258.17 - COMMUNITY-BASED WORKPLACE LEARNING PROGRAM -- WORKSTART.
258.17 COMMUNITY-BASED WORKPLACE LEARNING PROGRAM --
WORKSTART.
1. A community-based workplace learning program, called
"workstart", is established as a voluntary collaborative
educational program between business and Iowa's secondary and
postsecondary education system designed to provide the means by which
students can be better prepared to enter the workforce. The program
is to provide all participating high school students with academic
skills and appropriate competency-based job-specific skills needed to
enter high performance workplace employment through a jointly planned
and supervised instructional and worksite-based training program that
is articulated with postsecondary advanced programs of preparation,
United States department of labor-approved apprenticeship programs,
and other appropriate job training programs. Schools and school
districts are encouraged to work with current employers of students
attending instruction in the schools or school districts in order to
articulate educational programming with the work experiences of the
students. The workstart program is designed to prepare students for
employment in occupations which not only require high skill levels
but which also offer students opportunities within those occupations
for career and personal advancement.
2. Each school or school district that desires to establish a
workstart program shall appoint a local employment and training
council, the members of which shall serve at the pleasure of the
board of directors of the district or the authorities in charge of
the nonpublic school. The majority of the council members shall be
local secondary and postsecondary educators. Other council members
shall include, but are not limited to, members of the business
community and chamber of commerce, appropriate labor representatives,
parents, and representatives from any local municipal, county, state,
or federal job placement or training agencies. The council shall
identify and assess all of the following:
a. The types of high performance workplace employment
opportunities for individuals who live in the community.
b. The skills, knowledge, and attitudes required by employers
for placement in entry level and advanced positions.
c. The private and institutional resources necessary and
available to provide the appropriate high school training and
advanced educational offerings for persons seeking to acquire job
skills for the positions.
The council, in identifying and assessing high performance
workplace employment opportunities, shall consult with local and
regional job placement organizations and take into consideration
possible job placement trends and opportunities that may become
available to program participants. The council shall consult with
the vocational regional planning board or consortia to determine what
educational resources are available within the merged area and to
ascertain the occupational needs of local students. The council
shall summarize those jobs, skills, and resources identified and
assessed and develop a proposed plan for utilization of available
resources to permit the acquisition of those skills in a workstart
program. In addition to any agreements with local businesses, the
proposed plan for a workstart program shall include an articulated,
sequential plan that coordinates and complements the curricula and
training available in a secondary education setting with the
curricula and training available at the community or private college
or other postsecondary training program level. The council shall
forward the proposed plan for a workstart program to the board of
directors of the school district, or the authorities in charge of the
nonpublic school, for review, modification, and approval.
3. Each workstart program shall consist of two phases, each of
which shall be supervised by an appropriately licensed education
practitioner: the preparation phase and the workplace phase.
a. The preparation phase of a workstart program is a
school-based program that provides students with basic and advanced
academic skills that will be necessary to perform in a vocational
service area chosen by the student. The preparation phase shall also
include instruction in skills that are necessary to succeed in high
performance workplace employment. The preparation phase of a
workstart program shall be directed by education practitioners
possessing the appropriate licensing and endorsements for the
vocational service area.
b. The workplace phase of a workstart program shall consist
of an intensive workplace-specific training program that may be
conducted at a worksite or both at a worksite and in the school
setting. The workplace phase of a workstart program shall be
coordinated by an education practitioner possessing the appropriate
license and endorsements for the vocational service area, and may be
directed at the worksite by persons employed in the occupational
training area which has been selected by the student.
Both the preparation and workplace phases shall be articulated
with United States department of labor-approved apprenticeship
programs and other postsecondary educational and training offerings
that permit participating students to obtain advanced training and
education that may be necessary upon graduation from the workstart
secondary education program or to obtain an advancement in an
occupational field chosen by the student during the student's
participation in a workstart secondary education program.
4. Each workstart program shall include a written agreement by
the school or school district with one or more businesses from the
surrounding community to provide workplace-specific training and
learning programs which are related to the skills needed to succeed
in those occupational areas. The proposed plan for implementation of
the workstart program shall include a copy of the written agreement
between the school or school district and the business or businesses
and a business support component, which shall consist of financial or
in-kind support, or both financial and in-kind support, from the
businesses that have entered into the agreement with the school or
school district.
5. The state board of education shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 17A to provide for the implementation of this section.
6. The department of education shall adopt guidelines for the
establishment of workstart programs. Guidelines may include, but are
not limited to, acceptable levels of business financial participation
in a workstart program, maximum hour and workload guidelines for
education practitioners working in or supervising a workstart
program, and maximum and minimum class size guidelines for the
preparation and workplace phases of a workstart program.
7. A school or local school district that implements a workstart
program shall annually conduct a survey which counts the number of
students who participate in, or graduate from, the program that are
actually employed in an occupational area for which they received
training. The school or school district shall disseminate the
results of the surveys to the local employment and training councils
for the school or school district and the department of education.
Section History: Recent Form
92 Acts, ch 1198, §3; 2003 Acts, ch 180, §12