Making Learning “Sticky” Through A Work- and Project-Based Program at Hamilton Community Schools

Introduction

It is anticipated that there will be more than 530,000 Michigan jobs in the professional trades by 2028. To address this need, Michigan has made significant investments in promoting Career and Technical Education (CTE) at the secondary and post-secondary level. Governor Whitmer’s Sixtyby30 initiative seeks to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 50.5% in 2023 to 60% by 2030. To do this, Michigan seeks to close the “skills gap” and provide greater access to educational training opportunities for “better jobs and bigger paychecks.” 

Hamilton Community Schools (HCS) is also investing heavily in CTE. They developed an innovative work-based learning program designed to introduce students (as early as 5th grade) to the skills required for future employment and to expose them to in-demand career pathways as supplements or alternatives to four-year college degrees. Dave Tebo, former Superintendent of Hamilton Community Schools, and Ashley Meyer, Work Based Learning/Experiential Learning Coordinator, discussed the work-based learning program at HCS from design to implementation, and how they sought to meet better the needs of HCS students and their local community. 

Background on Hamilton Community Schools

Hamilton Community Schools (HCS) is a public school district located in Hamilton, Michigan—a rural community in Allegan County—and is part of the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD). According to MI School Data, during the 2022-23 school year, the district served approximately 2,900 students in grades K-12 across six schools and two blended/virtual programs. HCS had a graduation rate of 85.5% in 2021-22, with nearly half of graduates enrolled in college 6 months after graduation. 

HCS has a well-established relationship with the Ottawa Area ISD Careerline Tech Center, and has for many years sent students to their Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Such high demand existed within the district for CTE that HCS saw an opportunity to develop their own work-based learning program alongside that of the ISD.

HCS boasts a multi-year work-based learning program that focuses on experiential and project-based learning developed in partnership with both businesses and the higher education community in the area. Through these community partnerships, HCS students have the opportunity to learn about high-wage careers in their area as well as participate in site visits, job-shadowing, and apprenticeships all while gaining the skills and knowledge to make informed decisions about their futures as they transition from secondary education to the college or career workforce.  

The Importance of Work-Based Learning for HCS

As Superintendent of HCS, Dave Tebo led efforts to develop a new strategic plan for the district that, among other things, committed to several work-based learning goals. HCS had identified a need in the community for additional skilled workers in technical careers (those that did not necessarily require a four-year college degree). HCS also identified a need to re-assess what skills graduates would need in order to be successful after leaving the district. As part of that effort, they surveyed stakeholders–community members, teachers, parents, and students—about what an ideal graduate would be able to, “do, say, and see.” 

As part of the strategic plan, Tebo also advocated a transition from using language like, “all students” to “each student.” A seemingly minor, yet profoundly significant change. According to Tebo, “all” was a word they used frequently but one that felt impersonal However, “each” indicated that as a school community, they were willing to meet each student where they were and were committed to meeting the needs of that individual student. While at HCS, Tebo was passionate about building programs for students who were “overlooked” by or left out of the traditional school system. 

Ashley Meyer, coordinator of the work-based learning program at HCS, echoed this sentiment, pointing to post-secondary data for HCS students showing that for every student that completes a four-year degree, one student drops out before completing their degree. According to Meyer, the work-based learning program was a way for students to make more informed decisions through career exploration. Meyer noted that, “Our big goal was, can we get kids to be able to reflect and self-actualize as they transition out of this K-12 system and into whatever’s next.” The work-based learning initiative provided these students with an opportunity to explore a future after high school that did not involve college. 

Even prior to state requirements around work-based learning in school improvement plans, HCS was setting strategic goals that:

• All Hamilton students graduate with career and life skills necessary to be informed consumers, skillful and productive workers, and active citizens.
• Hamilton Community Schools will develop and implement business partnerships offering Hamilton Community School students opportunities for real-world career exploration and skill building. 

According to Tebo, these goals grew out of a strong belief that, “We need to take content and skills and habits and give it context, you need to give it an experience.” Tebo asserted that ideas become “sticky” when given context and that students remember experiences, not necessarily content. This belief was a driving force in the development of the HCS work-based learning program, to make it experiential by focusing outside the classroom and incorporating project-based learning in authentic work experiences at every grade level (work-based learning at HCS is available for students in grades 5-12). 

Tebo was also clear that this program needed to be project-based. Next, Tebo and his team worked with an economic development agency in West Michigan and their local Chamber of Commerce to identify high wage careers currently in and projected to be in demand.. Part of this work was to dispel the myth that students needed to go to college to earn a living wage and to promote career certifications as competitive alternatives to four-year degrees. 

Tebo and his team also had to identify and correct common misconceptions held by teachers about work-based learning. Teachers explored different industries and ways in which their subject-area content was present and used in real-world contexts. Through these conversations, it became clear to HCS teachers that employers (and four-year colleges) wanted well-rounded students who excelled at collaboration, communication, and team-work, not just high GPAs and content knowledge devoid of context. 

