California Apprenticeship Programs is a searchable site of union apprenticeship programs offered in California.

California Apprenticeship Council is the policy advisor to the Director of Industrial Relations; their site has information on apprenticeship policy.

National Skills Standards Board is a coalition of leaders from business, labor, employee, education, and community and civil rights organizations who have created a national system of skill standards, assessment and certification systems. See their Certifications and Apprenticeship section and their exhaustive searchable list of national and local Industry Associations.

Career Assessment and Planning

California Careers is sponsored by the California Career Resource Network and provides support for career guidance and academic counseling programs, including various on-line career assessments, among them, the Self-Directed Search and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. See also, the California Career Planning Guide, available for downloading, which includes information on career assessment, resumes and interviews.

Career Planning and Adult Development Network provides resources and tools for career guidance and counseling, including the Motivated Skills Card Sort.

Career Services at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada provides a complete on-line Career Development e-Manual, including downloadable career assessments.

Dragonslayer 101 is a career game for middle school students. The site also includes self-assessment questions that students can use with parents or in a classroom.

Los Angeles County Workforce connects job seekers, employers and the education and training communities. See their section on Job training, Education and Career Preparation for career assessment information and tools.

Career Speakers and Career Fairs

Junior Achievement (JA) is a collaboration between educators, parents and community to bring work to introduce youth to free enterprise, business and economics. In some communities, JA also helps to facilitate classroom speakers and job shadowing on Groundhog Job Shadow Day and at other times. Local JA offices are located in:

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Integrated Curriculum

The Big Picture Company designs break-through public schools, researches and replicates new models for education, trains educators to serve as leaders in their schools and communities, and actively engages the public as participants and decision makers in the education of our youth. See their The New Urban High School: A Practitioner’s Guide, including guidelines for project-based learning, work-based learning, activities for teachers and integrated curriculum development, and their Materials Section that includes the Curriculum Books: Learning Through Internship.

California STC Clearinghouse is California’s clearinghouse for STC tools and resources on all subjects, for all educators and other stakeholders.

Career Academy Support Network (CASN) is housed at UC Berkeley and offers support to career academies across the nation. See the Forms Bank (a series of customizable templates in Word 97 to facilitate community and employer partnerships), Career Academy Self Assessment Guide, Scheduling Guide (for block scheduling), Curriculum Integration Report: Action Projects (available from the publisher), and Internship Handbook.

Coalition of Essential Schools is a national network of school and regional centers working to create schools using the following common principles: Learning to use one's mind well; Less is More, depth over coverage; Goals apply to all students; Personalization; Student-as-worker; teacher-as-coach; Demonstration of mastery; A tone of decency and trust; Commitment to the entire school; Resources dedicated to teaching and learning; and Democracy and equity.

Institute for Workforce Education (IWE) designs and delivers custom-tailored staff development to meet the needs of business, education, and community partnerships. It promotes workforce education for schools and communities through professional development, technical assistance and training. IWE provides lesson plans, sorted by the following career paths: Arts & Communications, Business, Management & Technology, Health Services, Human Services, Industrial & Engineering Technology, and Natural Resources & Agriculture.

Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation conducts research and evaluation on school-to-career and related issues. See Getting Connected – A Resource Directory for Career Academies, developed in partnership with CASN, the directory lists resources for career academies including guides and handbooks, articles, documents for purchase, resources available upon request, newsletters and journals, evaluations and research, websites and additional funding, all with direct links, and the School-to-Work Transition Project, a collection of materials for sale based on the project.

MPR Associates is an educational research and evaluation firm that also offers publications and technical assistance. See their Getting to Work Guide on Integrated Curriculum, including worksheets and instruction for the implementation and assessment of integrated curriculum.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) is one of ten Regional Educational Laboratories. Their national specialty is Re-engineering Schools for Improvement. See the School Improvement Research Series – Integrated Curriculum for reseach on integrated curriculum.

San Diego City Schools School to Career Office see their Project Based Learning page for examples of best practices in integrated curriculum.

State of Utah Office of Education Curriculum and Educational Resources see their Integrated Curriculum Design Packet for information on integrated curriculum.

University of California a-g Interactive Guide assists high school educators in designing courses that meet the UC a-g requirements. Sample courses are provided by both content area and career pathway theme.

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Internship and Cooperative Education

Be Business Smart is an online internship application and matching system developed by the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Buck Institute for Education (BIE) is a non-profit research and evaluation organization dedicated to improving schools by advancing knowledge about the practice of teaching and the process of learning. Located in Northern California, the Institute provides materials, training and technical assistance on project-based learning, problem-based learning with a special focus on economics, and internships. See their downloadable material on Project Based Learning, Teacher’s Manual for Problem-Based Economics and Buck Institute Handbooks for Internship (employer, educator and student handbooks on internships).

Career Academy Support Network (CASN) is housed at UC Berkeley and offers support to career academies across the nation. See the Forms Bank (a series of customizable templates in Word 97 to facilitate community and employer partnerships), Career Academy Self Assessment Guide, Scheduling Guide (for block scheduling), Curriculum Integration Report: Action Projects (available from the publisher) and Internship Handbook.

California Cooperative Education and Internship Association is a professional association of educators and employers dedicated to supporting college-level internships and cooperative education programs.

Institute for Workforce Education (IWE) designs and delivers custom-tailored staff development to meet the needs of business, education, and community partnerships. It promotes workforce education for schools and communities through professional development, technical assistance and training. See All Aspects of the Industry a resource for internships.

Jobs for the Future has many resources and publications available in the publications and products section of their website. For community-connected and work-based learning, standards and assessments, see downloadable Connected Learning Communities – A Toolkit for Reinventing High School. For policy guidance, see What’s Next for School-to-Career Report, a summary of the progress of school-to-career to date and recommendations for strategies to improve and sustain state and community school-to career efforts. For project-based learning see Using Real-World Projects to Help Students Meet Standards in Education and the Workplace.

Linking Education and Economic Development (LEED) is the local school-to-career partnership for the greater Sacramento area. See their California Intern Connection site with internship information for educators, students and employers.

MPR Associates is an educational research and evaluation firm that also offers publications and technical assistance. See their Getting to Work Guide, worksheets and instruction for the implementation and assessment of integrated curriculum and work-based learning.

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Job Shadowing

Groundhog Job Shadow Day See their How-to-Kit, a step by step guide to planning and implementing a Job Shadow Day.

Jobs for the Future has many resources and publications available in the publications and products section of their website. For community-connected and work-based learning, standards and assessments, and job shadowing see downloadable Connected Learning Communities – A Toolkit for Reinventing High School. For policy guidance, see What’s Next for School-to-Career Report, a summary of the progress of school-to-career to date and recommendations for strategies to improve and sustain state and community school-to career efforts. For project-based learning see Using Real-World Projects to Help Students Meet Standards in Education and the Workplace.

Mentoring

Boys and Girls Club offers youth programs and services that promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.

Girls, Inc. is a non-profit youth education organization dedicated to inspiring all girls, particularly those in high-risk underserved populations, through educational programs. Local Girls, Inc. centers include:

Project-Based Learning

The Big Picture Company designs break-through public schools, researches and replicates new models for education, trains educators to serve as leaders in their schools and communities, and actively engages the public as participants and decision makers in the education of our youth. See their The New Urban High School: A Practitioner’s Guide, including guidelines for project-based learning, work-based learning, activities for teachers and integrated curriculum development, and their Materials Section that includes the Curriculum Books: Learning Through Internship.

Jobs for the Future has many resources and publications available in the publications and products section of their website. For community-connected and work-based learning, standards and assessment see downloadable Connected Learning Communities – A Toolkit for Reinventing High School. For policy guidance, see What’s Next for School-to-Career Report (a summary of the progress of school-to-career to date and recommendations for strategies to improve and sustain state and community school-to career efforts). For project-based learning see Using Real-World Projects to Help Students Meet Standards in Education and the Workplace.

