Iowa’s Work-based Learning Conference
If you are looking for some great ideas to develop your school to work program, consider attending this conference on Aprill 22-23rd in Ankeny. For more information and registration, go to https://www.acteonline.org/wbl-conference/#toggle-id-5
Employment First Guidebook

- P 6 – what is Employment 1st – talks about the history of this movement within Iowa and nationally
- P 9 – nice review of all the different services and supports around work in our state
- P 26 – encouraging people to work
- P 28 – WIOA connections
- P 31 – myth busting scenarios about work
- P 42 – FAQs
- P 81 – a nice article in the appendix about high expectations
- P 93 – a nice article about the influence of families and starting early
Iowa Work Based Learning Conference – April 2-3rd
The Iowa Work-Based Learning Coordinators’ executive committee is excited to invite MOC coordinators, CTE teachers, work-based learning coordinators, business partners, and interested colleagues to join us for our professional development workshop on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3, 2019. This workshop is a collaborative and personalized learning and networking event.
Topics will include updates on work-based learning teaching certifications, OSHA, child labor, insurance information, best practices for making business connections, developing the best training plans and agreements, marketing to families and so much more. This year we have built in even more discussion and networking time including an afternoon social event on Tuesday.
There is a great lineup of breakout sessions and speakers this year to help you develop the best program possible. This event also includes our annual business meeting and voting for the new executive board.
Early bird registration through March 1st – saves you $20.
Register HERE by March 25th to guarantee meals and conference materials.
Location
- Holiday Inn Des Moines Airport and Conference Center
- 6111 Fleur Drive
- Des Moines, IA 50321
There is a limited event capacity, so don’t delay!
The 2018-2019 year is a very exciting time for Work-Based Learning Coordinators. With the Future Ready Iowa Initiative, the Iowa Clearinghouse for WBL coming to fruition and the multitude of new programs across the state, IWBL wants to be your go to place for all things Work-Based Learning. They have a great team, including current and past executive officers, that have a wide range of experiences and knowledge to offer. Please continue to use their PD source of Schoology and check out their website: http://www.iowawbl.org
Learning Today • Leading Tomorrow
Iowa Work-Based Learning Workshop – April 2-3, 2019
The Iowa Work-Based Learning Coordinators’ executive committee is excited to invite MOC coordinators, CTE teachers, work-based learning coordinators, business partners, and interested colleagues to join us for our professional development workshop on Tuesday, April 2 and Wednesday, April 3, 2019. This workshop is a collaborative and personalized learning and networking event.
Holiday Inn Des Moines Airport and Conference Center
6111 Fleur Drive
Des Moines, IA 50321
Topics will include updates on work-based learning teaching certifications, OSHA, child labor, insurance information, best practices for making business connections, developing the best training plans and agreements, marketing to families and so much more. This year we have built in even more discussion and networking time including an afternoon social event on Tuesday.
We have a great lineup of breakout sessions and speakers this year to help you develop the best program possible. This event also includes our annual business meeting and voting for new executive board.
Early bird registration through March 1st – saves you $20. CLICK HERE to register
Register by March 25th to guarantee meals and conference materials.
We do have a limited event capacity, so don’t delay!
Learning Today • Leading Tomorrow
Summer Externship Experience for Teachers
We just got the following information today about Summer Externship Experiences for High School teachers. This could provide some eye-opening work exploration options for teachers! See the letter below to see if this is something you think could be a great opportunity for your hands-on learning:
What is an Externships?
An externship is an unique professional development opportunity for educators to connect the workplace to the classroom. It provides an opportunity for educators to spend time in a business/industry to learn through hands-on experience about practices related to their subject in order to improve and strengthen their teaching by bringing relevance to student learning.
Purpose
The purpose of an externship is for educators to learn how classroom content and learning strategies apply in the workplace by engaging in daily activities of a local business and/or industry. Educators are able to build the bridge between knowledge and skill-based education by being updated about current workplace practices, requirements, and employability skills that meet current industry standards. The experience will be able to bring relevance to student learning by being able to tie real-world application to their lessons.
Benefits
- Provide a fresh perspective about today’s workplace and the skills students need to succeed.
- Increase ability to explain the value of what students are learning and why it is relevant.
- Provides an experience to learn new technology and first-hand knowledge of what businesses need and expect of its future workforce.
- Ability to help students learn employability and adaptability skills in order to be prepared for the workforce.
- Connect basic academic skills to employability skills by constructive conversation with business and industry.
- Opportunity to have any questions answered by a business professional and aid in the design of a lesson plan.
Program Quick Facts
- Educators will receive a stipend of $800 upon completion of an externship and its requirements during the summer.
- Eight externships spots will be offered after being reviewed by the externship committee.
