WASHINGTON— The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) announced that six states and one territory—Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Dakota and American Samoa—have been selected to participate in a state knowledge exchange focused on scaling high-quality work-based learning. Work-based learning blends work experience and applied learning to develop youth and young adults’ foundational and technical skills to expand their education, career and employment opportunities.
The knowledge exchange is part of a broader policy academy announced by NGA last month that focuses on scaling high-quality work-based learning. The policy academy, funded by the Siemens Foundation, will help states create and expand work-based learning opportunities that will connect youth and young adults ages 16 to 29 with career opportunities in STEM-intensive industries (those in the science, technology, engineering and math areas) such as advanced manufacturing, health care, information technology and energy.
Knowledge exchange states’ team members will attend a learning lab meeting where they will learn from a “leader state” with strong work-based learning programs and policies in place. They also will engage in peer-learning activities with other states and begin to move forward plans to scale high-quality work-based learning.
The knowledge exchange states will also engage with and learn from the other states participating in the work-based learning policy academy project: Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington.
Since January 2016, the NGA Center has supported 18 states and one territory in their efforts to expand high-quality work-based learning opportunities through the work-based learning policy academy, illustrating the importance of this topic to governors’ offices.
To learn more about the NGA Center Economic Opportunity Division, click here.
To learn more about the Siemens Foundation work in this area, click here.
