Q & A
1. Q- (1-23-15) "Prerequisites, Can that be ANY course now or does it have to be Career Prep?"
Answer- Prerequisites:pg.10
Theanswer isYes any CT course. There are three ways to qualify.
1. The student has had one (1) CT High School course credit
2. The student hascompleted Career Preparedness (Require for students on the Essential Life Skills Pathway)
3. You candocumentthe student hasachievedthe content objectives of CareerPreparedness.
By the fall of 2016, most if notall,students will have taken CareerPreparedness. Until then,we can still qualify students to enter the WBL. This is not a short cut. It is intended to be an extendedopportunityfor all students.
The bestpractice is still to become a concentrator, but it is not always possible. Thenewpolicy, levels the playing field for all students.Studentswith special needs,AP students, Transfer students from other states, previously home schooled students etc. Nowvirtually every student in a high school can take advantage of WBL (hands on training)in a business or career field with professionalsin that field.
2. Q - (1-23-15) After having reviewed the new manual, am I correct in understanding that only two internship types are permitted; Health Science and Education and that the participating student must be enrolled in a respective academy? Clarification of this will be greatly appreciated.
Answer- The internships are open for virtually any WBL. Therevisiondid not alter the
Alabama State DepartmentApprovedNational Academy Internships,beginning on page 44. Agriscience also is included in that portion of the manual.
Therevisionfor WBL (Cooperative Education) allows for anunpaidplacement of students in any career field, which they have chosen. A paid placement in many career areas wasjust notavailable.Being able to offer theopportunityto have hands on WBL can proveinvaluableto the student's career objective.
3. We are working on the course of study for next year, and we have some questions regarding Cooperative Education and Workforce Essentials.
Q- Do we have to offer Workforce Essentials?
Answer-
(Have to)-No.
Butthis is an LEAdecision.Students who are on theEssential Life Skills Pathway must be able to complete the pathway. In the Course description, (The Alabama High School Work Components Requirements) bullet 3explainsthat, the student must takeWorkforceEssentialsorTransition Services II. The LEA must make thedecisionas to how they will provide theopportunityto complete the Pathway.The student could take Workforce Essentials online, in a traditional classroom setting or the LEA could offer the Transition Services II course. Workforce Essentials is a good class but it isnot required as aprerequisitefor the WBL (Co- Op)programunlessthe LEAdecidesto requireit however, please remember Workforce Essentials is required for the students on the Essential Life Skills Pathway.
If you have included Workforce Essentials as a part of the strand for other programs, you would need tooffer a way of obtaining theclass credit. Choosing not to include Workforce Essentialsas an entry level orprerequisitecourse in other programs is again an LEA decision.
4. Q- If we offer Workforce Essentials, what is the credential for this class? Does the credential tie to the pathway we are offering?
Answer- There is not a specificcredential justfor Workforce Essentials.The Credentialing would be for the pathway inwhichWorkforce Essentials maybe included.
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5. Q- Is there a credential for Cooperative Education? Does the credential tie to the pathway we are offering?
Answer- Cooperative Education does not have a specificcredentialfor Co-Op. The Credentialing would be in thepathway the student has chosen topursue. This is why it is still RECOMMENDED, but NOT REQUIRED (page 10 WBL manual revised 2014), that a student obtain concentratorstatusprior to enrolling in Cooperative Education.The new minimumrequirementsare intended to be inclusive of all students who were unable to qualify as a concentrator for WBT.
6. Q- Are students required to be members of a CTSO in order to be in WBL.
Answer- WBT Manual revised 2014-Coordinator Responsibilities (pg. 13)
Encourage Students to become active in a CTSO related to their career objective, career pathway and career cluster.
The Student should engage with other students in their career pathway as members of a CTSO. The benefits, of a professional membership, only enhance the Work-Based Learning. The students should not be required to miss scheduled work hours in order to attend the CTSO. The major focus of WBL is the credit and experience from work.
7. Q- Do students receive a full credit for each 140 hours they work? 2 credits for 280 hours, 3 credits for 420 hours etc.?
