Work-based Learning Exemplars: Worthwhile Internship Experiences for Students, Local...

"A professional internship is a point of entry into the workplace. It is also, in many ways, a rite of passage into adulthood. Young people welcome the chance to test their skills and knowledge and to discover more about what they want to learn and do next. At NAF academies in public high schools nationwide, the internship is the culminating experience of rigorous core academics in history, math, science, and literature, complemented by career-themed education and a series of work-based learning experiences.

To guide NAF academies in creating these opportunities, NAF brought together education and workforce experts and employers to identify the Gold Standards for Internships. According to the standards, NAF internship goals are well-defined and attainable. Supervision is constructive and accountable. Students are prepared for the experience in advance and assessed afterward to ensure a deep level of understanding and engagement throughout. In these and several other ways, internship experiences are as much a training ground for students in their chosen careers, as they are optimal opportunities to discover that these are not paths they want to invest in long term.

This report offers a close look at how four NAF academies have integrated elements of traditional and non-traditional internships to offer students a rewarding, culminating work-based learning experience—one that meets NAF Certification requirements and assures college and career readiness. At each of the four featured academies, both the process of developing the work-based learning opportunity and the students’ experience of taking part in it proved creative and enlightening for those involved" (p.1). (Abstractor: Author)

Full Publication Title: Work-based Learning Exemplars: Worthwhile Internship Experiences for Students, Local Employers and the Community

"The NAF Internship Gold Standards were created by education and workforce development experts and employers to ensure that more students have access to the experience deemed most valuable by MDRC in their longitudinal study of career academies. GOLD STANDARDS FOR INTERNSHIPS: • Internships are part of a continuum of work-based learning. • Internships are compensated. • Internships drive educational equity. • Internships are based on identified youth interests and learning objectives. • Internship experiences align with academic learning. • Internships produce valuable work that furthers employers’ organizational goals. • All participants are prepared for, and reflect upon, internship experiences. • Systems are in place to support internship participants throughout the experience. • Internships are assessed against identified youth interests and learning objectives. • Internships occur in safe and supportive environments" (p. 1). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2012
• Author(s): Higginbotham, Anastasia
• Organizational Author(s): National Academy Foundation
• Funding Source: National Academy Foundation
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies