In The News
Check out the links below to learn more about work-based learning initiatives across North Carolina.
Introducing NC Career Launch to the NC Work-based Learning Ecosystem
NC Career Launch programs provide students with opportunities to gain valuable knowledge, experience and credentials that lead to high-demand jobs with growth and a living wage.
The programs focus on youth between ages 16 and 24 and put students on the path to a career with growth and a living wage. Programs have paid, supervised work blended with aligned classroom instruction and result in an industry recognized credential or college credit.
Visit NC Career Launch here.
Governor Cooper Announces Building Bright Futures Apprenticeship Program
Governor Cooper announced the Building Bright Futures (BBF) early childhood education pre-apprenticeship-to-apprenticeship program. This program is a partnership between The North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and the NCDHHS Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) to pilot new pathways to entering the early childhood profession. BBF creates supportive pathways for high school and postsecondary students to earn credentials, while also obtaining hands-on, work-based learning experiences, in the early childhood education field.
Want to learn more about work-based learning? Check out the NCBCE newsletters.
The North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) is a business-led, education non-profit 501(c)(3) that operates out of the Office of the Governor. Since 1983, NCBCE has provided a critical link between North Carolina business leaders and the state’s education decision makers, helping to create connections between the education curriculum and the overall work readiness of citizens across the state.
“Governor Cooper Announces Updated Online Work-Based Learning Tool to Help NC Students”
Governor Roy Cooper announced that NC educators now have access to an improved online tool to help them connect students with opportunities to explore potential careers. The work-based learning tool, called “The Navigator,” brings together members of the business, education, and workforce development communities in a space where they can post, search for, and measure work-based learning opportunities. The newest version of the Navigator offers improved user experience and new features where employers list virtual and in-person work-based learning activities.
“In N.C., Clean Energy Apprenticeship Program set to double this summer”
The North Carolina Clean Energy Youth Apprenticeship Program is designed to inspire and train community college and high school students to work in the state’s burgeoning clean energy economy.
Just before the pandemic, the state was home to nearly 113,000 jobs related to the clean energy transition, from solar installers to wind turbine component manufacturers to roles like those filled by Webb in building efficiency.
As the post-pandemic economy recovers and evolves under state policies to shift entirely away from fossil fuels, those jobs are poised to grow exponentially. Offshore wind power alone could create another 31,000 jobs in the state by 2030, one study by a pair of nonprofits found.
Work-based Learning is Highlighted as a Strategy in the First in Talent “Strategic Economic Development Plan in North Carolina”
North Carolina has a far-reaching, highly regarded workforce system that helps many residents succeed in their careers and launch promising business ventures. This plan aims to enhance that system, enabling more North Carolinians to reengage in the labor market, explore career options, and/or start new businesses. Employers throughout the state are seeking to hire more skilled workers, including those with non-degree certificates, and to support their talent development through work-based learning.
Light Bulb Moment
Why is work-based learning important? Watch NCBCE’s “Light Bulb Moment” to find out.
“To Fill ‘New Collar’ Tech Jobs Businesses Connect to Students”
WUNC 91.5- North Carolina Public Radio coverage of NCBCE’s new statewide platform The Navigator.
“Professional Development for Teachers is Scarce, New Grant to Help”
WUNC 91.5 - North Carolina Public Radio coverage of Governor Roy Cooper’s Educator Discovery Award.
National Governors Association Names 6 States To Mentor Peers On Work-Based Learning
The National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices competitively selected six states – Alabama, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington — to mentor peer states in building and scaling high-quality work-based learning.
The mentor states will work with a cohort of yet-to-be-selected states in three learning labs throughout 2020 and 2021. One of the labs will explore how states can best structure and use data to inform approaches to work-based learning, which blends work experience and applied learning to better prepare students for good careers. Another lab will focus on strategies for increasing access and success in work-based learning programs for rural communities and other historically underrepresented populations. The final lab will explore how states can build important partnerships necessary to scale work-based learning.
State Strategies to Scale Work-Based Learning
Work-based learning connects classroom education with on-the-job experience that states can deploy to help businesses and workers better meet their current needs while enhancing states’ ability to prepare their future workforce for success. Moreover, as the nature of work and careers changes, work-based learning can prepare students to engage in active learning both at work and in the classroom and develop new skills throughout their careers.
myFutureNC Blog Series: Bridging Education and the Workforce
One of the best ways to foster this collaboration between the education and business sectors is through providing work-based learning opportunities for students across their educational journey. For over 35 years, the NC Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) has been a leader in bridging the gap between the state’s education systems and employers by promoting work-based learning opportunities for students, supporting educators and helping NC businesses grow their talent pipeline in the state.
NCBCE is an education nonprofit housed in the Governor’s Office and our Board is comprised of business leaders from across the state. This provides a unique and critically important ability to collaborate between education and government systems and employers, breaking down silos that are difficult to navigate but critical to provide our state’s workforce of the future.