Answer-
Credit for WBT-work release:
A student may receiveOne (1) creditfor successful completion of a minimum of 140 hours of an internship or apprenticeship for
each class period, which the student hasregisteredfor. The studentmay not earnmore than one credit for completion of additional hoursin a single class period.
Example: Four Block day:
· The student is registered for4th block WBL-workrelease. May receiveonly One (1) creditfor their work with successful completion of a minimum of 140 hours of an internship or apprenticeship. (420 hours does not get 3 credits)
· The student who is registered for3rd and 4th block WBL-work release.May receive a credit foreach period [total of 2 for the semester]with successful completion of a minimum of 140 hours of aninternshipor apprenticeship foreach period they are register for.
This student could receive a total of Two (2) credits during the first semester. If they register for the same schedule during the spring semester they could receive an additional Two (2) credits. The student may not receive more than one credit for WBL-work release in any single class period.
Example: Seven Period School Day:
· A student registered for7th periodWBL-work release, would receive One (1) credit for the yearlong period with successful completion of a minimum of 140 hours of internship or apprenticeship.The student would not receive 3 credits for 420 hours during the same class period.
· A student registered for6th and 7thperiod WBL-work release could receive Two (2) credits for the yearlong periods with successful completion of 140 hours for each class period they have registered for. The student would not receiveadditional credits during the same class periods.
· A student registered for5th, 6th, and 7thperiod WBL-work releasecould receive a total of 3 creditsfor the year long periods by successfully completing a minimum of 140 hours of internship or apprenticeship for each periodthey registeredfor.The student may not receive more than one credit for WBL-work release in any single class period.
8. Q- Do WBT Coordinators still have to make a monthly visit to each training site?
Answer-
Coordinator Responsibilities: (WBL manual pg. 13)
· Have communication, contact, or visit the training station of each student a minimum of once per month. (More frequent communication, contacts, or visits may be required to monitor students experiencing difficulties.)
9. Q- Do I have to use the student Kuder files for documentation purposes?
Answer-
The student’s Kuder portfolio may be used for WBL documentation by uploading the scanned documents or a Word file document. The file should contain the career objective and four-year plan as well as other documentation, which was completed in the Career Preparedness class using the Kuder program. The student is the only person authorized to upload documents into their file. In addition to other documents the student would have to upload their wage and hour form weekly. The Coordinator would need an administrative password to view the student’s files. The Coordinator may use an (1) LEA purchased electronic file, (2) a paper file or the (3) Kuder portfolio. The use of an electronic file supports the elimination of Seminar by allowing students to submit weekly reports or other documents without driving from their homeschool to an area Career Technical Center.
10. Q- Can my students work for or be supervised by a parent or relative?
Answer: Yes. (WBL manual pg. 16)
Placement of Students: Students may be employed at businesses or industries where immediate family members will be acting as their supervisor. A student may not be employed in any hazardous occupation, as defined by Federal and Alabama Child Labor Laws.
11. Q- Do I have to have Seminar in order for the student to receive credit for WBT?
Answer-(WBT manual pg.9)
“No.” Cooperative Education Seminar is not a required component, but can be continued as a local education agency (LEA) decision under the current regulations requiring a once per week meeting for the Cooperative Education work-based experiences/apprenticeships or internships. Students enrolled in Cooperative Education programs are not required to participate in the seminar. However, they must report weekly hours worked or hours acquired through apprenticeships/internships.
12. Q- Do students on the Essential Life Skills Pathway have to fill out an application and meet program requirements or are they just enrolled into WBL?
Answer:
(WBL pg. 15 Selection of Students) -Determination of Student Eligibility
The Coordinator will ensure that all requirements for cooperative education are met. The Coordinator ensures that the student:
· Has completed an Application for Enrollment.
13. Q- What are the minimum numbers that I can have in my program and still be considered full-time?
Answer-
There is no specific maximum number limitation place on the WBL programs at this time. However, realistically the older requirements for minimums should be surpassed. (BIC, Quality Factor 1.3-d) Class enrollment meets minimum enrollment requirements as outlined in the Alabama Administrative Code. Career and Technical Education programs will have an average class size of no less than 12 students and no more than the maximum identified class size for secondary classes.