To support implementation of the work-based learning program and the new graduation requirements, HCS prepared a frequently asked questions document for students and parents about the new work-based learning initiative. In it, they defined work-based learning as, “Sustained interactions with employers or community professionals in real workplace settings, to the extent practicable, or simulated environments at an educational instruction that fosters in-depth, first-hand engagement with the tasks required of a given career field, that are aligned to curriculum, instruction, and CTE program standards.” In the same document, HCS advocates that work-based learning gives students an opportunity to, “bring relevance to learning, explore career possibilities, and make informed decisions about what is next.” 

HCS Work-Based Learning in Practice

Tebo spoke at length about the importance of providing context and experiences for learning, and how work-based learning, or CTE programs offer an effective way to do so. Speaking on CTE, Tebo said, “We hope to bring CTE into the traditional classroom, to make it more engaging, to answer the questions of why do we need to do this? Where am I going to use Algebra 1?” Tebo and his team designed a work-based learning program that was experientially based and provided a connection between classroom learning and real-world application in various fields such as welding, construction, healthcare, and marketing. 

In developing the work-based learning program at HCS, the team focused on what they deemed (through conversations with businesses in the area) high-wage, high-demand careers for their area. Each grade level focuses on one of these high-wage, high-demand areas: 

• 5th grade: construction and building trades
• 6th grade: business and information technology
• 7th grade: manufacturing
• 8th grade: agriculture, which Meyer noted was not necessarily high-wage, high-demand nationwide but was for their local area
• 9th grade: healthcare

Meyer spoke on the specifics of the program. There are specific graduation requirements for each grade level, with those being completed in a cohort model in grades 5-8 (see table 1 and 2 for specific details) and as a personal, or “a la carte” model for grades 9-12 (see table 3 for specific details). While grades 5-9 focus on a different trade, they all follow a similar pattern of being guided by a driving question; learning about the trade in a hands-on, authentic way with access to experts; followed by a project-based learning activity directly related to solving a problem; and concluding with a reflection on the experience. 

Meyer shared the example of the work-based learning progression and requirements for 5th grade students. In 5th grade, the first year of the work-based learning program, the program kicks off with a “Skills for Success” day in which professionals from the community talk to students about employability skills such as collaboration and personal accountability. Students then work on a project-based learning (PBL) activity focused on a “driving question” tied to them and their local community. In the example Meyer provided, students were asked to rethink and redesign an unused storage area in their school building to make it more functional for student use. Throughout this PBL process, professionals gave feedback to students on their ideas, culminating in a formal pitch-out event where students pitched their ideas to a panel of judges. The winning ideas were then implemented wherein the students worked with the school facilities team over the summer to see their ideas fully realized. 

Table 1. Middle School (5/6) Work-Based Learning Requirements

Table 1. Middle School (7/8) Work-Based Learning Requirements

Table 3. HCS High School Work-Based Learning Graduation Requirements (beginning with the class of 2023)

In order to graduate from Hamilton Community Schools, all students must complete THREE of the tasks listed below. At least one of the activities must come from the training category.

Barriers to Work-Based Learning Implementation

Tebo was clear that while implementation of the work-based learning program has been an overall success, his team did face barriers and some resistance along the way. While there were likely more, Tebo focused on the need to work specifically with teachers to assuage their discomfort and fears as a main challenge to implementation of their work-based learning program. Change in a well-defined and ingrained system like education can be scary for stakeholders and cause distress for those involved. 

Certainly there were other barriers to implementing such an ambitious and community driven program (i.e. securing adequate community support, transportation to off-site activities, etc.), but in many ways, those are easier to overcome, or at least have more clear resolutions. Personal perceptions and cultural barriers are typically harder to overcome as they are often less defined and with unclear solutions. As was the case with Tebo and his team, the barriers he discussed were cultural, not logistical. There of course were logistical challenges, systems had to be developed to account for student participation in “out of school” activities such as 4H, an “encouraged experience” in the High School work-based learning program. These types of experiences that students complete on their own required the creation of a verification form and tracking of that time in a centralized system (Hamilton uses Naviance), as well as flexibility within the system to value experiences that did not necessarily take place within the school.  

Cultural barriers seemed to present a larger challenge to implementation. Specific to teachers, Tebo discussed the initial discomfort and uncertainty with some teachers around the new expectation to create learning “experiences,” an area separate from their training as content experts. To overcome this, Tebo and his team identified liaisons to aid teachers in the development of learning experiences in line with the world-based learning grade level focus areas. Liaisons were there specifically to lighten the load for teachers so they did not feel overburdened by the new expectations. Tebo was also clear that it was critical not to “shame” teachers for their current teaching practices or role as content experts but rather to build on this foundation. Teachers were also concerned about being penalized for making mistakes in the process or not having adequate student standardized test scores. Overcoming this barrier required district-wide systemic change away from a focus on standardized testing and towards one that prioritized teacher creativity and experiential learning. 

