Pupil instruction: career technical education, career education, work-based learning, work experience education, and apprenticeships

The law lets more students earn academic credit and gain supervised career experience through school, college, and employer partnerships. It extends these options across districts, county offices of education, charter schools, state special schools, and community colleges.

What the law does ​

• Defines work-based learning, work experience education, internships, mentorships, student-led enterprises, and youth apprenticeship programs.
• Authorizes school entities and state special schools to offer, supervise, coordinate, and award credit for work-based learning through career technical education, work experience, and early college courses.
• Requires credit for satisfactorily completed work experience education courses, subject to age, instructional, and program requirements.
• Allows work-based learning to include internships, mentorships, job shadowing, student-led businesses, preapprenticeships, and youth apprenticeships.
• Permits schools to provide or arrange workers’ compensation and liability coverage for participating students and, in specified cases, serve as the employer of record.
• Allows existing career education and workforce funding programs to support qualifying work-based learning activities.
• Lets preapprenticeship programs qualify for approval through either a partnership with an approved apprenticeship program or local building-trades approval to use the multicraft core curriculum.

Who it affects ​

• High school and adult education students, including students in grade 10 and students with disabilities.
• School districts, county offices of education, charter schools, state special schools, regional occupational programs, and community colleges.
• Employers, apprenticeship sponsors, labor organizations, and local workforce development boards participating in student programs.

Context ​

Students in these programs remain protected by labor laws applicable to minors.

Breakdown ​

Work-Based Learning for Dual Enrollment ​

The bill allows certain students who are taking community college courses while enrolled in school to participate in work-based learning activities. The activities must be connected to the specified concurrent-enrollment community college courses.

Key takeaways

• Students concurrently enrolled in specified community college courses may take part in work-based learning activities.
• The bill expands opportunities beyond receiving academic credit for completed community college courses.
• The new authorization applies as provided for specified community college courses.

Student-Led Enterprise Programs ​

SB 845 allows an approved student body association in a public school to operate a student-led enterprise program. The program remains subject to the applicable requirements for student body organizations.

Key takeaways

• Public-school student body associations may operate student-led enterprise programs.
• The new authority applies to student body associations that are approved by the school district governing board.
• Student-led enterprise programs are operated under the rules that apply to these student body organizations.

Expanded Work-Based Learning ​

SB 845 expands who may offer and receive credit for work-based learning and work experience education. It allows county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools to use these programs, and extends work experience credit eligibility to 10th-grade pupils. The bill also broadens the types of work-based learning activities and allows numerous career education, college pathway, and workforce programs to support them.

Key takeaways

• County offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools may establish, supervise, coordinate, and award credit for work-based learning and work experience education programs.
• The bill defines work-based learning and work experience education for these authorizations and makes related updates to the governing rules.
• Pupils in grade 10 may receive credit for completing work experience education programs, in addition to pupils in grade 11 and higher grades.
• Work-based learning activities may include youth apprenticeship on-the-job training, internships, mentorships, and activities offered through work experience, community classroom, cooperative career technical education, and early college credit courses.
• State special schools may deliver work-based learning activities, alongside partnership academies, regional occupational programs, and other local educational agencies.
• Multiple state career education, college pathway, workforce, agricultural education, and transition programs may use grants or funding to support work-based learning activities.
• Preapprenticeship programs may document approval to use the multicraft core curriculum from a local building and construction trades council when seeking state approval.