The reason for eliminating the maximum number of students is to achieve a realistic baseline. Programs without Seminar and full-time Coordinators may be able to supervise larger numbers of students than at any time in the past. There may be large differences, in the distances a county career center Coordinator could travel daily, serving a 5-7 schools and a city system Coordinator serving one or two schools in a smaller area.
14. Q- The Co-Op qualifying CT course (Career Preparedness) still needs to be on the high school level, right? Middle school courses still do not qualify for coop entry?
Answer-(Alabama High School Graduation (AHSG) Requirements LEA Questions), revised January 2014 question 37
Career Preparedness is a one-credit course, but it may be taught as two one-half credits. Students may take the Part A- College and career Planning/Computer Applications portion in one grade.(8-12) and then Part B- Financial Literacy can be taught in a different grade (9-12). Or the course can be taught as a whole credit in grades (9-12) Part A may be offered in Grade *, Part B must be offered Grades 9-12.
15. Q- Do I have to have a course credit on my transcript for Functions of the Coordinator or Principles of Coordination? I took a course as an under graduate which covers the work release program.
Answer- (WBL manual pg. 9)
Cooperative education is supervised by a teacher who holds a Class B or higher certificate in CTE, has taken the Functions of the Coordinator or Principles of Coordination coursework, and who completes two hours of Child Labor Law training annually.
Some Instate Schools offering, “Functions of the Coordinator”: Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Athens State-online, Auburn University, Jacksonville State-spring semester online and University of North Alabama.
16. Q- Student discipline files are at our guidance office and are inaccessible to me. Do I absolutely need to see them before admitting a student to WBL?
Answer-(WBT manual Pg. 30-31) Application for Enrollment
“To be completed by Cooperative Education Teacher-Coordinator”
On Track for Graduation: ____yes _____No Successful completion of Career Preparedness: ____Yes ____No
Current Attendance Record: No. Absences ______No. Tardies ______
Current Disciplinary Record: Total Reports ______Cumulative GPA: ______
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The application would be incomplete without the verification of these records.
17. Q- I also had a question related to the “Life Skills Occupational Prep Course” (bullet 4-Essential Life Skills Pathway-revised January 2015). If a student is enrolled in this, can they combine paid and unpaid work hours at 2 separate business to meet the 140-hour requirement?
Answer-The Life Skills OccupationalPreparationclass is not a Career Technical Education course.
The rules and regulations for CT Cooperative Education WBL do not apply to LSOP class.
18. Q-Could a Regular Ed student enroll intheLife Skills Occupational Preparationclass to complete their pathway (bullet 4-Essential Life Skills Pathway-revised January 2015),in place ofthe Career Technical program forCooperative Education WBL?
Answer- Any student in the school may choose to follow theEssential Life Skills Pathway, not juststudents with special needs.The detailed requirements should be discussed with the student and parent prior to pursuing this pathway.______
19. Q- Is there a state requirement that we must offer a WBL-Cooperative Education Program? Answer: (requirement)- NO. This is an LEAdecision.Students who are on theEssential Life Skills Pathway must be able to complete the Pathway. This Pathway is available to any student choosing to pursue the Alabama High School Diploma Work Component Requirement (revised January 2015). In the pathway description, bullet 4explainsthat, the student may complete Cooperative Education Work-based Experiences and/or Life Skills Occupational Preparation. The LEA must make thedecisionas to how they will provide theopportunityto complete the pathway.
20. Q-I wanted to see if there was a limit to the number of blocks that a student might co-op. Typically, my student’s co-op either 1 or 2 consecutive blocks, but is there a possibility for 3? If they are allowed to co-op 3 blocks, would they receive 3 credits? This is all with the understanding that if they co-op 3 blocks, they would be required to work 140 seat hours per block. This is only about 24 hours a week, so it’s completely feasible.
Answer: If the student is on track for graduation they are eligible to enroll in WBLfor more than two periods per semester. The student would need to complete the minimum 140 hours per credit per period. However, if they were released 3 periodsper day (on a block schedule)to work or intern the minimum hours required (140X3=420 hrs.)should not be a problem each semester.
21. Q-If a student has never had a CT class, can they take it at the same time as co-op?