Community- Based Work Programs, designed specifically for students with disabilities, provide additional opportunities for students with disabilities, ages 14 and older, to participate in work-based learning programs. These work experiences, which can be paid or unpaid, help students to identify their career interests, assess their employability skills and training needs, and develop the skills and attitudes necessary for eventual paid employment.
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/CDOScredential-613.pdf (p.23)
Job shadowing is a career exploration activity for late middle school and early high school students. The student follows an employee at a workplace for 1-8 hours to learn about an occupation or career pathway of interest. These are observation experiences; no credit is issued to the student for participation in them.
In community service, students participate in volunteer experiences that teach them responsibility, community involvement, and an awareness of the needs of others. Community service does not directly connect to the knowledge and technical skills learned in the classroom. No credit is issued to the student for participation in these activities.
Career mentoring is a formal, long-term supportive relationship between a student and an business/industry with similar career interests. A mentor is a volunteer from the business/industrial community that helps students become aware of career opportunities and work ethics in a one-to-one relationship that goes beyond the formal obligations of a teaching or supervisory role. Applicable hours may be applied towards CDOS Option 1 work-based learning hours requirements or the 54-hour workbased learning program quality indicator for NYSED-approved CTE programs funded by Perkins.
Link: WBL Tracking Log
Industry-based projects take place in CTE classrooms when a business or industry partner provides students with a task or challenge that is for a real client. These projects require that students produce a real product or service to a client’s specifications. These experiences must take place under the supervision of a certified CTE teacher for the program in which the student is enrolled.
A school-based business enterprise exists within a school to provide services for students, staff, and/or customers from the community. No additional credit is awarded for participation in this experience; the credit exists within the related course. Examples of a school-based enterprise are a school store and a credit union. For further information
In certain circumstances, a school may partner with a community or youth employment agency to place students in internships that take place over the summer or during the school year. As this is not a workbased learning program registered by the department, students are not able to earn academic credit. Students may not be placed in hazardous occupations. Due to the nature of the experience, it is strongly recommended that the experience be supervised by a Coordinator of Work-Based Learning Programs for Career Awareness or Career Development. Applicable hours may be applied towards CDOS Option 1 work-based learning hours requirements or the 54-hour work-based learning program quality Perkins indicator for NYSED-approved CTE programs.
Students plan and start-up an actual company providing the public with a product or service. Students undertake the research and design of a business plan, financial planning, and marketing strategy under the mentorship of a business/industry partner or instructor. This does not include virtual or simulated business experiences.
Must be supervised by an instructional staff member, administrator, or school counselor.
Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) is a student-led, instructor supervised, work-based learning experience that results in measurable outcomes within a predefined, agreed upon set of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) Technical Standards and Career Ready Practices aligned to a career plan of study.
SAEs that place students in hazardous occupations must be part of a registered CO-OP program and supervised by a Work Based Learning Coordinator.
Career awareness activities provide benefit to students in allowing them to explore their career goals, abilities, and interests, NYSED has determined that up to twenty (20) hours of a WBL experience and/or total WBL hours can be delivered through career awareness activities*.
Career awareness experiences include:
• Career fairs (with documentation of engagement with business/industry)
• Career interest assessments
• Guest speakers (with documentation of participation)
• Industry-related credentials
• Industry tours
* This flexibility cannot be extended to supervised clinical experiences in health sciences programs which have their own hour requirements based on DOH guidelines.