Promoting Efforts that Combine Academic Courses with Real-Life Learning to Improve Student Achievement

The National Employer Leadership Council: Leading the Way

The goals of the NELC are to:

Enable students to meet high academic standards by using applied curricula and work-based experiences.

Enhance the relevancy of classroom content and learning by increasing the opportunities for educators to spend time in the workplace to explore applications of academic concepts.

Instill greater understanding and appreciation of the workplace by increasing the number of work-based learning opportunities for secondary and postsecondary students.

NELC Activities

The NELC supports efforts that combine academic courses with real-life learning to improve student achievement for all students by:

Promoting Employer Leadership
Led by a Leadership Board comprised of dedicated company executives, the NELC represents thousands of leading companies participating in School-to-Career initiatives across the country.

Providing a Unified Business Voice
The NELC serves as a unified employer voice by convening and supporting the major business organizations and trade associations as well as individual companies and coalitions across the country.

Involving Schools and Educators
The NELC is working with the leading education organizations to promote school involvement in School-to-Career programs.

Highlighting Effective Practices
NELC employers are promoting best practices and successful components of School-to-Career initiatives such as contextual learning, structured internships, and teacher internships.

Developing Quality Products
Effective School-to-Career products and publications are highlighted and distributed through NELC members, business organizations, trade associations, education organizations, and state and local coalitions.

The Allure of School-to-Career: Positive Academic Results

Employers who provide students with work-based learning opportunities know that these experiences are valuable. For some students, contextual learning adds another layer of understanding to "traditional book learning." For other students, workplace learning provides an alternative means to master academic standards.

Recent studies of students who have participated in rigorous School-to-Career programs in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other communities reveal solid results:

• higher academic achievement
• reduced dropout rate
• improved attendance
• and better college preparation.

On the business side, the experience of NELC member companies shows that School-to-Career is not risky business. While employers care most about improving student achievement, employers, themselves, reap measurable benefits:

• reduced recruitment costs;
• reduced training and supervision costs;
• reduced turnover; and
• higher productivity promotion rates of School-to-Career graduates who are eventually hired compared to those of other newly hired workers.