Abstract
One of the key objectives of the Wellness Centers in the Los Angeles Unified School District is
the development of career pathways for students around health. The existence of a
community clinic on a school campus, along with the myriad of partners linked to the Wellness
Center, from hospitals to mental health clinics; provide extraordinary opportunities for workbased learning. The purpose of this toolkit is to assist you in the development of these
pathways, which will foster interest, raise awareness and provide authentic opportunities in job
preparation for students in medicine and health.
The toolkit is divided into two sections. The first section focuses on Work Based Learning.
Work-based learning is an instructional strategy that is essential in preparing all students for
success in postsecondary education and careers. Its primary purposes are to expose students
to future options and provide opportunities for skill development and mastery over time. All
work-based learning experiences involve interactions with industry or community professionals
that are linked to school-based instruction. These learning experiences are intentionally
designed to help students extend and deepen classroom work and to make progress toward
learning outcomes that are difficult to achieve through classroom alone. Work-based learning
can be seen as a continuum of experiences beginning with awareness about different career
options. This is followed by exploration in the student’s areas of interest. Next is preparation,
where students learn through practical experiences. Lastly, is training, which allows students
to train for actual future employment or postsecondary education. The strength of the workbased learning activities relies squarely on the strength of the community partnerships that
each Wellness Center has developed with outside entities. The Work Based Learning section of
the toolkit is prefaced with a document, which helps outline the importance of these
partnerships and assists in their development.
The second section of the toolkit focuses on Linked Learning. While Work-Based Learning and
Career Pathway Formation is part of the larger umbrella of Linked Learning, this section focuses
primarily on the academic component of Linked Learning, namely, Staff and Curriculum
Development. A Linked Learning approach relies on teachers to increasingly blend academic
and technical curriculum in ways that connect theoretical knowledge and real-world
applications. This section of the toolkit will assist school staff in garnering the skills needed to
provide that connection.
Each subsection under both Work-based and Linked Learning contains a description of practical
strategies that can be implemented at your Wellness Center, as well as resources that will help
you in their implementation.
Contents
Content
Partnership
Development
Work Based Learning
(WBL)
Career Awareness
Career Day/Fair
Industry
Presentations
Workplace
Tours/Field Trips
Career Exploration
Classroom Speaker
Series
Career and
Technical Student
Organizations
Career Preparation
School-Based
Enterprises
Social Enterprises
for Learning (SEfL)
Description
Developing partnerships with outside businesses
and other organizations is crucial in establishing
WBL opportunities
Instructional strategy used to prepare students
for postsecondary education and careers. It is
implemented through a scaffolding of activities
of increasing intensity that links students with
industry professionals.
WBL activities that work on building experiences
for students in an effort to build awareness
of the variety of careers available
Career Awareness activity that brings industry
professionals to a school campus in a
fair/conference-type setting so students may
learn about different industries
Stand-alone presentations conducted by
industry professionals in student classrooms
usually linked to a project or lesson
Activity, in which students visit a workplace to
learn about a business, meet employees, ask
questions and observe work in progress.
WBL activities that provide students with the
opportunity to explore career options in a way
that contributes to motivation for learning and
informs students’ decisions about further
experiences and career and educational options.
A variation of Industry Presentations. It is
recurring and consistent with the purpose of
exposing students to a wide variety of
professions in a particular industry.
Youth organizations designed to support
students in career and technical education (CTE)
programs. They help students develop the
technical and leadership skills that will enable
them to succeed in their career paths.
WBL activities that support higher-level college
and career readiness and include extended
interaction with professionals from industry and
the community.
Businesses serving the school or community,
managed and operated by students as handson learning laboratories
School-based, civic-driven enterprises in which
young people identify a need in the community
and develop a product or specific service to
address that need
Resources
Document based on PILLAR Partnership Handbook
that describes the steps in developing partnerships
to implement work-based learning activities.
1. Career Fair Planning Checklist that guides in
planning a career fair event
2. Sample surveys that helps asses the presenters
and the event
1. Comprehensive list of occupations in the Health
Science and Medical Technology industry
2. Kaiser Permanente’s guide to health careers
3. List of Community Clinics in Los Angeles County
4. List of Hospitals in Los Angeles County
1. KC Public School’s How to guide to workplace
tours
2. Sample Worksite Qualification Form to asses a
potential worksite
3. LAUSD’s Field Trips Handbook
1. Sample Confirmation Letter to Speaker
2. Sample Thank You Letter to Speaker
3. Classroom Presentation Speaker Tips Handout
(Resources available in the Industry Presentations
section may also be used for this activity.)
Guides to the following Student Organizations:
 HOSA
 FFCLA
 SkillsUSA
 TSA
1. DECA’s (International Association of marketing
students) Guide to Starting and Managing
School-Based Enterprises
2. DECA’s Viewbook
1. UC Berkeley’s SEfL Toolkit
2. UC Berkeley’s YPLAN Overview
Service Learning
Career Training
Job Shadowing
Service-Learning is a teaching and learning
strategy in which students learn and develop
through active participation in high quality
service
Experiences that prepare students for
employment in a specific range of occupations
Activity in which a student follows an employee
for one or more days to learn about a particular
occupation or industry
Internships/Work
Experience
Learning experiences whereby students work in
a variety of departments, learning the range of
jobs and careers within a company or agency
Student Mentoring
Activity where an employee at a workplace
works in consultation with classroom teachers to
instruct a student, critique their performance
and challenges the student to perform well
Linked Learning
Staff Development &
Support
Advisory Committee
Staff Professional
Development
Teacher/School
Staff Externships
Curriculum
Development &
Support
Linked Learning is an approach that integrates
rigorous academics with career-based learning
and real world workplace experiences by
creating meaningful learning experiences
through career-oriented pathways in different
fields
Academic teachers, with no previous experience
in a particular workplace, need exposure to sites
where their academic content is being applied
outside the classroom. Teachers with industry
experience share a culture with the employers,
which facilitate communication
A group of individuals from industry, business,
community agencies, parents, students, school
administrators, and educators who assist to
build, maintain and improve the WBL program
Teachers should have appropriate professional
skills that equip them to work in pathways,
including understanding how to collaborate with
other teachers and industry partner sources.
Experiences in which teachers spend time in a
workplace to learn through direct experience
about trends, skill requirements and
opportunities in industries related to their
subject
Support services and supplemental instruction
that moves beyond a reiteration of the original
material and offers new ways for students to
master academic subjects.
1. LAUSD’s Service Learning Guidebook
2. WI Public Education’s Guide to Implementing
Quality Service Learning
3. List of Community Service Opportunities for
High School Students in Los Angeles
1. Toolkit for a Successful Job Shadowing
Experience
2. Job Shadowing Tips
3. UK Medical Center’s Privacy/Confidentiality
training for Job Shadowing students
4. UCSF Privacy and Confidentiality Handbook
5. Sample Confidentiality Agreement for Career
Training Students
1. UC Berkeley’s Internship Handbook for Career
Academies
2. Sample Templates for an Internship Program
3. LAUSD’s Reference Guide for Partnership
Agreements Student Internships
4. LAUSD’s Business Partnership Agreement
Templates
1. CT Board of Education’s Workplace Mentoring
Guide
2. Workplace Mentoring Tips
3. Mentoring Program Implementation Timeline
4. Matrix of Mentoring Programs
1. MI Department of Education’s Program
Advisory Committee Toolkit
2. Program Advisory Committee Best Practices
1. Seven Standards for Effective Professional
Development, eSchool News article
2. ConnectEd Brief, The Linked Learning
Advantage: Using Linked Learning to Implement
the Common Core State Standards
3. Cycle of Inquiry protocol
1. UC Berkeley’s Teacher Externship Guide
2. Teacher Externship Planning Document
3. Suggested Activities for Teacher Externship
Project-Based
Learning (PBL)
Curriculum
Integration
Strategy where students go through an extended
process of inquiry in response to a complex
question, problem, or challenge to help students
learn key academic content, practice 21st
Century Skills and create high-quality, authentic
products & presentations
Integrated curriculum refers to the materials and
pedagogical strategies used by multidisciplinary
teams of teachers to organize their instruction so
that students are encouraged to make
meaningful connections across subject areas
1. Health Careers Resource Consortium’s PBL for
Health Careers Pathways
2. PBL Project Overview Template
3. PBL Checklist
1.
2.
3.
4.
Articulation
Additional Resources
Articulation refers to the collaboration between
middle schools and high schools, as well as high
schools and postsecondary institutions with the
purpose of facilitating transition options for
students
List of Additional resources to assist with
Establishing Student Career Pathways
1.
2.
3.
ConnectEd’s Designing Multidisciplinary
Integrated Curriculum Units
Steps to Designing an Integrated
Curriculum Unit
ConnectEd’s Sample Integrated Curriculum
Unit on health Science Careers
Technical Education Model: Health Science
and Medical Technology
Statewide Career Pathways: Creating
School to College Articulation
Sample Allied Health Articulation template
How to Create Local Articulation
Agreements Using the Statewide Career
Pathways Articulation Templates