- Educators will present to community members, business partners, principals, and economic developers about their experience.
Important Dates
- February 5, 2018|Deadline for applications
- February 6-13 | Set up interviews & contact administration reference
- Week of February 19 | Applicant interview
- August 1, 2018| Presentation
Externships Guidelines
Application Requirements
- An applicant must be an educator in the high school setting.
- An educator must complete the application fully including the administrator recommendation, externship agreement, and attach a resume.
- Applicants must choose career fields or businesses that are relevant to their current position on the application to be considered for selection.
- An applicant will be interviewed as part of the selection process due to limited number of participants.
- No late applications will be accepted.
- An applicant is ineligible if they have already done an externship the prior year. This gives other educators an opportunity to participate but still encourages past participants to have another experience.
Placements
- Externs will be placed in only one business for one week. There will not be multiple placements given unless a business cannot accommodate an extern for a week.
- There will be an emphasis on placing educators in jobs that are in demand in our area.
- The committee has final say about placement and will use their own discretion on where they see fit for placement.
Extern Requirements
- All required paperwork must be submitted prior to the start date of their externship. If the paperwork is not turned in the externship will be considered invalid.
- If an extern does not communicate after three attempts by the Iowa Central staff, the extern will be dropped from the program.
- The journal must be completed in full and turned in on the date of the presentation.
- The presentation date is mandatory and no exemptions will be given. Presentations need to be completed in order to receive payment.
Presentation Guidelines
- Presentation should not exceed 10 minutes.
- Presentation has to be given on August 1, no exceptions.
- Presentations should answer the following questions:
- How can you help students be prepared for the workforce?
- How can you implement workplace skills and knowledge into every day lessons to provide relevance of textbook learning to the workplace?
- How can you utilize your experience to help students?
- How do you plan to continue to foster your relationship with your business host?
- What is one thing that you will take away from this experience?
- The presentation should also touch on the lesson plan they created in the journal.
If you have any questions, please call Samantha Harms at 515-574-1076 or e-mail her at harms@iowacentral.edu
The Role of the Paraeducator/Job Coach
The Role of the Paraeducator/Job Coach
The following excerpt, The Role of the Paraeducator – Job Coach is taken from the School-Based Job Coach Training Manual, which was created by the Nebraska Department of Education – Job Coach Technical Assistance Guide.
It is a basic overview of several components, including: the role of the paraeducator, the code of ethics, the role of the Job Coach, Job Coach Responsibilities, What is Task Analysis, and What is Job Training.
As schools work to increase the vocational skills of their students, especially in the junior/senior years of high school, it is more important to make sure our paraeducators have a strong understanding of the differences between being a classroom paraprofessional and that of a job coach, if they are serving dual roles.
It is critical that the job coach/paraprofessional understand how to do a task analysis of the job(s) that the student is assigned to do, and then to monitor the student’s progress at increasing their time on those tasks. The job coach paraprofessional also needs to do a weekly evaluation of the student’s improvement of skills. Most importantly, the job coach must fade the support that they have been providing as the student masters the job skills to ensure that they become as independent as possible at the job site.
There are a wide variety of evaluation forms that can be used, and may need to be developed in relationship to the specific job. Some examples include:
This information can also be found under the RESOURCES tab: Job Coach Resources
As more information is released, we will keep you updated!
WIOA what?!?
No… that is NOT Iowa spelled incorrectly! If you have heard the acronym “WIOA” it stands for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.
There are still lots of details to work out as this new process moves forward, so to help you have some basic information, here are several documents that may help you understand some of these changes:
- Memorandum of Agreement notice between IVRS & the DE
- WIOA Webinar Powerpoint – Dec. 2015
- WIOA Webinar – approximately 30 minutes
- FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
All of the information above may be found on the Department of Education website under Special Education/Secondary Transition.
As more information comes out, we will keep you posted!
April Transition Trainings Update
We are excited and wanted to update you on our upcoming Transition Trainings! As of today, the I Have A Plan and More Training on April 23rd is full, and we have a few openings yet for our training on April 10th. We are so excited about the trainings, and feel that you will walk away from both with new practical ways to implement the information right into your classroom instruction!
If you haven’t signed up yet, and would like to for the April 10th training, please use the following link: April 10th Transition Training
We are keeping a short waiting list in case there are some cancellations, so if you already have signed up and find out you cannot attend, please email Laurie DeWall so she can let the next person know they can attend.
We look forward to learning with all of you!
Career Exploration
I am meeting with Kandy Martin and Lori Kolbeck to discuss job exploration and employment options in the Webster City area. The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability (NCWD) has lots of good information about preparing students for the world of work.
http://www.ncwd-youth.info/innovative-strategies/practice-briefs/career-exploration-in-action