Developing a Shared Vision for Work Based Learning at HCS

Tebo spoke about the importance of creating a shared vision and involving community stakeholders in the process of developing and implementing the work-based learning program. Tebo emphasized the importance of being aware of school culture and community culture and that effective practices in one context may not translate over to another, one has to walk through the change management process and navigate culture.   

Before Tebo and his team started developing the work-based learning program, they worked on developing a mission statement and vision for HCS. The goal of the mission and vision were to reflect a change from preparing all students for a four year college or university to that of preparing each student for whatever comes next after high school graduation whether that be, “four year institution, a two year institution, a certification, the world of work, the armed services, a gap year.” 

Ashley Meyer was also clear that soliciting feedback at every stage in the process and from every level of stakeholder contributed to the development of a shared vision and to the success of the program. Feedback was collected during the development of the original district wide mission statement and vision and throughout the development of the work-based learning program. As the program is ongoing, Meyer also values and considers feedback from parents. In addition, Meyer and her team elicit feedback from students, both formally with the lower grades, and informally with older students. Not only collecting feedback but carefully considering and responding to this feedback has helped HCS develop a shared vision in their district. 

Key Takeaways for Developing a Work-Based Learning Program

Successes 

The work-based learning program at HCS was originally designed to provide opportunities for students who may not have been well served by the perspective of high school as solely a means to prepare for a four-year college or university. Through the work-based learning program, administrators hoped to improve college dropout rates for HCS graduates and offer their students an opportunity to explore careers that did not necessarily require a degree. Administrators plan to continue to track this data but are cognizant that gains are still many years off as the work-based learning graduation requirements take effect for this year’s eighth graders. However, initial feedback from parents and students is positive with many appreciating the opportunities provided to students through the program. 

Beyond the traditional quantitative markers of success (high school and college drop out rates as discussed above), the high level of community engagement and support is a success of the work-based program at HCS. Many of the opportunities afforded to students from job shadows as well as hands on career exploration days, would not be possible without the time and materials donated by businesses in the community. Business owners and tradespeople in the community donate supplies (e.g., drywall for construction demonstrations, HVAC equipment), expertise, and time (e.g., leading hands on demonstrations, providing feedback on student projects, offering job shadowing, etc.). Bringing the community together provides students with opportunities to learn real-world skills and apply content in authentic ways. 

Challenges

Implementing the work-based learning program at HCS was not without challenges. Tebo discussed two main challenges that their team faced during the development of the program. One of the main challenges was logistical –  tracking and verifying work-based learning experiences and Carnegie units of credit. Tebo was clear that the original intent of the program, and how it still operates, was to build a model in which the learner did most of the work of tracking work-based learning experiences. Staff members verified the work rather than being solely responsible for tracking it. HCS expects students at all levels to take ownership of their learning and complete the necessary documentation to record and track work-based learning experiences. Students are given more responsibility in high school and afforded the opportunity to personalize their work-based learning based on their own interests, again with the understanding that they are in many ways managing this requirement–with help and guidance from school staff. 

During the development of the work-based learning program, administrators wanted to be sensitive to the sometimes differing perspectives of teachers, parents, and community members in determining what career fields to focus on. To avoid making unilateral decisions, administrators triangulated data from multiple sources such as a local economic development organization and the local Chamber of Commerce to determine high-wage careers as well as areas looking for skilled workers. Overall, the challenges faced in implementing a work-based learning program require a flexible and data-driven approach that takes into account the needs of both the community and the learners. 

Advice

For districts looking to start their own work-based learning program (or any ambitious, systematic change), clear, consistent, and transparent communication from all stakeholders is critical. Dave Tebo was adamant that everyone in the system be given a voice, not just the superintendent, but curriculum directors, principals, counselors, parents, and most crucially–students. Tebo considers students the “users” of the education system and sees tremendous value in including their voice saying, “If we are not listening to our students alongside our teachers, and our counselors and the people, we’re missing the boat.” It should be again noted that student feedback is also a critical component of the work-based learning program and regular feedback is collected from students at all levels in a variety of ways. 

In addition to including various voices in the discussion, Tebo asserted the importance of substantial changes, like HCSs work-based learning initiative, be data driven and respond to the needs and desires of the community–not just the immediate needs or perceived needs of the school. Prior to the development of the work-based learning program, HCS was getting feedback from past and present students requesting more internships, job-shadowing opportunities, and work experiences. Simultaneously, HCS was hearing from their community that they needed more qualified and skilled workers, in careers that did not require a four year college or university degree. By combining both of these needs, HCS is able to better serve students and prepare them for careers in their community. HCS is still continuing to use feedback and data from stakeholders to refine and improve their work-based learning program to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of students and the community. 

CTE was not a new concept in HCS as they have a long history with the Ottawa Area ISD Careerline Tech Center. However, they identified a need in their community for more knowledgeable and skilled workers and developed a work-based learning program that not only met this need but better prepared HCS students for life after high school. The needs of the school community at large drove the development of the work-based learning program, from implementation through the strategic use of data, inclusion of feedback from various stakeholders, and expanding how content standards are taught. HCS has developed a program that reimagines career and technical education, bringing it out of isolation and into everyday experiences.