The Illinois Work-Based Learning Innovation Network is designed to:
Join K-12 school districts, postsecondary institutions, employers, and community-based organizations across Illinois as we share learnings about innovative, scalable, and high-quality work-based learning models.
Join us at upcoming meetings and collaborate with fellow work-based learning practitioners. Find past event recordings and materials in the I-WIN event archive.
Visit I-WIN’s resource library to search and filter a collated selection of guides, templates, models, videos, and more. Sort by type (resource or model) and topic (work-based learning continuum stages, industry sectors, and/or employer engagement).
The competencies set forth in this document were developed through an iterative process involving public-private steering committees established pursuant to the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act in order to implement College and Career Pathway Endorsements.
The Career Development Experience (CDE) Toolkit, released in fall 2019, adheres to the framework of the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act for College and Career Pathway Endorsements. The guide and online resources are designed to serve any organization that seeks to provide rigorous work-based learning opportunities to youth. Career Development Experiences are part of Illinois’ broader work-based learning continuum and refer to a broad array of experiential learning that addresses the components included in the statutory definition of the Career Pathways Dictionary.
The purpose of this extension is to explore career development experiences (CDE) and provide resources to address the needs of stakeholders outside of a traditional high school setting including workforce development organizations, community-based organizations, and alternative high schools. This companion piece targets these organizations and employers in order to serve youth more inclusively.
Career pathways in Illinois are administered by a variety of private, state, and local entities; and thus several state education and workforce committees, including an extensive base of stakeholders, developed agreed-upon definitions to ensure alignment across agencies, legal frameworks, and initiatives.
This manual provides guidance for creating and improving work-based learning opportunities for K-12 students. Activities are designed to introduce Career Exploration as soon as possible, build increasingly interactive experiences, and maximize student exposure to careers and work-based learning opportunities by the time they complete secondary education. This resource is a living document and ISBE would value any feedback or resources as they continue to keep guidance updated.
This resource is designed to help communities enhance their work-based learning programs and ensure equitable access for schools with varying capacities. It includes quality criteria, resources, and equity considerations for career awareness, career exploration, team-based challenges, career development experiences, and work-based learning systems and processes. Equity insights and student “I can” statements are also incorporated.
Explore a compilation of sector-specific models across the work-based learning continuum from communities throughout Illinois that offer high-quality experiences in education pathways. Utilize, repurpose, and apply these models to support your design and implementation of work-based learning experiences.
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