Before I joined the RSE-TASC last year, I spent my teaching career in an elementary school setting and knew little about school-to-work initiatives. Since joining the RSE-TASC and working with students in the high school, I have come to realize learning is most effective and meaningful when students can relate what they are learning to their future lives. This approach to connecting school and work is referred to as “integrated learning.”

What does integrated learning look like?  One high school I work with now is moving forward to make the school to work connection. Students with disabilities work in the school store and participate in job shadowing experiences. Students have visited local businesses, spending the day behind the scenes so they understand how businesses function on a daily basis and what employers expect from an employee. In  the classroom, the students study economics, where they link classroom learning with real life financial institutions. Not only are students learning classroom content, they are engaged in real world connections to that content.

Effective integrated learning lessons are designed using the elements of explicit instruction.  Similar to the objective in an explicitly designed lesson, students are told what they will be learning, why they need to learn it and how it connects to their lives in the future. This “allows students to see the usefulness of the concepts that they are being asked to learn and to understand their potential application in the world of work” (Career Development and Occupational Studies Learning Standard 2).  As students see the utility of the academic content, their engagement is likely to increase.

What else can be gained through integrating academics and career skills?  As identified by the Committee for Economic Development, a nonpartisan public policy group of business and educational leaders, critical thinking and problem- solving are some of the most essential skills for workplace success (Molnar, 2015). These are included in the Career and Occupational Studies Learning Standards (CDOS Learning Standard 3a) and can be taught in the classroom during career exploration activities and through work experiences.

Research has shown that students who learn transition-related skills such as career awareness, social skills, and job-searching skills in high school are more likely to be successful after high school (NSTTAC, Test et al., 2009). The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition outlines these and other predictors of post-school success, and provides tools to help teachers integrate the predictors into instruction, including a self-assessment tool and an instructional guide. Links to this useful website and these tools are included in the School Tools section on page 3.

Ready to get started? Download the New York State Education Department resource guide and core curriculum for the Career Development and Occupational Studies Standards for more ideas and guidance on integrating work-related skills into your lessons — a link to this tool is also located in the School Tool section of this newsletter.

References

Molnar, M. (2015). Competency-based education gets employers’ attention.

Education Week, November, 2015. (p. 7).

Test, D. W., Fowler, C. H., Richter, S. M., Mazzotti, V., White, J., Walker, A. R.,

Kohler, P., & Kortering, L. (2009). Evidence-based practices in secondary transition. Career Development for Exceptional Individuals, 32, 155-128. doi: 10.1177/0885728809336859