When students are able to explore careers and build workforce skills in high school, it can have a positive effect on their career and life outcomes. States investing in work-based learning are attempting to create these conditions, providing ample opportunities for high school students to discover career paths, apprentice, learn valuable job skills, and increase their chances for employment after graduation.

In 2021, Bellwether and American Student Assistance (ASA) conducted an analysis of work-based learning policies across 50 states. This year, we partnered with ASA once again on “Making it Work” — profiling 10 states across the country to learn how recent work-based learning initiatives and innovations have evolved and benefitted local students.

We recently caught up with leaders from featured states, including Illinois, Maine, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia, to check in on their latest wins, discuss their biggest obstacles to progress, and share their ambitions of making work-based learning opportunities possible for every student. We spoke with the following leaders:

• Illinois: Heather Penczak, Director of Innovation and Implementation at Education Systems Center
• Maine: Rick Wilson, Extending Learning Specialist at Maine Department of Education
• North Carolina: Morgan Crawford, Deputy Director at North Carolina Business Committee for Education
• Washington: Ingrid Stegemoeller, Industry Engagement Director at Partnership for Learning
• West Virginia: Adam Canter, Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) at West Virginia Department of Education

Latest Wins: More Students and Stronger Partnerships

Policymakers, school leaders, and advocates in each of the five states we revisited are making steady progress on engaging students in work-based learning programs. Several of the states have celebrated more students enrolling in or completing these programs, while others have created more apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships in high-demand industries. Many of the state leaders also cited greater partnerships among schools, employers, and policymakers as a major win. 

• More high school students in Illinois are earning College and Career Pathway Endorsements than they have in previous years, according to Penczak. In-person gatherings, such as school visits and internship showcases, have also helped schools, businesses, and community leaders throughout the state exchange ideas and build stronger connections with one another.
• Maine has expanded its Extended Learning Opportunities grant for a second year to increase work-based learning opportunities for disadvantaged youth. The state also continues to see the benefits of the Maine Career Exploration program, which has provided meaningful work experiences to 6,000 young people statewide — and counting.
• Crawford said that North Carolina is continuing to help students explore their career options early by increasing its pre-apprenticeship offerings for high schoolers. Over the past two years, its Building Bright Futures initiative has also registered and supported 50 pre-apprentices, 447 apprentices, and 304 mentors in 279 child care centers statewide.
• Washington continues to benefit from the $23 million federal Good Jobs Challenge grant it received in 2023. According to Stegemoeller, the funding has offered “wraparound support — such as child care, transportation, and more — that enables students to complete their training and gain full-time employment.” Career Connect Washington (CCW), which works with schools and employers to create meaningful job experiences for students, has also targeted partnerships that address workforce needs more effectively and prepare students for jobs in high-demand industries, like health care, agriculture, and construction.
• In West Virginia, Canter shared that their pilot program, Classroom2Career, continues to help CTE students in the state — like Eli, Xander, and Aryana — learn valuable skills and network for future jobs, all while earning a wage. “By working closely with industry leaders, we’ve been able to create meaningful, real-world learning opportunities for students while addressing workforce gaps,” Canter noted.

Obstacles to Progress: Access, Engagement, and Employer Concerns

Although there is a lot to celebrate in the five states we revisited, hurdles remain to increase access to work-based learning opportunities for every student. State leaders cited ongoing challenges around student accessibility and employer and student engagement as key barriers to the success of work-based learning programs.

• Leaders in Illinois are debunking myths around employee age restrictions and workplace liabilities. As Penczak put it, “while federal guidance does exist to address these concerns, local conversations at the district and employer level are still necessary” to assuage employees’ legal concerns. In response, the state is partnering with community organizations like the Valley Education for Employment System and disseminating resources for employers to allay their worries about hiring high school students via Illinois’ work-based learning programs.
• Both Maine and Washington face challenges engaging rural students, with obstacles like fewer employers, less funding, and less transportation options. In Washington, Stegemoeller noted how “data and measurement also present a significant obstacle,” as the state and CCW figure out how to track participation in exploration and internship programs. 
• In North Carolina, Crawford points to supply and demand issues that create a dynamic where “more students are looking for opportunities than there are available [spots].” State leaders continue to search for new ways to get more businesses to offer work-based learning roles to the qualified high school students who are searching for them.
• West Virginia leaders struggle with simplifying the work-based learning process for educators, students, and industry partners in a way that can, in Canter’s words, “create a system that is both seamless and efficient.” Since administrative burdens are often at odds with this aim, the state is trying out new communications strategies to improve navigation issues for educators, students, and business leaders.

Opportunities for Growth: Expanding Access, Support, and Awareness

If work-based learning funds weren’t limited, what new investments would meaningfully expand access for students? We put this question to leaders in each of the five states we revisited. Unsurprisingly, they had many great ideas.

• In Illinois, Penczak would use more funding to expand access to high-quality work-based learning for students furthest from opportunity. She also noted the importance of investing in demographic data collection on work-based learning access statewide to identify disparities and put new resources into the Illinois communities where they are needed most; doing so would give state leaders “real data and research on what works (and what doesn’t), ensuring that future investments are evidence-based and scalable.”
• In Maine, Wilson would invest in compensating program coordinators and students well. He cited coordinators as extremely important to the success of programming and noted that student compensation “incentivizes participation and enables youth to complete work experiences, notably youth in families with low income.”
• North Carolina’s Crawford echoed this vision to “support a team of work-based learning coordinators in each county whose only focus is to work with the employers, K-12, and community colleges.” However, she acknowledged that funding alone wouldn’t achieve this: “In my experience, the places that have success have whole community buy-in and partnership, which has led to increased work-based learning opportunities within a region.”
• Washington’s Stegemoeller had many ideas on how the state could improve program effectiveness, accessibility, and alignment with workforce needs, including a simpler credentialing system. She also said that Washington leaders would be well served to “identify and elevate best practices from across the state that remove barriers to career-connected learning pathways” for students furthest from opportunity.
• West Virginia’s Canter focused on further investments in the state’s outreach and public awareness efforts, including launching a large-scale marketing and communication campaign. “Increased visibility would drive higher participation rates,” he said, “ultimately leading to more students gaining hands-on experience in their chosen career fields.”

As these five states illustrate, work-based learning initiatives offer a range of opportunities and growth areas that are buoyed by recent momentum-sustaining wins for students and industry leaders alike. With continued support, programs in Illinois, Maine, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia can transform the work-based learning landscape and serve as models for other states looking to adopt similar policies, ensuring that every student, regardless of background or geography, has the opportunity to build a successful future.