACO Process Works
GPS Ed’s ACO process is a strategic framework designed to bridge the gap between businesses, schools, and students, accelerating career readiness and technical skill development. This process emphasizes three core principles: Accelerated, Customized, and Outcomes-Based. By focusing on these areas, GPS Ed ensures that all stakeholders — businesses, schools, and students — benefit from a streamlined and effective approach to education and workforce preparation.
A. ACCELERATED
Businesses get an accelerated process for developing high-level technical skills in future workforce.
Schools get an accelerated process for partnering with businesses to provide pathways for technical careers.
Students are prepared for technical careers faster than traditional pathways.
C. CUSTOMIZED
Businesses specific needs are addressed, ie. hard and soft skill development as well as the future high-tech needs of industry.
Schools receive customization to the specific district or schools needs, ie. credentials, courses, and training. Can build or augment current programs.
Students personalized training develops around demonstrated interests and competencies.
O. OUTCOME-BASED
Businesses receive the outcomes that matter most, ie. Youth Apprentices become Registered Apprentices, employment, pipeline development, local economic impacts.
Schools see improvements on students career and college readiness and overcome barriers to providing access and equity for all students to succeed.
Students have more opportunities to enter family sustaining careers and post- secondary education while minimizing higher-ed debt.
Have questions about the Case Study or want to learn more about the power of work-based learning?
If this case study inspired you to take the next steps, we recommend the following:
- Evaluate the workforce needs in your community. How are local high schools supporting this need?
- Reflect on any existing or potential WBL program. What are the barriers to success or implementation?
- Partner with an intermediary such as GPS Education Partners to build a high-quality and sustainable community-based WBL ecosystem.
