by Massachusetts seeks to be a national leader in providing high-quality career development experiences for high school students. As part of this goal, the Connecting Activities program, the YouthWorks program, and other youth employment, internship, co-operative education and summer jobs programs work with local employers and community organizations to develop a wide range of work experiences for students. Often called “work-based learning” because of the emphasis on working and learning, these experiences are designed to help students to learn about careers and gain career skills.
The Massachusetts Work-Based Learning Plan is designed to provide structure for these Work-Based Learning experiences. The Work-Based Learning Plan (WBLP) is a brief document designed to:
- identify skills;
- open conversations about learning opportunities;
- provide a structure for evaluation;
- and encourage reflection about both short term and long term goals.
It includes a job description, a list of skills that students will explore, and reviews. It can be completed on paper or online. For YouthWorks programs: it can be completed via the YouthWorks database. For Connecting Activities, cooperative education, or any other youth work experience program: via the online WBLP screens in the Connecting Activities database. Each year, across these different programs and platforms, over 15,000 students at over 5,000 employer sites use the Work-Based Learning Plan.
Visit massconnecting.org to learn more about Connecting Activities and the resources available, and learn more through this brief video:
