School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994

The following sections of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 describe the school-based learning component, the work-based learning component, and the connecting activities component:

"SECT. 102. SCHOOL-BASED LEARNING COMPONENT

The school-based learning component of a School-to-Work Opportunities program shall include:

1. Career awareness and career exploration and counseling (beginning at the earliest possible age, but not later than the 7th grade) in order to help students who may be interested to identify, and select or reconsider, their interests, goals, and career majors, including those options that may not be traditional for their gender, race, or ethnicity.

2. Initial selection by interested students of a career major not later than the beginning of the 11th grade.

3. A program of study designed to meet the same academic content standards the State has established for all students, including, where applicable, standards established under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and to meet the requirements necessary to prepare a student for postsecondary education and the requirements necessary for a student to earn a skill certificate.

4. A program of instruction and curriculum that integrates academic and vocational learning (including applied methodologies and team-teaching strategies), and incorporates instruction, to the extent practicable, in all aspects of an industry, appropriately tied to the career major of a participant.

5. Regularly scheduled evaluations involving ongoing consultation and problem solving with students and school dropouts to identify their academic strengths and weaknesses, academic progress, workplace knowledge, goals, and the need for additional learning opportunities to master core academic and vocational skills.

6. Procedures to facilitate the entry of students participating in a School-to-Work Opportunities program into additional training or postsecondary education programs, as well as to facilitate the transfer of the students between education and training programs.

SEC. 103. WORK-BASED LEARNING COMPONENT

(a) Mandatory Activities: The work-based learning component of a School-to-Work Opportunities program shall include:

1. Work experience

2. A planned program of job training and work experiences (including training related to preemployment and employment skills to be mastered at progressively higher levels) that are coordinated with learning in the school-based learning component described in section 102 and are relevant to the career majors of students and lead to the award of skill certificates.

3. Workplace mentoring

4. Instruction in general workplace competencies, including instruction and activities related to developing positive work attitudes, and employability and participative skills.

5. Broad instruction, to the extent practicable, in all aspects of the industry.

   (b) Permissible Activities: Such component may include such activities as paid work experience, job shadowing, school-sponsored enterprises, or on-the-job training.

   SEC. 104. CONNECTING ACTIVITIES COMPONENT

   The connecting component of a School-to-Work Opportunities program shall include:

   1. Matching students with the work-based learning opportunities of employers.

   2. Providing, with respect to each student, a school site mentor to act as a liaison among the student and the employer, school, teacher, school administrator, and parent of the student, and, if appropriate, other community partners.

   3. Providing technical assistance and services to employers, including small- and medium-sized businesses, and other parties in:
      (A) Designing school-based learning components described in section 102, work-based learning components described in section 103, and counseling and case management services.

      (B) Training teachers, workplace mentors, school site mentors and counselors.

   4. Providing assistance to schools and employers to integrate school-based and work-based learning and integrate academic and occupational learning into the program.

   5. Encouraging the active participation of employers, in cooperation with local education officials, in the implementation of local activities described in section 102, section 103, or this section.
   6. (A) Providing assistance to participants who have completed the program in finding an appropriate job, continuing their education, or entering into an additional training program.

      (B) Linking the participants with other community services that may be necessary to assure a successful transition from school to work.

   7. Collecting and analyzing information regarding post-program outcomes of participants in the School-to-Work Opportunities program, to the extent practicable, on the basis of socioeconomic status, race, gender, ethnicity, culture, and disability, and on the basis of whether the participants are students with limited-English proficiency, school dropouts, disadvantaged students, or academically talented students.

   8. Linking youth development activities under this Act with employer and industry strategies for upgrading the skills of their workers."

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      Source: School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. P.L. 103-239.

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