Project-Based Learning with Multimedia was developed through the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project. The site has general literature on project-based learning, curriculum and activities based on multimedia and classroom examples.

Project-Based Learning Checklists from www.4teachers .org is an automated system for creating project checklists and guidelines.

Project Based Learning from the Buck Institute offers an overview, handbook, resources and trainings on project-based learning.

San Diego City Schools School to Career Office see their Project Based Learning page for examples of best practices in integrated curriculum.

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Senior Projects

QUEST Program at Irvington High School is a senior project. The school wide program is a long-term project that allows students to demonstrate progress toward or mastery of skills in communication, critical thinking, personal responsibility, and social responsibility.

School-Based Enterprise

DECA School Based Enterprise Merchandise Mart provides information on school based enterprises including a guideline manual, bulletin board, vendor opportunities, and success stories.

Virtual Enterprise is a simulated, global, internet-based and supported business that is set up and run by students to prepare them for working in a real business environment.

Service Learning and Community Service

California Department of Education see the Academic and Career Integration Unit, Content Standards, Challenge Career Standards (standards, not board approved, in the areas of Foreign Language, Health Education, Physical Education, Service Learning and Applied Learning. Select the Career Preparation Overview for standards in Agriculture Education, Business Education, Industrial Technology Education, Healthy Careers Education and Home Economics.

National Service Leaning Clearinghouse is a project of ETR Associates and is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service. It provides information, how-to-kits, curriculum, and bulletin boards on service learning.

National Service Learning Partnership is a national membership organization bringing together practitioners, administrators, policy-makers, researchers, community leaders, parents and young people to support K-12 service learning, their site includes a history of service learning and advocacy tools.

Service Learning Education Beyond the Classroom contains examples of the environmentally oriented service learning projects from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Youth Service California is a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to making service a part of every young person’s life, their website has information and resources on service learning.

Tech Prep

CDE Tech Prep, the homepage of the California Department of Education’s Tech Prep site.

Central Valley Consortium Agricultural Education Tech Prep is a joint project between the Stanislaus County Office of Education and Modesto Junior College and has resources and tools for tech prep including the California Workplace Learning Handbook.

USDE Tech Prep, the homepage of the Department of Education’s Tech Prep site.

Work-Based Learning Overall

The Big Picture Company designs break-through public schools, researches and replicates new models for education, trains educators to serve as leaders in their schools and communities, and actively engages the public as participants and decision makers in the education of our youth. See their The New Urban High School: A Practitioner’s Guide, including guidelines for project-based learning, work-based learning, activities for teachers and integrated curriculum development, and their Materials Section that includes the Curriculum Books: Learning Through Internship.

California STC Clearinghouse is California’s clearinghouse for STC tools and resources on all subjects, for all educators and other stakeholders.

Jobs for the Future has many resources and publications available in the publications and products section of their website. For community-connected and work-based learning, standards and assessment see downloadable Connected Learning Communities – A Toolkit for Reinventing High School. For policy guidance, see What’s Next for School-to-Career Report (a summary of the progress of school-to-career to date and recommendations for strategies to improve and sustain state and community school-to career efforts). For project-based learning see Using Real-World Projects to Help Students Meet Standards in Education and the Workplace.

New Ways to Work (NWW) provides technical assistance, training, customized tools and facilitated support to employers, schools, community organizations and community collaboratives interested in developing systems that enhance and improve workplace practices, career development activities, educational improvement efforts and collaborative systems development. As the lead partner in a statewide effort to promote effective employer and labor engagement and work-based learning, NWW has posted numerous best practices and tools to facilitate this work, including the Work-Based Learning Toolkit.

Work Experience

CDE Work Experience Education is the state website for work experience see their resource section.

New Ways to Work (NWW) provides technical assistance, training, customized tools and facilitated support to employers, schools, community organizations and community collaboratives interested in developing systems that enhance and improve workplace practices, career development activities, educational improvement efforts and collaborative systems development. See their Can Do Approaches to Work-Based Learning for a section on work experience.

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